You can make a suction device for a player out of almost any vacuum
cleaner pump.  However, there is one major caution.  Vacuum cleaner
pumps usually have their motors in-line with the air path and use this
air for cooling the motor.  If there is not sufficient flow over the
motor, it will overheat.  There are three ways to solve this problem.

1. Allow enough air to flow through a spill valve to cool the motor.
This can be a problem because the motor will have to run faster to
supply the leak making it noisier and you will have to provide some
way to close the spill valve when high vacuum is needed.

2. Obtain a suction pump that has a separate fan for cooling to motor.
These are not as common and are a lot more expensive.  When the pump is
assembled in a box you need to make sure that you provide a passageway
for the cooling air as well as the suction and atmosphere passageways.
Baffling both passages well enough to make the pump quiet is a minor
challenge but it can be done.

3. Use a pump that runs off an external motor.  There are types
that use a jackshaft and can be belt driven.  Again, these are more
difficult to find and are expensive.

Speed control is the easy part if the motor is the universal type.
These are brush motors that run on either AC or DC and are the most
common types used in vacuum cleaner pumps.  You can use a Variac
(variable autotransformer) or one of several PWM voltage controls.

A heavy duty lamp dimmer will work for an average size vacuum cleaner
motor.  It is best to get the higher quality types with integral heat
sinks.  Be warned that the motor may overheat if the air flow to an
"air over" cooled pump motor is slowed or blocked.

Best regards,
Spencer Chase