From about 1906 Broadwoods were the first British maker of Pianola
pianos by agreement with Aeolian.  They were splendid big Barless
uprights with the stack beneath the keyboard.  Not many can have
been made, as they are rare in the UK.

Broadwoods probably continued to make Pianola pianos until the
Aeolian agreement with Steinways in 1909.  Even so, Broadwoods'
innovative Chief Engineer at the time, Reginald Collen, was awarded
several patents for player mechanisms and also acquired the rights to
use those of a Mr. Welin (either the Axel Welin famous for the davits
used on the Titanic, or one of his sons), and from about 1908 produced
the clever unit valve/pneumatic system discussed before on the MMD.

Quite a number of these installations must have been produced as they
are not uncommon in the UK.  However, they were large and complex,
especially in grand pianos, and could be unreliable unless perfectly
set up, so they failed to meet Broadwoods' well-established standards.

The company therefore reached an agreement with Hupfelds in about
1910 to fit the Solophonola mechanism, apparently very successfully
because of the hard-to-beat combination of a refined, reliable and
very expressive system with the superb Barless grands and uprights.

These were produced until shortly after the start of WW1 when
Broadwoods turned to war work.  Not a huge number seem to have been
sold, possibly because  they were very expensive and Aeolian's new
British-made Webers were stiff competition.

At the beginning of the war and for a year or two after it,
Broadwoods produced a number of Solophonola pianos with all Hupfeld
names and marks thoroughly erased, doubtless because of anti-German
feeling, and later with parts cleverly redesigned by Reg Collen for
more economic production.

Then about 1920, probably because of reparation tariffs, the German
Solophonola mechanism was dropped in favour of the Angelus, Broadwood
Angelus upright and grand players are their most commonly encountered
models.  A few Artrio systems were fitted.

At some point around 1924 Broadwoods started fitting the Ampico.
Presumably the Angelus was then dropped, for Broadwoods thereafter
used Auto Deluxe mechanisms for their foot-operated players and fitted
a very few Auto Deluxe Welte Licensee mechanisms at the very end of
player production in the early 30s.

If anyone can refine these dates from catalogues or advertising
literature I should be glad to know.

Patrick Handscombe
Wivenhoe, Essex, UK