In response to Andrew Barrett's comment about band organ research
and establishing a registry of existing organs, we're almost ready to
announce the completion of an exciting new intensive research project
that has been under way for a number of years at the Mechanical Music
Press web site!

We're currently in the process of adding detailed registries for major
brands of coin pianos, orchestrions, band organs, and possibly other
automatic instruments. These include instruments that still exist, plus
factory ledger information where available. The Wurlitzer registry is
the result of several years of meticulous work by Terry Hathaway, who
has entered many thousands of details from the following source
materials:

-- Wurlitzer factory records used by Dave Bowers when he wrote "The
Encyclopedia of Automatic Musical Instruments."

-- Wurlitzer factory band organ ledgers that are already published in
PDF format in the Mechanical Music Digest archive [*], plus details
gleaned from the factory "shipping dock ledgers" courtesy of Dave Reidy,
where those ledgers include slightly different information.

-- Extant deKleist factory ledgers that predate and overlap with early
Wurlitzer ledgers.

People who have provided a combined total of many thousands of hours
of work over the years culminating in the Wurlitzer registries include
Terry Hathaway, Dave Bowers, Dana Johnson, Matthew Caulfield, Mike
Schoeppner, Jack Conway, and me.

The details have already been compiled in relational databases, and
Terry is creating reports listing instruments sorted by serial number
order; first example of each model manufactured; instruments produced
each year by model or style; and others.  The databases also include
space for current information, mechanical details, case finish, location,
etc., where available.

We will also include online survey forms to make it easy for anyone
to submit information such as history of ownership ("provenance" or
"pedigree") for an extant organ, mechanical/cosmetic details, etc.,
which will then be added to the original factory listings.

Many Wurlitzer band organs have undergone remodeling over the years,
resulting in an organ not quite matching its original factory ledger
description, and our reports will include this information.  The
survey form also includes a space for the current owner's name, but
that will only be published in the public report with the owner's
specific permission.

Although the Wurlitzer band organ registries aren't quite done
yet, some of the ledger information for Wurlitzer pianos and
orchestrions, and early deKleist organs and pianos, is already in
place at the Mechanical Music Press site.  To see them, please visit
http://www.mechanicalmusicpress.com/ , scroll down in the left hand
column to the heading "Mechanical Music Topics," and click on
"Mechanical Music Registry."  There, you will find listings for
deKleist, Wurlitzer, and others.  Grayed-out headings also give you
a preview of more registries to be added in the future.

The Mechanical Music Press research pages are sponsored by Reblitz
Restorations Inc.

Art Reblitz
Colorado Springs, Colorado

 [ * See "Wurlitzer Band Organ Factory Ledgers", at
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Gallery/Tech/index.html
 [ -- Editor (Robbie)