D. L. Bullock made a number of points about the (UK) Triumph piano
in 011212 MMDigest:-

> This English brand of piano was made by Triumph, which I believe
> also made cars.

No connection.  The Triumph piano company was formed around 1923 to
make a rock-bottom price instrument for the domestic market, at around
=L=65 against around =L=125 for the cheaper Aeolian models.  As with
Broadwood, it bought in its own range of rolls from the Aeolian
subsidiary, the Universal Music Co, which bore the same serial numbers
as the parallel Universal series but had distinctive pink box labels.
Most but not all (like Universal) were "Themodized" rolls with no
Metrostyle line.

> The Autopiano was the player system which was an English licensee
> version of the American Autopiano.  The differences include the
> addition of Themodist to play the rolls with snakebites to accent
> the melody lines.

Agreed.  In circa 1926 Triumph was merged with Kastner & Co, which had
been making the Autopiano under licence between 1915 and 1925.  Triumph
then named their own cheaper make, which used an action similar to the
Standard in America, the Autoleon.  Kastner went on making the
Autopiano badged as a Triumph, but both plants succumbed in 1930 or so.

> The piano also has the obligatory English music rack that swings out
> when you open the piano lid.  It unfolds and suspends itself in front
> of the spoolbox.  The piano lid prop is also spring loaded so you have
> to actively push down the prop to fully close the lid.  Perhaps in
> England piano owners had more parties than we here in the States, or
> perhaps the smaller pianos needed to let more sound out.

I don't think it was spring-loaded !

The Triumph had "button" subduing rather than sliding levers as per
Aeolian and Hupfeld.  These produced a fixed level of subduing by
throttling the treble or bass ends of the stack.  This was "undone" by
snakebites on the appropriate ends of the rolls to produce full power
on the melody and selected accompaniment notes.  You could subdue both
sides at once by operating a "Triumphodist" (= Solodant) lever, but
when working properly, this arrangement could trick you when you came
to a non-themed section of roll (marked "normal") into playing more
softly than you wished.  I found it a bit of a fiddle, frankly.

However, when I had occasion to try playing several Triumphs in the
late 1960s, in nearly all cases the subduing and Themodizing functions
were long dead and gone.

Dan Wilson, London