G'day all, I have just spoken to a fellow here who has a Beale electric
Artecho player and I hope to see and hear it on the weekend. I would
like to find out a bit more about the system beforehand and would
appreciate any info.
The machine is supposedly working and has a number of blue label QRS
rolls with it, which the owner says are not Recordo rolls. Beale was a
good quality Australian piano which was available (rarely) with Recordo
or Ampico as well as ordinary player actions.
I have checked my own references and found tracker bar details which give
a clue to the type of action. It looks like it was a lesser Ampico
system for "non proprietary" pianos and has only one crescendo/diminuendo
rate.
Here are a few questions: Has anyone here come across the system, how
well does it work and are there known problems? How rare is it? Are
there any rolls about, are they hard to find and have there been any
recuts done? How did the music sound and was there a useful selection?
Is there any useful repair and adjustment info around?
The Player Piano Co. lists one reprint booklet for the Artecho. Has
anyone seen a test roll? Is any historical information available --
was it related to the Apollo system? Sorry about so many questions,
but I am quite intrigued about this one. Thanks for any help.
Cheers,
Darrell Clarke
Adelaide, Australia
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