Dear Thomas and group,  Would that it was so easy as to buy a new comb!
Even in the later years of mass production, combs were still made for
specific music boxes, and individually tuned for that box.  It is
possible to have a new comb made -- if you have very full pockets --
but the chances of finding a comb that would fit a specific music box
are slim to none.

Your music box is most likely Charles Paillard & Cie (the tune
card dates from 1860 to 1900) but that doesn't help.  Neither do
measurements, unfortunately.  Even a comb that measures exactly the
same would not be tuned the same, since the combs were made to fit the
arrangements on the pinned on the cylinder, not vice versa.  It is
possible to repair the comb on the box, but with that much damage, the
cylinder will also most definitely also need a repin!  These repairs
are all VERY expensive.

I would suggest sending photos to one of the respected music box
restorers for an estimate, but I'm afraid the cost of repairs will far
exceed the value of the box.  But please don't throw the box away --
there will come a time when someone with laser equipment gets
interested in music boxes, and _then_ new combs will be made far more
reasonably, and many more lovely music boxes can be preserved.

Music box restoration has the same problems that nickelodeon and
piano restoration has.  The restorers are not getting younger.  Many
are slowing down or ceasing all together, and there are very, very few
younger people interested in following that profession.  The watch and
clock repair shops usually have not learned the skill specific to
musical box repair, in particular the comb repair and tuning.

Repairing music box combs is tedious, extremely time consuming, and
trying to explain to the customer why the costs are so high gets old.
And anyone who wonders why cylinder repinning is expensive should do a
couple themselves -- I have, and I certainly admire the people who do
them on a regular basis; I'll happily pay to have mine done!

It has reached the point where it is often not cost-effective to restore
any but really outstanding boxes, and that is really sad.  A few
collectors have learned to repair their own boxes, but the learning
curve is slow and there are no longer classes to help.  I'm afraid the
financial incentive is just not there for young people to learn this
trade.  At this point in time, buying music boxes that need repairs is
not generally a wise decision.

But, I'll tell you a true story.  Several years ago, I was in an
antique shop that had a music box in similar condition to this one,
with many teeth missing and lots of tips and the cylinder with very few
pins left.  The owner of the shop was explaining to a young couple that
it was really no problem, since the broken teeth were all in the bottom
of the box, and it was simply a matter of super gluing them back on!
(I waited outside to make sure the couple knew better; they came out of
the store laughing about his story!)

Good luck with this pretty music box; I hope it will someday be repaired
to sing again.

Beatrice Robertson Farmer

 [ Beatrice is pleased to tell everyone that last January 1st she
 [ and Lee Farmer were married and she is now Beatrice Farmer.
 [ She writes, "We've just added his collections to my collections
 [ -- nearly all collectors collect more than one thing.  Makes for
 [ really interesting open houses!"  -- Robbie