I am sorry, but I don't believe I misspoke.  The rewind gear on the upper
shaft has NO affect in play, only rewind, since this gear only works in
rewind! I mentioned the wind-motor sprocket only as a reference point.

If Bob Conant's Ampico won't play the large rolls, then there has to be
something wrong (no offense meant).  The wind motors on these pianos are
among the strongest made.  When the piano was new, it worked properly.
That is something I have to force myself to keep in the back of my mind
during any restoration. I too like to "improve", but it can be overdone
and devalue the machine.

I had a Lakeside player that developed the same problem.  After calling
the wind motor some colorful names, I found the problem to be worn out
takeup-spool bearings. The large rolls would cause the spool to shift
upward and bind.  I too was tempted to put an electric motor on it, but
I am glad I didn't.

We all remember the physics class in school where we had to calculate
the rate of rotation of wheel "A" in proportion to wheel "B", don't we?

(I know I am going to get mixed comments from the following statement
but it's my story and I'm stickin' to it.  :-)

Another factor, however slight, is the tightness of the pouches: porous
pouches will create too much suction at the tracker bar.  When the piano
is playing loudly, it tends to draw the paper to it.  This alone can
cause more friction than one realizes.  (I have seen many players have
their rolls slip a bit from PP to FF for this reason.)

I wonder if that is the reason that some multi-tune QRS rolls have wax
paper on the back (the kind that likes to flake off and get into the
bleeds)?   Polishing the tracker bar and sealing the pouches seem to help
in this situation.  As the roll progresses, a combination of things such
as this (and others) will create drag.

I wonder of there is a product that will make the tracker bar slick
and will not get on the rolls.  Ideas, anyone?  Replace the motor with
a 5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine? ... Just kidding!!

When a big "jumbo" roll is playing, the paper that builds up on the
takeup spool also changes the ratio too.  I understand that some roll
companies allowed for this.

Andy Taylor

 [ The "jumbo" rolls, which played for up to 30 minutes, were made
 [ especially for the "B"-model Ampico, which featured a powerful
 [ electric motor in the spool box.  And yes, most of these jumbo rolls
 [ compensated for the constantly increasing paper velocity.  -- Robbie