Hello MMD readers,  Just read a posting about the Baby Ampico, promoted
with the A-type of Amphion action, from 1927 to approximately 1931, and
perhaps a bit later, depending upon the factory inventory.

These were very popular in Maine summer camps and seaside cottages,
many still on location when we moved to Maine in 1963 to start the
Musical Wonder House museum. I tuned a few of them, this being a time
when piano technicians weren't available in this region and most local
people just wanted to play "tunes" on the keyboard for a couple of
parties, so I can imagine how popular they were in the late 'Twenties.
(The runners-up were the Gulbransen 'Registering' Piano and the Simplex
pedal players, at least in our area, North of Boston.)

Most that I saw were J. C. Fischer pianos with "Chickering" on a
plate, screwed over the other trade-name.  However, the one we used
at our museum, for background music while serving refreshments at the
Candlelight Concerts in the evenings, was a J. C. Fischer model.
When we acquired this instrument locally, Paul Rice, who has tuned my
instruments for over three decades, did the work, and even restrung the
bass to give it a fuller sound, the strings having gone 'dead' to a
certain extent, in the lower register.

To tune the Baby Ampico 'reproducing' piano it was a simple matter to
loosen the screws for the tray which held the spoolbox and wind motor,
etc., and then slide it back enough to reach the tuning pins.  On some
occasions I removed the upper stack, i.e., the tray which resembled the
layout for an A-type Ampico grand, in many ways, and the pneumatic
striking action, which required removing all the tubes, marked in
advance, so that some spoons could be adjusted, or other action work
could be done at the same time.  Taking out the entire upper part of
the Baby Ampico was a royal pain, but so is the average Aeolian player
installation for a grand piano, in my opinion.

When I decided to return to creating virtuoso Ampico rolls again,
recently, I bought a sonorous, large Brewster Marque Ampico (pedal)
player.  I could have purchased several Baby Ampico ("Chickering")
models on the local scene, but there were two things which made me
pass them by a second time around.  First, the stack removal (for
"ultra-regulation" of the piano action, as a 'reference' for roll
arranging) was time-consuming, and, second, the tempo was a jury-rig
system involving a springy automobile choke cable type of arrangement,
which could hop up and down on critical settings.

I've seen two of the "keyboardless" versions of the Baby Ampico.
One was in Southern California and the other was "note bashing" in
a Connecticut piano shop.  Both were these Chickering models with the
plate over something, which I would assume would be J. C. Fischer,
or another house brand of the American Piano Co.  They could double
as buffet furniture in the dining room, from the cabinet styling!
(Tuning these console models, with a small keyboard inside made for
that purpose instead of manual playing, must be a trying experience!)

It's my guess that Mr. Anderson, who redesigned the A. B. Chase pianos
and moved on to the Chickerings and other American Piano Co. brands in
the 'Twenties, probably created the scale for the piano part of the
Baby Ampico.  Like the Baldwin Acrosonic spinet, which came along about
a half-decade later (perhaps his work, again), the strings were at a
definite angle, allowing for a longer length and a fuller sound that
one would expect from a 46" upright.  (This was apparently his
trademark in piano design, which required the hammers to be installed
at an angle, but the sound quality was definitely worth the effort!)

I've never owned or worked on the Ampico spinet from the end of the
decade, reaching up to 1940.  These often had the Geo. Steck decal on
them, since Aeolian-American was now the builder of these instruments.
My guess is that the access to the piano was even more difficult than
it was on the Baby Ampico, especially since the latter had the shaft
for the rotary pump pulley "just so", in between some of the strings.
Talk about a tight fit!

There were no hand controls, since the tubing for them was cut off
from the expression units and plugged with a wood screw dipped into
shellac or glue.

Tuning was no big problem for Paul Rice, really.  He could work in
that small cavity, with the tuning pins, if the "drawer" part of the
upper stack were slid back far enough to slip his hammer into position,
keeping in mind that the front panel was removed, beforehand.

Beyond pleasant music for "eating" (and consuming tea/punch/coffee)
during Intermission for our evening concerts, the Baby Ampico was also
at home running 8 mm Blackhawk films of Laurel & Hardy, with a small
'table top' screen set up on top of the instrument, with just enough
room for the roll to be accessed, using a droning Milne medley from the
'Thirties, in most cases.  (We had this instrument before the era of
the VCR, after all!)

The final complaint I had was that of the music rack, which used the
sliding keyboard cover for the lower part, never held many of the
scores, so they continually slipped into the pianist's lap.  The Baby
Ampico was promoted for music appreciation in classrooms, but I should
think that this annoyance would really irritate an instructor, on
occasion.

Outside of that, our Baby Ampico was a great sounding instrument,
especially as a keyboard piano.  Danilo Konvalinka's aunt, Theresa
Maetz, who lived with us for several years and who often played on
our evening concerts, performed Viennese music on the instrument for
our wintertime pleasure, much of it being taped on open reels in
those days.

Hope the above sheds light on this small version of the Ampico.
(My 50" Story & Clark Reprotone outperforms it in the bass register,
I'm sure, especially when placed in a hall to best acoustic advantage.
While the Story & Clark was part of their "Miniature Player-Piano"
line, today's Mason & Hamlin, also 50" high, is "Professional", as
are some of the contemporary Steinway verticals.  How the terminology
has changed!)

My Artcraft Newsletters are now archived and indexed on this URL:
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/archives.htm  They are converted
to the HTML format, with links to illustrated web pages, and more
information on the 1929 Story & Clark piano can be found in some of the
articles posted there.  One can access all our published Newsletters,
or use the subscription "mailto:" link on the home page which connects
directly to my laptops (and not Microsoft's Listbot server, as before).

Regards from Maine,
Douglas Henderson - Artcraft Music Rolls
http://www.wiscasset.net/artcraft/