Hello all,  I was recently looking around on YouTube and found
a video of a build-up orchestrion that is being offered for sale
today through Saturday (Sept. 6-8) at an estate sale in Michigan.
It looks unusually well-made to me and thus I thought it might be
desirable or of interest to readers of this digest.

The instrument is based around a Hampton upright piano, (probably
originally an 88-note foot-pumped player), and contains orchestra
bells and stopped flute pipes as the extra instruments, as well
as a mandolin effect on the piano and the "usual O-roll percussions",
though I don't see a triangle or crash cymbal, which would round out
the percussion instrumentation.

What impresses me about this instrument is that it appears to be
carefully thought out and well-constructed, rather than slapped
together haphazardly using dubious materials and techniques.  The 
roll frame looks like a good, solid, metal roll frame; the percussion
actions look well-made and seem to operate crisply and promptly in the
video; the piano appears to have had work done to make it sound good;
the tubing is run neatly and doesn't seem to snake all over the place.

The builder has obviously gone to some length to make this instrument
look good inside and out, from the nice art glass panels on the case,
which make subtle reference (an in-joke, perhaps?) to the designs on
a Coinola CO, to the inside being finished and even having pleated
curtains hanging behind the instruments in the upper part, to show
them off!

My one gripe would be the placement of the bass drum and cymbal in
the bottom of the cabinet, rather than a more logical place in the
top with the rest of the instruments.  However, it would seem that the
builder arranged the instruments in the top to allow greatest access
to the tuning pins and piano action; a large drum up there might defeat
this purpose.

The one thing that impressed me the most about the instrument's
performance on the video was that it actually plays with noticeable
expression, especially piano expression!  I was surprised mainly
because most of the buildups I have seen and heard (excepting those
built by noted restorers) don't play with any expression; they
basically pound out a tune at the loudest volume, and some don't
even have a vacuum reservoir!  To hear this one is refreshing.  The
only gripe some people might have is the lack of "solo" shutoff of
the upper piano register for the extra instruments, but personally,
I don't miss it.

Anyway, the estate sale is in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  They have
a lot of other neat stuff including motorcycles, automobiles, lots
of power tools and machinery, juke boxes, various antiques, other
game room stuff, etc.  This seems to be the only MM-related item in
the sale.

Sale info and pictures are here:
  http://www.lfes.net/4615_DanversDrive.cfm
and the video is here:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsK47Rpq3jM

In the video, the flute pipes are noticeably out of tune, and the bells
are weak.  Other than that, though, this orchestrion sounds good to me.

I have no idea who built this buildup; I don't know at what price it is
offered, and I am in no way affiliated with the seller.  I just thought
it was a "good enough" buildup that someone on MMD would like it.  Even
if I got it for a pittance (unlikely), the transportation costs halfway
across the country would be too high for my budget, so I pass the info
on this one along to someone else who would really like it.

Rambling on,
Andrew Barrett