Dear Mr. Barickman,  You are doubtless getting many replies to your
enquiry forwarded to Mechanical Music Digest as to what a "Vorsetzer"
is worth.

The answer partly depends on how you know it is called a Vorsetzer to
start with.  If someone just told you on the basis of a description,
then that gets us nowhere.

But if the owner has known it as that all along, then maybe it really
is a Vorsetzer.  In that instance, it'll be valuable, but only once
restored to full working order.

Does the case say Welte-Mignon ? Phonola (or <something>phonola) ?
DEA ?  Or the rolls which fit (bright red paper in the case of the
Welte) ?  If yes, the instrument is a German "sitter-before" or
Vorsetzer.  It will be historic but its value lies in the work you do
not have to do to bring it to full playing order.

If it's completely derelict (and I'm thinking London, not US, prices)
you might be lucky to get =L=600 ($1000) for it.  DEA pushups, like
the Welte-Mignon, used a unique roll but the First World War destroyed
their launch, so they're exceptionally rare.  Apart from the Phonola,
all Vorsetzers were fully automatic; you switched them on and an in
visible pianist played.  If you were very exacting about the adjust-
ments, the pianist played exceedingly well, too.  Very, very distin-
guished pianists had recorded the rolls in the dawn of recording
technology.

If the case or the rolls say Chase & Baker, Cecilian, Aeolian,
Orchestrelle, Themodist, Pianola, your enquirer has a chance of being
very disappointed or quite pleased.  These are the "pushup players".

Huge numbers of the Aeolian (in UK, Orchestrelle) Company's "Pianola"
were made to the 65-note standard between 1897 and 1915.  Unless
repainted there is no mistaking these as they have gold leaf transfers
all over the inside of the central opening hatch.  The rolls have metal
pins on the ends and the brass mouth-organ affair that reads them (the
"tracker-bar") will have 65 or ("Themodist") 67 holes.

These devices were superb value for money and enormously popular, but
they are too common to be valuable.  Antique dealers in England usually
manage to sell them for about =L=400 ($670) to people who don't know
their true value, but the trade rate is half that for one which may
have had one heavy repair since new.  The fully restored price is
whatever is paid to start with plus the work for the full restoration,
which might be as much as =L=3000 ($5000).  Very few people will pay
this cold for a fully-restored 65-note pushup!  Chase & Baker are rarer
but not as good internally.

However, in 1909 the international standard 88-note roll had come in
and pushup owners wanted a machine that would play both their old rolls
and the new ones.  Aeolian/Orchestrelle produced a "stretch pushup",
the same design as before with 35% more bits inside and a superbly-
engineered double-standard trackerbar and sliding pneumatic switch
converting between 65 and 88 notes.

There is a little detachable chuck for mounting the 88-note rolls,
which have dimples in the wooden, vulcanite or (nowadays) plastic ends.
Needless to say, this pushup is all the modern enthusiast needs to give
convincing recitals (if his or her feet or fingers are up to it) with
present-day rolls on concert-hall grands.  Wow, gimme.

Alas, in 1916 Aeolian abruptly broke off making pushups at all, under
the influence of accountants who pointed out that far more profit was
made selling roll-playing pianos.  Thus a huge scarcity was created and
until about twenty years ago some player enthusiasts had never seen an
88-note pushup.

Thus you will need to pay Vorsetzer prices for a poor-condition
specimen because you may never meet another.  And the "fully restored"
price ? Here I refer you to myself, who has costed the retail price of
a brand new one at =L=3600 ($6000), and the unknown winner of a 1911
specimen at a recent London auction who paid =L=3300 ($5500).

There were other 88-note pushups.  One was made by Hupfeld in Germany
and was labelled Phonola or Solophonola; if it's anything like their
pianos it will be marvellous.  And the Parisian and London branches
of Aeolian Co. did collaborate on a modernised European version of the
original called the Model U, using smaller-dimension working parts,
and it is rumoured that some prototypes were made in 1921 before Head
Office in New York got to hear of this insubordination and got heavy.
Both rare or very rare, so collectable.

Luckily, I got my 65/88-note pushup before most people realised they
ever existed.

Keep us posted as to what it really is !

 ===
 |  \
 |   \              dwilz2@cix.compulink.co.uk
 | [] D Dan Wilson (Friends of the Pianola Institute, London)
 |   /              antispam: remove 2 if emailing
 |  /
 ===