I have had some interesting discussions with readers concerning
the Duo-Art perforator issue.  Supposedly some were in the Aeolian
batch of equipment that was sold to Larry Givens which he sold off.
Unfortunately, the Duo-Art master roll library apparently did not
survive.  The machines which did survive require masters so any
surviving machine would require some pretty significant changes to
be operational.

It seems that Duo-Art is particularly nasty to recut as to getting the
Theme and "snake bite" holes correct, which explains why some of the
original rolls seem to reproduce better than the ones which have been
recut.

It really is too bad that the individuals sitting on this equipment
will not make it available to those who could make it functional.
They fail to realize that even Steinway and Weber Duo-Arts are still
getting gutted.  With the increasing prices for full restorations,
etc., many very fine and potentially, restorable pianos are at risk
for the future.  Every time one gets gutted or ends up in a landfill,
the existing demand for Duo-Art rolls decreases.

They are _not_ making any new pianos to replace the ones being
destroyed.  We have seen the prices on fine reproducing pianos really
take a drop in the past few years and especially with the cheap new
electronic style players coming out of the Orient, this slide may not
be done.  The new pianos do have the advantage of having catalogs of
music available with more contemporary songs and playing styles.
It is pretty obvious at this point that there will be no major new
recording activities for Ampico, Duo Art and Welte.

The potential value of this perforating equipment declines with any
Duo-Art that gets destroyed or remains unrestored.  As collectors,
we tend to think that reproducing pianos are common.  Actually, the
reverse is quite true when compared to the number of 88-note players
that were made.  The number that have managed to survive and have
survived in good playing condition are again very different numbers.

Nobody is going to get rich on this one and they are going to have
mechanical, musical, and computer knowledge to make this work.  It is
probably cost prohibitive to try to build something like this with the
proper dies, etc., from scratch versus the financial return.  It really
seems foolish to reinvent the wheel when they key parts still exist
somewhere.  A consistent, reliable source of Duo-Art rolls may not
prevent the devaluation of these instruments but it may help slow the
slide.

Okay, I have vented on this one!

Randy Hammond