Bryan Cobley wrote in MMD 981025:

> Hello,  I am e-mailing you from England for a friend who restores
> player pianos.  He has an old Ampico Marque and requires a wiring
> diagram for the tubes etc. to make it work.  I wonder if you or a
> colleague can help at all or perhaps direct me to someone who can.

Unfortunately, there is no "manual" for the Marque Ampico.  However,
I have used the following materials to restore my piano.

Keep in mind that there were several versions of the expression system
used in the Marque Ampico.  The most straightforward is simply a Model
A Ampico with foot pumped bellows instead of an electrically driven
pump.  Other versions of the expression system are like mine which is a
modified Model A with no spring pneumatics and another system described
some time ago by Terry Smythe that bears little resemblance to the
Model A expression.

With this in mind, I have used all of the Model A Ampico rebuilding
materials and manuals that are available.  In addition, there was a
blueprint of the "foot pumped Ampico" which may still be available
from Player Piano Co. in Wichita, KS.  This blueprint was actually
of relatively little use.

Finally, I found a very valuable reference in a reprint of the service
manual for the Amphion player piano mechanism.  The Amphion system was
used in the Ampico design but did not contain any expression systems.
However, the foot pumping devices, governor and a number of other parts
of the system are well described in the Amphion manual.  It may also be
available from PPC.

The cutout block on the back of the spoolbox on my machine was nothing
like any of the ones described in the literature and, since I received
my piano in pieces, I had to study out a probable tubing for this
feature.

I also had a few functions that did not make a great deal of sense
to me but that I had to do something with.  An example is a pneumatic
on top of the spool box which, when activated, forced the switch on
the side to move into the "Ampico" mode.  When playing a series of
88-note rolls this was inconvenient and I eventually mechanically
disconnected it.

Anyway, if your friend gets into some specific questions, maybe I or
some others on MMD can help with suggestions.  Most of the restoration
should be typical Model A Ampico techniques.

Bob Conant
Endicott, NY