In July of this year I finally got my Dynavoice back on the piano and
played some rolls.  I was pleased to find that the mesh tape repaired
rolls that had been rolled up for several years played just fine.
The mesh was still pliable and did not cause any problems going over
the bar.

For others wishing to experiment with this type of repair, I would
caution to be careful about using the specific brand of mesh tape.
If using a different brand, then be sure it has the same or better
characteristics.  Mike Stehney used a different brand and the adhesive
was too gloopy and ended up with gooey junk on his tracker bar, rolls
dragging on the tracker bar and paper sticking to itself.

The brand I used, luckily, had the perfect amount and type of adhesive,
so no problem.  The tape brand is FibaTape Multi-purpose Wall Repair
Tape from PermaGlas-Mesh Incorporated, Dover, Ohio, tel. 1-800-762-6694.
2 in. x 65 ft. costs about 5 bucks.  2 in. x 300 ft. about $10.
Available at hardware stores.

Less is better than more -- I got kinda carried away  on some of my
first repairs.  I would recommend using the least amount of mesh tape
to effect whatever repair necessary.  I ended up using mostly strips
1 to 2 inches long by 3 squares wide.  Just enough to stabilize one
chain.  Of course different configurations of chain breaks might be
best repaired with a somewhat wider variation of that.

Also, I figured out early on that old Ampico Rolls are to be avoided
like the plague.  Unless you have an Ampico player, steer clear of
them.  Even though they have sustain pedal coding, for some reason,
Ampico holds the individual notes down for the duration too.  This
makes for many very long chains, often many side by side.  Old rolls
of this type are a nightmare for broken chains, and require a lot of
repair.

I have had the best results repairing regular 88 note roles as far as
them holding up for additional playing, whereas the old Ampico rolls
would continue to break down in new places.

I suggest rewinding rolls with this repair very loosely, so that the
lump caused by the mesh does not indent the paper rolled over top of
it.

In addition, upon removal of the rewound roll, I would grasp the middle
of the roll, lightly, with my left hand, and spin the core counter-
clockwise a half dozen turns or more with my right to lessen the
compression throughout the roll.  Because these were old distorted
rolls, they tracked better when more loosely wound anyway.

Also, the roll should be quite loose to lessen the chance of the tape
getting hung up on other holes in the roll when dropping the roll to
drive the paper to the right flange before storage.

With older distorted rolls they need to be fairly loose anyway, in
order to easily drive the paper to the right flange, tape repaired
or not.

Tom Lear
Tujunga, Calif.