I would like to offer a slight correction to the article written by
Roger Anderson in which he quotes David Sharpe, published as MMD
021217.

In identifying the earliest pop music roll that has Ampico "B" coding,
there is a "typo" error.  The first "B" roll is "Blue River" by Banta
and the number is 209161E.  (not 209_2_61).

In the 1990's I made a rather complete survey of Ampico coding and,
with the help of Jeff Morgan, we were able to identify by date, many of
the physical changes in roll coding, box labels, and leader printing.
Grasping the results is a bit of a chore.

The findings of my study were presented at the AMICA convention held in
Sandusky, Ohio in 1997.  In unscrambling the puzzle, I adopted the
philosophy that the most reliable source to the chronology exists
within the Pop Series, (200003E-216673).  This is because these rolls
were almost never reissued with any form of upgrades.  Conversely, the
ballad series, was under constant revision, and hence we ignored that
series when searching for a change over date, although November 1927 is
a good rule of thumb.

The simple, down and dirty facts as stated by David Sharpe are quite
good, and would satisfy the needs of most collectors.  One rule that he
did not mention is, "never trust a recut".  During the seventies, some
recut rolls that are in "A" format have had a few additional "0B" and
"0T" cut into them to help the roll sound better on a "B" piano.  The
upgrade is crude and far from complete.

A last tidbit is the fact the factory did put "A" rolls in "B" boxes.
If you are collecting the best "B" rolls, look for the advanced "B"
coding that appears on the classical series in May 1929 with roll
69833H and beyond.  The popular  roll counterpart appears that same
month with 211501E.

When Frank Milne started making Ampico rolls, his earliest efforts were
lack luster, but after the first six or so, he discovered what the "B"
could do, and the coding becomes very interesting.  By the close of
production Milne, had his own way that has no equal.  Using the "Sub"
in combination with other "steps", he added real life to his
arrangements.  To him, the "sub" was not the softest playing, but
rather, a softer shade of some other step.

Some others who helped in my research and a few are seen also on these
pages:  Mike Walters, Ken Vinen, Paul Dewitt, Bennett Leedy, and Bill
Burkhardt.

Bob Taylor