Sub-title: Automatic Roll-Destruction Devices

I'm always amazed at the tricks certain people will play in order to
separate other people from their money.  I suspect that a case in point
is the invention of the infamous "automatic tracker mechanism" on player
pianos made mostly after 1910.

Personally, I own several pianos and I play different types of rolls
on them.  The only ones that ever gave me any problems of tearing or
otherwise destroying rolls are the ones that had automatic tracking
devices on them.

My older player pianos include a 1906 Autopiano 65-note player that has
no automatic tracking device.  There is a manual adjustment to move the
tracker bar to align it with the holes in the roll.  I almost never need
to use it.  I've never had a roll damaged on that piano.

There is also my 1910 Weber 65/88-note player that likewise has no
automatic roll destroying device, but has only a manual tracker bar
adjustment to align it with the holes in the rolls.

I have several other automatic pianos that play rolls that are over two
hundred feet in length.  They have no automatic roll tearing devices on
them, only a manual adjustment to align the tracker bar with the holes
in the rolls.

I've had a number of reproducing player pianos that did have the auto
roll tracker on them, but they played rolls that were made only by the
single manufacturer for that particular type of instrument.  They
required correct adjustment and continual monitoring to see that they
were functioning correctly.  Every one of them at some time or other
helped replenish my supply of Mad Rolls.

Oh, you don't know about "Mad Rolls?"

Well, I used to keep a supply of Mad Rolls on hand.  These were rolls
that had been torn to the point where repair was impractical so I used
them as "Mad Rolls."

Occasionally people would drop in when I was in the middle of doing
something where I really didn't want to be interrupted, so if they didn't
leave as fast as they came in I'd reach over and grab one of my Mad
Rolls and start making very unpleasant noises and start ripping the heck
out of that roll.

Of course my unwanted visitors didn't know that the roll was already a
junker.  As I stood there tearing up what looked to them like a valuable
piano roll and making fierce noises, the effect must have been electri-
fying to them.  More than one person made it out the door in record time
and never came again without checking first to see if things were
peaceful.

Anyway, my real source of Mad Rolls was a player piano that I used for
checking ordinary 88-note player rolls whenever I got another batch.
It had a beautiful automatic roll destroyer on it.  Fortunately, it had
two holes at each side of the tracker bar that could not be adjusted.
Sometimes it worked fine and at other times it was a dedicated roll
destroyer, especially if there was any irregularity along either edge
of the roll.

I've owned seven Mill Novelty Co. machines and not one had an automatic
tracking device on it.  They played tens of thousands of times without
damaging a single roll.  I've had Seeburgs that played seemingly forever
that had no such destructive device.  I've had several other instruments,
none of which had the automatic roll tearing/shredding device on it.

Having thousands of plays on old worn rolls on these machine without any
problem I began to wonder why the home player pianos after 1910 had these
terrible devices on them.  Here are the results of my deducing.

When in 1908 or thereabouts many of the player piano and piano roll
manufacturers had a big Pow-Wow (a little bit of Indian talk there) and
decided that although the players built up to that time didn't shred
enough rolls -- since there was nothing there that the owner/user could
mess up -- it was time they provided such a device.  Since they were
going to eliminate the 65-note format it was the opportune time to screw
other things up as well and sell it as "progress."

They could show that with a certain roll and precise adjustment it was
capable of doing what all earlier pianos without this remarkable new
device would ordinarily do if left alone.

On the other hand if the device was designed so adjustments could be made
by the customer, it would soon be screwed up and "Good-bye, rolls!"  The
alternate device was the four-eyed edge-detecting monster that spent all
its time looking for any little variation along the edge of the roll and
after the first little variation old four-eyes made sure it got
immediately and unfailingly worse.

The result of all this cleverness was that there would be none of this
buying a few rolls that you like and playing only them forever and ever
and not buying new rolls.

Here was the natural answer, an automatic roll destroyer.  They'd call it
an improvement and the purchasers of player pianos would think they were
getting something new and wonderful.  My Gosh, Charlie, it's automatic!;
so it must be great.

After I realized the insidious plot that had been perpetrated on the
unsuspecting player piano buying public more than a half century earlier
I decided to do something about it, if not on a widespread basis, then at
least on my own instruments.

Therefore, without further delay, I disabled these devils devices on all
my pianos that had them.  I fastened the feed roll so that it was fixed
in position.  I disconnected the units that had the ear type units and
un-tubed the four-eyed buggers and fixed them all in position.  I adjusted
the feed spools and the take-up spools in proper alignment and secured
them in that position.

They now operate like my other machines except the tracker bars were not
adjustable but that hasn't been a problem.  Once I properly adjusted the
spools to the correct alignment there was no further need for adjustment
as long as my rolls had not gotten too expanded, in which case I played
them on the piano that was adjusted for those rolls, or better yet,
desiccate them.

I haven't torn up a roll on a player since I defeated those damnable
fiendish automatic shredders called tracking devices.  While my kids were
still at home I had no problem letting them use the pianos whenever they
wanted and they never ruined a roll.  If that doesn't prove my point then
nothing does!

I think that back there ninety or so years those people at the player
piano and piano roll manufacturers meeting stuck it to us, the consumer.
How many surviving rolls are there out of all the many millions they made
that are still intact and untorn?  Doesn't that tell you something??
What percentage is still around and usable?

As I watch my Wurlitzers or Nelson-Wiggen play those 200- to 220-foot-
long rolls flawlessly over and over again I wonder who before the piano
people in 1908 started the practice of the 'rip-off.'  It worked then and
it still works today.

I'm about out of Mad Rolls now, but I guess that's okay now as hardly
anyone comes by any more, but it sure was fun to see the expression
on people's faces as I jumped up and down, yelling and tearing up my
"Mad Rolls."

Next I'll expose the devious tactics of the Mills Novelty Company.

Hal Davis