Hi all, here is a quick fixer upper.  Just yesterday I was playing my
Hardman Duo console and one of the valves in the tracker pneumatic went
bad on me.  I didn't have the super fine thin paper that was in it to
replace it with, so my quick fix was to use a piece of plastic from a
Ziplock bag.

Now, before you condemn me to purgatory for doing this, I have to tell
you that it does work in a pinch; it has a quicker response time than
the other materials, with no leaks.  Yes, I will be replacing it with
the correct material in the future, but for now it works.  Just thought
I would let you know.

My heart-filled thanks and understanding also goes out to Tom Ahearn
for selling me the piano; I really love it and it did fit in my Dodge
van!  I got the player to work with a stronger vacuum pump that I
gutted from a vacuum cleaner.  Necessity is the mother of invention,
I always say.

The stack has a lot of vacuum leaks that I will fix at a later date,
but the player pneumatics still look new and there are no visible
signs that there are cracks or leaks in them, so I am not going to
rebuild them.  I am thinking that the paper valves in this player are
well beyond gone, and I am going to use the suggested leather valve
replacement instead of the original paper that was used in them.
(It looks like paper, anyway, more like tissue paper.)

To all, happy music!  And keep those mechanical musical instruments
alive!

Sincerely, Jeff Bridges