Greetings MMDers.

I hope you will forgive the longwinded introduction that follows.  I
decided that I should take the time and do a proper introduction of
myself.  I never did so, but I merely lurked and commented on things
from time to time.  Some of you know me, some of you don't.  I have
spent the last few decades quietly restoring all manner of musical
instruments, mostly keyboard or automatic, and always with strings,
pipes or reeds.  I got the bug for a player piano when I was in third
grade and began piano lessons in earnest. I had fallen in love with
honky tonk piano playing from the 3rd grade teacher's records by Slugger
Ryan.   I also discovered  Red Whaley's Antiques in Irving Texas.  He
brought several Players to the community fair and I found myself
attending the fair everyday it was open - much to the detriment of school
work.  I craved ragtime piano and found that it was not written down so
I could not learn to play it except by ear or "Hey, I could get a player
piano and watch how it plays it!!!"  The rest is history.  I now play
classical piano and player piano style.  I still play note for note some
of the rolls I first learned as a kid.

I finally tuned my own piano in 7th grade and then being unhappy with
its sound set about to learn to do it right.  I have spent the last 30
plus years tuning pianos, and restoring players and silent pianos.  In
college I also caught the pipe organ bug and got a Music Degree from
Baylor University with 4 years of  lessons from Dr. Joyce Jones the well
known concert organist.  My Music History papers were one on Scott
Joplin and one was on the Reproducing piano.  I learned pipe organ
repair and voicing from several technicians including Allan Van Zoren of
Rodgers/Rufatti in those days.  While at Baylor I got 2 piano tuners
fired because I constantly complained about their quality.  I was
responsible for Danny Boone getting the position which he held until his
death last year.  He taught me top quality concert piano regulation.
And in recent years, he lectured many times to the PTG conventions, and
he wrote the Bible of piano regulation.  He incorporated many little
jigs and gadgets that helped him accomplish his kind of work.  If you
ever need to learn to do the very best quality regulation, get his book
which is available from any piano supply.

When I left school, I went right into working for the general public at
a friend's shop and then in my own shop in Dallas.  I have never been
without work, what's more I have never been without a waiting list.  In
1980 I named the business Dallas Pipe Organ Service.  I have restored
and tuned over 100 pipe organs, 200 reed organs, 20 or so harpsichords,
besides restoring pianos and players, nickelodeons, and band organs.  I
installed about 200 Pianocorders, many Pianodiscs and Pianomations.  I
installed the Wicks theater organ into the Scottish Rite Cathedral in
Dallas.  I installed the 52 rank Senator Phipps (Denver)Kimball pipe
organ with Welte Philharmonic Musicalle into Akin Auditorium at
Midwestern State University.  This organ was installed with money given
by Nita Akin as one of her last acts before she lapsed into Alzheimer's
disease.  She was a great lady.

In 1991, a friend convinced me to come to St. Louis and help him out.
He insisted that St. Louis had more pianos and player pianos per capita
than any other city in the world.  I now believe him as you will soon
find.  He later retired and I opened under the name of Piano World.  I
am presently looking for a larger location, but at this time I have a
floor in a Downtown building that used to be International Shoe Co.  The
15,000 square feet we have now is packed with over 200 pianos -- of which
are players.  Last year we opened a Mall store to sell new and restored
pianos.  We sell the wonderful new Petrof Piano along with several other
brands.   We have more art case restored victorian pianos available than
at any piano store you have ever seen.  We cannot keep a restored player
piano on the floor for any length of time as they sell before we can get
another one to replace it.  I spend most shop time on customers' piano
restorations.  I have learned from hard experience that you never
restore anything halfway.  It always comes back to haunt you.  You also
never give anyone a special bargain.  They won't appreciate it and will
try to clean your clock every time.  I have learned to do only one
quality -- the best work that can be done. I have also learned to have
set pricing that is the same for everyone,  rich or poor.  All work is
by contract only.  All quotes are held firm.  Any change order is also
contracted and in writing.  It is just good business.

As I have mentioned on MMD before, we have many unrestored players
available to hobbyists, dealers or anyone interested.  I have been told
that in some places in the country players in unrestored condition sell
for up to $1,500.00.  We have about 1/3 of our players that we sell for
as little as $295.  Art cases and Oak ones go higher.  I would really
love to sell them off as we have no end of offers to sell us more.  If I
had room and free movers, we might double the number we have within a
few months.  I fear that most of the ones we decline will end up in the
garbage dump.

We keep a large collection of old spare player parts.  It comes in handy
from time to time.  We recently were able to de-gut 6 player pianos.  We
have purchased or traded to get several collections from moving,
retired, or deceased technicians.  We also have techs from around the
country who want to lighten their load and can't bring themselves to
throw out any player parts.  They pack it up and UPS it to us.  When
someone donates player parts to the collection, they get special
consideration when they need something from  the collections.  If
someone wanted to unload a large enough collection we would take a truck
to get it.

Our present building is owned by a well known sculptor Bob Casilly who
has installed City Museum into the large building in the rear of ours.
This museum is like no other museum anyone has ever seen.  There are
many exhibits that are put there by the owner of this or that particular
obsession.  One room is an Architecture museum of lost St. Louis
buildings or parts thereof.  One room is a large toy museum from the
Eugene Field house.  This is a City museum that will allow a collector
free storage space and docents to demonstrate and protect the exhibits.
We have not put in a musical museum yet.  I suspect we will soon put in
a large reed organ room from the collection of one of my customers.
There is a desire to put in a substantial music museum.  I plan to make
sure there is a player piano or nickelodeon room at some point.  This
museum is now 3 floors and the ultimate plan is to fill all 10 floors
someday. If that happens, this will end up a museum of over 1 million
square feet.  Right now, we have put our Million Dollar Julius Bauer
circassian art case grand on display right next to the 30 foot T-rex
skeleton.  It is played regularly by Arthur Hart our resident concert
pianist.  It is still for sale but it gets to be appreciated as the
thing of beauty it really is.

There are several things that we plan to do in the future but we have
not accomplished them yet:

1.  Technical school to teach our special restoration techniques. (and
    thereby get more staff)

2.  Begin once again to build Nickelodeons as I once did years ago of a
    quality to endure punishment of constant use.  (Possibly MIDI
    controlled)

3.  Eventually become a supplier of player piano special need items.  We
    have many things specially made for our restorations that are not
    presently available at other suppliers.  We do not yet have staff to
    actually sell such things in a large scale manner.  We have special
    dies made to make special gaskets, prepunched valve facings with a
    perfectly centered hole, and we have runs made of thousands of fiber
    disks and donuts as needed.  When we have a run of such items made,
    we usually have 10's of thousands on hand.

4.  Eventually build and use my specially designed roll cutter.  This is
    probably the most expensive proposition as I want to recut all scales
    of roll from Rolamonica to Welte Philharmonic rolls.

Yes these are far off goals, but not any farther than we have already
come since I tuned my first Wurlitzer spinet.

If you make it to St. Louis please feel free to come see us.  The front
elevators stay locked, but the one in the stairwell always works.  I am
happy to answer your phone calls, but we keep the machine on and do not
answer until after 5 pm. when we are very busy, which is most of the
time.  We have a waiting list of at least 6-8 months on most items.  On
square grands and reed organs we keep a two year waiting list.  After
that, we keep a waiting list to get on the waiting list.  We are always
looking for experienced or trainable technicians and refinishers, since
we just can't get it all done.  Come see us, pick out a few unrestored
players and we will have them shipped to you on the next Keyboard
Carriage truck for as little as $125.00 each.  Or bring your own truck
we'll help you load up.

Now you know why I sometimes only lurk at MMD without putting in my 2
cents worth.

Robbie and Jody, Sorry I'm so long winded today.

D. L. Bullock -- Piano World -- 1509 Washington 4th floor---St. Louis MO
63103