Hello MMD and John Tuttle: The action is a later Otto Higel action.
I recently completed the restoration of an earlier version, a double
valve "Metalnola". The trackerbar mounting, transmission frame and
certain other details are identical, such as the wind motor mounting
technique. This action is alluded to in Art Reblitz' Player Piano
Rebuilding book.
The earlier Metalnola action was beautifully made, but had three
times the number of parts for a given function than any other player
design. Judging by the number of hours it took to rebuild it, it is no
surprise that the "Player action of the future", as the ads described
it, was replaced with a more nearly conventional design (?). This will
still be an interesting player action to rebuild! Hope this helps.
Bob Hunt
Kennebunk, Maine
|