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During the restoration of my Crown-Combinola/Standard pianola I have
read many of the articles in the MMD, and they have been a great help.
The pianola is now playing really well again, mainly thanks to the
advice other rebuilders have given me through MMD.

As you can read in the article following, I have modified a few things
in the tracking device with great success.  It may be that others are
interested in these modifications.

Even though the pianola played well initially, I found that the original
design had flaws.  Firstly, after playing a number of rolls, the
tracking device stopped working altogether.  I found that the bleeds
would clog up with dust and had to be sucked out quite often with a
vacuum cleaner.  A filter system I built between the tracker bar and the
tracking device solved this problem.  For historical reasons, it was
important to me to be able to undo any modifications made so that the
pianola could be restored to its original condition.

Although this gave an improvement, I quickly found that the tracking
device, which moves only the upper spool, was very harsh on the older
rolls I had collected.  Newer rolls, which still retain some
flexibility, played fine.  But many of the older rolls were problematic,
especially those manufactured from acidic paper.  These had become
brittle over time, and were often already in a poor condition when I
obtained them.

Because only the top spool moved, and the bottom take-up spool was
fixed, the paper would form diagonal creases as it wound on.  Since the
paper had become brittle, this often caused tearing and mistracking.
This was particularly a problem for rolls that had long notes, causing
a build-up of sideways movement in the roll and causing tearing of the
paper.  If notes, particularly long ones, were played in a sequence,
the paper would rip longitudinally "along the dotted line",
necessitating many hours of roll maintenance.

Tapping the rolls onto the right flange after every use, and placing
rings between the cardboard roll and the left flange to widen the rolls
as recommended in MMD, did not solve this problem.  The paper continued
to form large diagonal folds, caused by the top spool moving sideways,
while the take-up spool stayed stationary.

Reading in the MMD Archives that in some actions both spools move
sideways (e.g., Story and Clark models, as well as early Aeolians), I
decided to modify the system so that the take-up spool moved in tandem
with the top spool.

Again, for historical reasons, it was important to me to be able to undo
any changes and restore the Crown-Combinola/Standard to its original
condition.

The improvement has been dramatic.  Old rolls now run smoothly, without
creasing, longitudinal tearing or mistracking and settle beautifully
between the flanges of the take-up spool.  Even very old rolls, with
frayed edges and tearing from previous owners, play well.

One unexpected advantage is that, because both spools move, the amount
of sideways movement needed by the top spool has been halved compared
to when only a single spool moved.  In other words, the travel of the
tracking device is more restricted, causing less wear and tear.
Rewinding has also improved, since both spools are exactly above each
other.

The modification can be executed by an average handy person.  If
there are people having the same problems with tracking and they are
interested in improving their pianola in this regard, I am willing
and able to provide drawings and photographs of this alteration.
Please send me your email address, so that we can continue our
correspondence via email.

Many thanks for the help given to me by the many people whose
contributions were preserved in the MMD Archives.  Your wisdom and
experience has been invaluable.

John Mulder,
8 Peita Crescent,
Mona Vale 2103 NSW, Australia