I can certainly sympathize with the problem of player pianos being
discarded as useless junk, a practice which I find horrible as it still
continues to this day.

I have worked for several piano retailers here in the Baltimore area
in the past, becoming good friends with all of them.  It has always
troubled me that a few of these guys consider the old upright player to
be no more than a huge pain in the butt to deal with, and they despise
removal of them from a customer's home unless absolutely unavoidable.

The attitude they show me in response to my interest in their preser-
vation has always been the same -- one of total disregard for them,
and general apathy.  They act as though I am crazy for wanting to keep
them, saying things like, "That's just junk," or "What the hell do you
want that thing for?"

Pianos in one warehouse in Washington DC would always come and go,
and I would see some real nice ones.  I would figure that these pianos
would be wholesaled, or kept to sell, but I learned fast.  Many times
I would come to the warehouse to see formerly perfect player pianos
along with other fine old uprights and grand pianos chopped up into
firewood in the back lot, with the dumpster filled to the rim with
lids, piano actions, player actions, keys, front boards, etc.  One guy
used to boast that he could pick up pianos two at a time by stabbing
through the sound boards with a forklift.

All I can think of is that this seems to me to be such a terrible
waste.  My best advice in this area would be that if anyone wants to
find a good, unrestored player piano, then go to the piano retailers
in your town.  Make friends with the owner and ask to go through the
warehouses, which sometimes are many miles from the store.  Here is
where you find the player pianos that are totally unwanted.  Tell the
owner of the store that you will pay for the move and _always leave a
deposit and get a receipt!_  I would suggest you take a Polaroid of the
instrument in the shop you find it in too if you pay for the piano on
the spot which I would advise in the case of a piano which will
probably be destroyed.

Usually you can forget the newspaper classifieds unless you are
looking for a higher priced restored player.  In general, the folks who
have old unrestored players have already called the piano stores asking
if they want to buy the piano, which of course the retailers are not
interested.  About 2/3 of these customers will say "Okay, thanks" and
hang up, but the rest usually will say, "How much will you charge me to
get it out of here?"  Then usually the merchant will take it as a paid
move, and often the player will go straight to the dump, but sometimes
it hangs out in the warehouse until the next load goes.

This is the way it works, and I'm sorry to say it is still happening.
I have seen a few Stieff, Steck, Weber, Knabe and other makes of
players go to the junk pile.  Maybe if folks seeking a player piano go
to the dealers warehouses first, of these instruments could be saved.
Most times I was too late to save them.  I was just in time to see the
dumpster full of parts.  Most of my spare player actions and many items
in my parts graveyard were pulled from these trash heaps.

John D. Rutoskey