John McClelland in MMD 2000.09.03 indicated that he found a Welte T-100
test roll which had two smaller holes following each tested note.  You
described that the extra following two holes (which were progressively
smaller) did not allow the note to play.  You did indicate that the
middle test hole did allow the key to move, but the note to not play.

Does the test roll instructions indicated that the middle hole was to
move the key but not sound the note?

When first reading your entry, it sounded to me as if it is a test to
verify whether the bleed hole is clean or clogged.  It goes far beyond
just being a bleed hole test.

It would seem to me that this would be a very good test for any piano
as long as the piano was built to pass this test when new or rebuilt.
This would be a good gauge to compare the piano to in the future.
There are so many variables that can affect how the piano reacts when
only partially opening a tracker bar hole.  It might be very hard to
expect a player that was built to pass this test, to still pass the
test after 10 years of playing

I wonder if this type of test was abandoned because of the difficulty
to pass this type of test at the factory.  Things like minor leaks in
tubing, leather seals, wood channels, pouch leather leakage that is
different than the other pouches would cause this type of test to fail
inspection.

I would be interested in buying an 88-note test roll of this type to
see how hard it is to rebuild to this type of criteria.

Note: I would think that this type of test roll would _not_ be best
suited to players that operate using a 2-valve system for the key
pneumatics.

Pete Knobloch

 [ See http://mmd.foxtail.com/Archives/Digests/199610/1996.10.02.08.html
 [ in which Wayne Stahnke describes different types of T-100 test rolls.
 [ The roll with graduated hole diameters is known as "Fabrik Skala",
 [ indicating "Factory Test Roll".  -- Robbie