This is my response to Michael La's January 6 request for information
concerning his "Conservatory" model Autopiano.

My observations over the years fail to reveal any differences in
quality among the various model designations, other than the usual
tendency to build things cheaper as time went on.  Names such as
"Studio", "Home" and "Conservatory" were used to indicate the relative
size (height) of the instrument.  

The Autopiano Company built pianos of somewhat above-average quality
into which they placed their "Auto Pneumatic Action", advertised in
1910 as being "used in ninety percent of the highest grade player
pianos".  Thus, a higher-end "Autopiano" would consist of the Auto
Pneumatic Action built into an instrument of exceptional quality, such
as the Kurtzmann of Buffalo or the Charles Steiff of Baltimore, to
mention but two.  Detailed photos of a piano by Eilers of Portland,
Oregon, containing an early Auto Pneumatic Action, may be seen here:

  http://www.immortalpiano.com/index.php?page=eilers-player 

A number of rolls played on this beautifully restored instrument may be
seen and heard on the YouTube channel known as "deeney1990".

At some time during the mid-teens, the Auto Pneumatic Action Company
introduced the "Standard" (brand) player action and the corporate
entity created a new company to manufacture it, known as The Standard
Player Action Company.  The Auto Pneumatic action became the
foot-pumped Auto De Luxe player action, or, in the electrically-powered
version, either the Stoddard-Ampico or the Welte-Mignon licensee.
Thus, the "De Luxe" designation refers the player, rather than the
grade of piano into which it was installed.  

Both Standard and De Luxe player actions were manufactured under the
same patents and were of the double-valve type.  Eventually, the
foot-pumped DeLuxe actions were phased out and Standard player action
production went to single-valve construction, in spite of earlier
company literature extolling the virtues of the double-valve system.
The latest Autopianos were built with single-valve Standard player
actions.

An undated but circa 1910 illustrated advertisement in the Music Trade
Review for The Autopiano Company describes "The largest factory in the
world making automatic player pianos only".  To see, go here and scroll
down:

  http://www.arcade-museum.com/mtr/MTR-1908-47-24/MTR-1908-47-24-36.pdf 

From this humble beginning there arose a huge factory complex occupying
most or all of two city blocks near the shore of the Hudson River.
Multiple New York City addresses are found in the literature:

The Autopiano Co. (R. W. Lawrence, Pres.)
12th Ave. bet. 51st & 52nd Sts.

Auto Pneumatic Action Co. (Wm. J. Keeley, President)
619-629 West 50th Street

The Auto Pneumatic Action Company
653 West 51st Street

Standard Pneumatic Action Company (W. A. Mennie, Pres.)
638-652 West 52nd Street

At one time these associated companies boasted having more than three
thousand employees and a capacity of twenty-five thousand player
actions per year.  What percentage of these players that went into
their own numerous makes (such as Kohler & Campbell, Francis Bacon,
etc.), is not given.

For further reading, John Tuttle (Player-Care) offers several reprints
of Autopiano, Auto Pneumatic and Standard Player Action publications on
his web site:

  https://www.buysecure.com/playercare/reprints.html 

A favorite of mine is listed as "Practical Guide for the Regulation 
of Player Piano Mechanism".  This is an Auto Pneumatic Action Co.
publication, but I have seen it bearing the name of one or another of
the piano companies that used the Auto Pneumatic Action.

Jeffrey R. Wood