Robert Wilson asks if anyone has tried to reinforce old rolls with
some sort of spray.  I did so quite a while back for Harold Powell at
Klavier.  He had some [Ampico production] sub-masters for masters that
had long since disappeared, and he wanted to use them to make recuts.
The problem was that the paper was of poor quality, about like that
of old International rolls, with high acid content, etc.  They could
not be used as they were -- they would simply crumble as they passed
through the reader.

After experimentation I settled on a hair setting fluid used in
commercial hair salons of the time.  All I can recall now is that it
was blue and could be applied with a spray bottle.  It penetrated
the paper and left a thin layer of tough film on the surface.  This
treatment strengthened the paper to the point where it could be used
for a couple of passes through the reader.  After that the paper began
to crumble again.  I suspect this will be the case for any treatment
used on paper that is flexed.

Piano rolls for the popular market were not intended to be used
indefinitely, and the paper was usually cheap.  Not much can be done
to preserve such rolls except good storage conditions, and there are
limits to how much good that can do.  Most of the old rolls we have
today were stored anywhere and everywhere, so few are in really good
condition.  Scanning rolls is the best bet for saving the music.  Then
the rolls can be recut as needed where someone wants to play one on
a piano.  For those who are so inclined the files resulting from
scanning can be used to play the music on solenoid pianos or through
a computer.

Bob Billings
Reno, Nevada