Hi all,  I have just returned from a visit to my niece's home in
Seattle, Washington.  This is our yearly trek to take my mom to visit
with her granddaughter.

As usual, I worked on her Beckwith upright player piano.  This player
was supposed to be rebuilt, and a lot of work was done, but it was
still hard to pump.  I have chased down air leaks and on this trip
I took it down to the primary pouch board, and discovered that only
a few pouches have been replaced.  Augggh!  However, this trip was
very successful, and one can now get expression out of the piano with
pedaling technique, which I demonstrated to her amazement.

However, the rebuilder did not hook up the soft bass & treble pieces
(although he did recover them), nor the sustain pedal pneumatic.  For
these units, I have determined the dimensions of the missing rods and
levers, and will make them for next summer's trip.  What I'm left with
are the two activation buttons.

I have figured the wood block dimensions from the marks left on the
underside of the keybed.  I figure the wood block is probably 1/2"
thick or so, to allow the air channels to be drilled in it, and there
were likely two spring steel pieces covering the holes that are pushed
down by the missing buttons.

So, not having a unit to look at, how are the buttons retained in their
keybed holes and connected to the spring steel pieces?  Does anyone
have a spare unit, or maybe I should ask if the spring steel pieces are
available anywhere?  This will be the last "missing piece" to bring her
piano back to completeness.

The rebuilder told her that these parts were not important, and to play
all the rolls at the same Tempo!  Fortunately, she knew better just
from common sense!

I have to run now, but I will post later about the _wonderful_ visit
we had with a list member one night.  To save him from any possible
unwanted attention, I will refrain from identifying him -- let me just
say that there are great folks on this list!

Play 'em if ya got 'em!

David Dewey