I am presently outfitting a 7-foot RBB Mason & Hamlin Ampico with
Spencer Chase's electronic interface.  I haven't heard it yet but plan
to, just as soon as Gene Gerety sends me the software for it.

As many know already, this is a relatively new invention, and an
incredible solution to the lack of music we are presently experiencing,
and will continue to experience, as these old perforators I fear are
someday going to be trashed or donated for a tax write-off.  From what
I can tell, no one will probably ever own them again.

My own Chickering Ampico B already has the E-Valve Player System
installed and working in it since February, and it is flawless.  If
anything, it is more responsive than rolls.  (The B system uses about
160 feet of tubing in the drawer, alone.  From the drawer to the stack
is another 200 feet, and from the top of the stack around to the valves
can be 200 or more feet.)  The E-Valve system cuts this 6 feet per note
down to perhaps 6 to 8 inches per note.  So even instruments which are
not fully restored profit, too!

Even with the outdated, clumsy, and inconvenient software that I am
presently using, it's so great to open the program and see a selection
of thousands and thousands of rolls of music there!  And, I can sort
them many different ways.  If I wished to take the time, I could make
directories for each artist, or each composer.  But my old program
presently doesn't have a search function that would make it easy at
all, so that's another reason I can hardly wait to get the program by
Gene Gerety.

My suggestion to all who are planning to get this inevitable interface
of live entertainment: If you can't afford to do anything else right
now, get ready by rebuilding your rotary pump completely and possibly
rewinding the motor too, because your piano is going to get a workout
the likes of which it has not enjoyed since it was new, I suspect.

My piano was restored in 1981-2 and has never been touched since.
It still plays just like it did when I first restored it, having to
retrofit an Ampico system into a gutted piano which I bought from Ralph
and Elaine Obenchain in '81.  I still am grateful to them.  (So far,
I have not heard any deterioration of the power of this instrument.)

But my suggestion to everyone is to restore every bit of leather
and cloth, and to use PPCo's #55 bellows cloth (the best ever made
recently).  But add cabretta patches to the folds for extra measure.
My Chickering uses Hartz Cloth -- a different manufacturer, but with
cabretta patches.  Don't use anything but cabretta, by the way, and
don't cover your pump with leather.  There are reasons I say that,
but for another article, perhaps.

A full restoration of any pump also demands new ball bearings, and
I have a suggestion here as well: do not use SKF bearings!  I have
had 3 sets of SKF bearings fail on me, including a piano destined for
California and another in Wisconsin, so I am not only _not_ using them,
but I will warn everybody else not to use them, either!

The E-Valve Player System Is bringing a new dimension of music into our
life.  We could not begin to afford all the rolls it would take, much
less the room and storage for them.  But now, since we find ourselves
playing our own piano even more, we are also dragging out our favorite
rolls as well as rolls that we seldom hear.  The bottom line is, we
play more rolls now than we did before we got the system!

And for those who still wonder: the E-valve Player System has no affect
at all on the operation of your player.  It will also work for just
about any pneumatic player piano, as long as it has a motor-driven
pump.

Believe me, this new system is trouble free, bullet-proof, and
flawless, it seems to me.  I'm completely satisfied.  I would only
suggest that owners not try to install it themselves.  It should be
done by an experienced technician who isn't afraid of electronics.

Craig Brougher