Hello Clinton -- I own an Aeolian Musette, one of nine players in my
collection, and I like it! I can always count on it belting out a
tune without incident. I just never seem to have any problems with
it tracking correctly, which is a blessing.
To the trained ear, the piano may sound brassy (my piano tuner calls
the effect "bright") but I'm not very discriminating musically. I even
suspect one note not playing when running a roll, but I see no reason
to correct that slight flaw at this time.
I had spoken for mine sight unseen on eBay, and picked it up in upstate
New York with a foot of snow on the ground, where the seller delivered
it to my trailer parked out on the highway nestled in the bucket of his
giant backhoe. I have not been disappointed with it since.
I'd suggest that you play a roll or two electrically before buying.
I improved the little start button at the left side of the spool box
by screwing a small wooden knob to the end of it. Sometimes, like when
the auto reroll mechanism fails to cut in, you need to stop the thing,
and that button is hard to grasp.
You can also try to pump out a tune, but don't be surprised to find
that this model pumps a bit hard. I wouldn't count on your enjoying
that task much.
I have a copy of the original Aeolian service manual for this piano
(covering the 64 and 80-note versions) and I'd be happy to do some
copying of pertinent pages to help if it comes to that. Good luck!
Tom Sendall
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