In reply to Philippe's question, I can offer a little bit of info that
may help. They were made in Chicago and Louisville.
Geo. P. Bent started making organs in 1878 and made their first piano
in 1889 called the Crown. Their players were called Crown Combinola,
which had 2 extra pedals and levers for a banjo and a harpsichord
effect: one lowered the normal banjo rail down while the other stopped
the hammers short of the strings so that it only pushed the banjo tabs
into the strings, giving a noticeably different sound. It also has a
hammer rail split into 3 sections, controlled by pneumatics with
buttons on the keyslip, and an overall soft lever controlling a valve
in the bellow set.
I have one of these which was made in 1914, its also called an
"Orchestral Piano" on the inside label. I don't know if all the Crowns
Combinola's had this, maybe its why they were called Combinola. Later
the Winter Company took over and the players after that were just
called Crown. Both use Standard player actions. It is an
exceptionally well made player, but apparently this quality dropped off
in later years. (Maybe when Winter took them over?)
I didn't know that they made coin pianos, but I guess a lot of smaller
companies had a go in the early days. It may only be one of a few ever
built.
Peter Coggins
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