Hello to all and warm summer greetings!  I wish I had a positif
(<lol> for you organists) identification on the Colby piano player
unit; I don't, but this may be of some help.  Way back in the early
1990s I rebuilt a player that looked almost exactly like the one
pictured at the web site.  Funny, if then were now, I would have done
the same and asked fellow MMDers for any clues to the mystery
manufacturer.

The one I worked on had no familiar clues, but one thing I definitely
recall is the extraordinary workmanship.  The spoolframe transmission,
cast (not pot) metal was heavily plated and had a manual tracker linked
to the keyslip just like this one.  Same with the rather large exhaust
feeders and four point roll motor.

Jeff Davis' guess that it's an early Bush & Lane Cecilian may be
correct -- it has all the "overbuilt and over-engineered" gizmos, for
sure!  I was thinking the same thing when I first saw the one that came
through my shop.  I recall some expectations of seeing "Holland, Michigan,"
pencilled somewhere, but did not.  The piano that came through my shop
was an _early_ Hallet & Davis, circa 1904 or so, but just like the
Colby: well-built, with 3/4 iron plate, and _not_ a 65-note conversion.
At the time I theorized it was an early Simplex prototype.

The one oddball thing I remember most about this one is the carefully
laid out (well planned) pneumatic stack:  it is the only 87-note stack
I've ever seen, from #1 A-natural to #87 B-natural.  I didn't recall
seeing the famous "trapezoid trackerbar" that was the Simplex
trademark.  In fact, I'm honestly not sure why I thought it could be
Simplex except for the entry in Armstrong's log which I suppose seemed
good enough to me at the time.  The piano's owner just wanted to play
the tattered rolls he pedalled as a boy.

Believe or not, the fellow who owned this piano and hired me literally
died before it was completed!  The executor of (deceased's) estate
paid the balance due me and arranged to have the piano delivered to
a relative.  If I knew where or whom I would solicit the owner for a
tuning at least!  And I shall endeavor to do so if for no other reason
than to compare photos concerning this subject.

But man, those web pix look just like the one I worked on.  I think
I counted those pneumatics a hundred times over looking for #88.
Whether or not the "Colby" in question is of the same origin seems
damned likely to me; maybe this one is it's 87-note sister?  I'll look
through the old receipt books and try to re-find this piano.  At the
very least, it might be a chance to ask an identity question I wasn't
able to ask a decade or so ago in a forum like this.  If I'm able to do
so, I shall try; it was one of the best built pedal pumpers I've ever
seen.  The piano was a Ford or a Chevy quality-wise; average.

My evening is ruined!

Cheers,
Eric J. Shoemaker