It's a shame we are experiencing the results John Tuttle wrote about.
I say results because it is a result of decreased demand. QRS cannot
continue producing rolls that nobody is buying. And if people are
buying less, the price per roll of what they do produce needs to go up
to cover the fixed costs. I guess player pianos have reached their
peak, as far as our present generation is concerned.
I see an even clearer picture in band organs. Most all the old band
organs have been found. Most everybody that has one also has a good
supply of rolls. Thus less roll producers and higher roll prices.
But more disastrous to the business of recutting rolls is "MIDI."
As more and more of our classic instruments get converted to be run
by computers, they get less and less authentic. The pendulum swings,
and will it be another 60 years before we start re-restoring and
re-recutting for authenticity?
Mike Schoeppner, Kansas City, Missouri
|