Greetings to all.  I will probably be sorry I waded into this topic,
but I have been purchasing player rolls, new and used, for at least
fifty years.

Reading all the recent letters and calling up my personal experiences
of past years, I truly see nothing new.  Everything suggested has been
done before: custom recuts, subscriptions, "roll of the month", package
deals -- you name it, it has been done.

Four special promotions I quickly recall were Ampico, Wurlitzer, style
'A' and 'G' nickelodeon rolls, and special outstanding 88-note rolls.

And yes, I voted with Ed Chaban, who got done in by a supplier!
Ed had a great idea.  Unfortunately he was at the mercy of his
suppliers.  His programme depended on too many outside people and
he lost control.

The Ampico promotion was like "book of the month".  You agreed to
take the series, a mixture of classical and popular music, a new roll
issued every month.  It worked for a while but then stopped.  For some
subscribers it was too much popular music, for others too much
classical.

The Wurlitzer project was recuts of long roll frame music and changer
rolls.  Best I can remember, the result was fantastic and the rolls
sold well but it was for a limited time.

The nickelodeon A & G rolls sold as package deals were done by Don Rand.
In my last conversation with him I discovered nothing but frustration.
Roll sales were flat!  Nobody wanted to buy a group of four or more
rolls at one time.  He was not making any more!

The 88-note recuts were from QRS, but only available through the QRS
Old Roll Auction.  A one-time offer, never in the regular catalogue
listings.

As far as Keystone Music Rolls are concerned, my office file shows
anything but "happy" with their way of doing business.  When they
became "the" only real supplier of Ampico rolls after Play-Rite stopped
and QRS stopped, I had to make several long distance phone calls, not
toll free, and literally beg for a catalogue to be sent.  My orders were
never less than $200.00 dollars.

I was good for that twice a year, whenever they put out their new list,
but I somehow never could get on the mailing list.  I have had to send
in the same order as many as three times with my credit card number!
It kept getting lost or misplaced: the order and my credit information.
There is no excuse for doing business this way, and if Keystone has
found their business to be falling off to such an extent as to consider
suspending operations, it is a situation of their own making.

There are several original pieces of perforating equipment surviving
besides those at Keystone.  Don Rand has some, but only one is set up
and running.  The Wurlitzer band organ roll perforating machines are in
the Buffalo area and in working condition.  (These had been part of the
Don Rand group of perforators.)

QRS has a world of original equipment, and some new things.  QRS is
like a small independent world!  They make their own cores, spool ends,
tabs, labels, boxes, word stencils -- truly self-sufficient!  They can
use both old pneumatic methods or new computer methods.

QRS has it all, including a 100-hole perforator that was used for
Ampico, Duo-Art and Recordo rolls.  Who knows, but the machinery for
Play-A-Sax and Rolmonica might even be there someplace!

In my way of thinking, what better place to look to for custom recuts
than QRS.  They not only have the production equipment up and running,
but the trained staff, and most importantly, the production capacity to
handle the roll cutting needs of anything that come along.  Also words
could again be on recut rolls!

Of course, we all are aware that QRS has stopped making Ampico, Duo-Art
and Recordo rolls and they no longer take on custom orders.  Does QRS
not have the same obligation as was suggested for Keystone, as the
present day keepers of original roll-making machinery?

My last comment is reserved for my personal favorite roll making
company, that has never been even mentioned since all this discussion
started -- I speak of none other than Dave Saul and his "Precision
Music Rolls."  Dave has his own perforating machinery.  His product
is not shopped-out.  His product is checked for everything, start to
finish.  The music used for copies is proofed for original mistakes
and corrected!  The copy is totally accurate, a precision replica.
Boxes, cores, flanges, paper quality, labels -- all are first class.
The punching is clean: no paper dots clinging on, no chaff!

I honestly think I can _hear_ the difference when playing an original
Ampico roll or a Precision Music Roll, from the resulting performance
on my piano.

There are a few other perforators around the country that are home
designed, recently made and produce quality products.  Just one is
Carl Lambie who cuts A & G rolls on a limited basis.  His quality is
also better than the originals, with mistakes corrected and punching
done to the proper size holes for six-to-the-inch rolls.

I realize that I have not made reference to rolls being cut for pipe
organs, violin players, etc., but referred to only the more common uses
of music rolls.  This is not a slight, but I have no personal experience
in the other areas.

Hopefully, folks like Janet Tonnesen, who specialize in custom work,
and Dave Saul and Carl Lambie, who produce a product that is often
better than the original, will keep finding time to make music rolls.
It is patently obvious that the folks with the real heritage production
equipment have abandoned their customers.

You never really know what the other guy is going through 'till you walk
in his shoes, but poor customer relations, customer disregard and lousy
public relations are all just plain bad manners.  The cure is not cost:
it's just communication, honest communication.  The cost of keeping a
customer is far less than the cost of getting him back, especially
where there ARE other options.

Ken Vinen