Books you should have --

I believe it is essential that anyone wishing to collect or have a
player piano should have some knowledge about the player piano.  There
was a time in the 1970's when it was very easy to buy books and reprints
of old service manuals about player pianos.  Many of the books that
were once in print are no longer in print and command high prices at
auctions such as the "Treasures of Mechanical Music", by Arthur Reblitz
and Q. David Bowers.  Unfortunately many copies of this book have been
checked out of the many libraries across the country and not returned.
I know three collectors that got their copy of the book by this
horrible method.

I do not have time to "surf the net" very often.  Today I was looking
for books on player pianos when Amazon.com popped up with books on
player pianos.   They had a used "Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical
Instruments", by Q. David Bowers, for around $46.00 and new ones for
$65.00.  If you do not have a copy of this book then now would be a
good time to treat yourself.

The other book that shows up in my search was "The Golden Age of
Automatic Musical Instruments," by Arthur A. Reblitz.  This book
features very nice color photos of some very nice nickelodeons, music
boxes, orchestrions, and other types of automatic musical instruments.
This should be a must have book for your coffee table and I am sure it
will not be available forever.  I have heard that there may not be many
copies left for sale.

"Rebuilding the Player Piano", by Larry Givens, should be in every
player piano owner's piano bench.  You never know when your favorite
player piano technician may retire.  I also found this book on the
Amazon site for less than the usual eBay price.

The four books mentioned are my favorite player piano books but then I
would like to see more books with more color pictures published
someday.

Don Teach
I do not sell books.