Saw the MMD posting about this unusual player action.  We have
played one for over 30 years, daily, at The Musical Wonder House.
"My" instrument is currently in the hands of D. Konvalinka (The Merry
Music Box, Lexington MA) -- but it is my portion of our partnership
dissolution, when it finally takes place, hopefully this year.  We
also had a Bogart (made by H. F. Miller) for a time, and a 2nd 'teak'
Miller instrument at the museum.  All had that 4-tier leather pouch
pneumatic action, featuring unit valves which were screwed together.
(Once I had a Bogard with an Amphion action, but that was another
piano entirely!)

They are very sensitive players, and easy to service.  My only complaint
is the 'weak sister' wind motor, which is part of the _spoolbox_!  And
the nickel-plated tracker bar which, in its old age, can stall on long,
thin rolls (especially British Aeolian).

Miller actions allow one to select the 'delay' by graduating one of the
two exhausters in the bottom action.  Thus, you can have easy pedaling
without much response, or note-by-note control, and any play anywhere
in between these settings.  The graduating lever is just beneath the
keyboard, and can be "changed" even during the play of a music roll,
should one wish to alter the 'delay' during a complicated type of
performance.

Hope this sheds some light on these unusual players.  In NH there's
even an early Ampico installation with one!

 [ snip ]

Regards from Maine,

Douglas Henderson
ARTCRAFT Music Rolls, PO Box 295, Wiscasset, ME 04578
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/

 [ I think 'delay' refers to the amount of the effect of the wind
 [ reserve, either by choking the passage to the reserve or by changing
 [ its capacity.  Do other makes have a feature like this?  -- Robbie