J.R. White recently wrote seeking a tech to help rebuild a Cable player
that is a family heirloom [040730 MMDigest].  I highly support his
decision to do so.  I have owned several of these pianos which were
a favorite of old time Chicago player man, Frank Trotta.  He loved the
simplicity of design (although early examples had a tier of primary
valves), straight forward restoration (two tiers of pneumatics, easy to
access valves, simple pumps) the solid tone and easy pumping expression
of Cable players.  The Cable Solo Carola was an odd variant which was
their attempt at a proprietary expression system.  Later examples
included the Recordo mechanism with the turbine pump.

My personal pumper is a 1929 Euphona with carved legs and a mandolin
attachment.  The piano has been playing well since I acquired it from
Frank Trotta in the early 1980s.  During a recent move the piano was
upended and the fiber disks that made up part of the valves became
loose.  Diane DeTar did a great job going through the valves and now
it pumps up a storm again.

Cable made a great player.  Well worth restoring.

Best,
Marc J. Sachnoff
Los Angeles, Calif.