Recut Ampico piano rolls issued by Larry Givens (LG) sometimes
show up in batches of old piano rolls that player piano enthusiasts
collect.  The rolls can be recognized by the labels on the boxes
(and the rolls themselves) because they usually display his name
and address (Wexford, PA).  The printing on the label is black on
a white background, and the border on the label consists of three
colored 'frames', a wider red frame sandwiched between two much
thinner black frames.

Furthermore, the paper from which the rolls are made is somewhat
unusual, because, unlike conventional Ampico paper, it 'crackles'
audibly as it plays and rewinds.  In addition to the piano music, one
can hear the sound of dried leaves being walked on.  This crackling
sound may be distracting to some player piano aficionados, but the
paper and punching quality and generally good condition of the rolls,
as found, often compensate for the slight 'background' noise.  The
color of the piano roll paper is light brown or dark tan, depending
on the artistic provenance of the viewer.

Does someone have a better term for the color of this paper?  One
could describe the paper as slightly dimpled Kraft paper (which
appears visually mottled) because the texture is not uniform across
its surface.  This dimpling is what causes the paper to crackle as
it crosses a smooth polished tracker bar during play and reroll.  It
is curious that there are rolls similar to those described above which
are almost identical except that the labels do not bear Larry Givens'
name and that the roll paper is not dark tan but white and mechanically
conventional (smooth and uniform).

The dark tan paper is of good quality and appears to withstand
substantial changes in temperature and humidity without mechanical
distortion or noticeable dimensional changes.  The paper itself is
about 30% thinner than conventional player piano paper (.0018" vs.
.0027"), which explains why LG rolls do not exhibit as much paper
'build up' as their original counterparts manufactured by the American
Piano Company.  This thinner paper probably also accounts for some LG
'combination' rolls that contain two (or more?) Ampico titles on one
piano roll.

The dark tan paper reminded me of the material that is often found
between successive layers of electrical transformer windings or in
high quality capacitors to isolate their successive 'plates'.  This
suspicion was confirmed by AMICA member Wallace Donoghue, who
immediately knew that the LG rolls were made from 'transformer paper'.
For the electrical application, this paper exhibits high dielectric
strength and long service life.

It appears that a respectable number of late Ampico B rolls (and
model A rolls as well) were issued by Larry Givens.  Does anyone in the
MMD community know how many rolls of different titles were made by LG?
Is there an extant list of roll titles that was available in the past?
What did they cost then?  How many of each title were made?  Does
anyone know more about these rolls?  For example, who actually punched
them, and on what equipment were they made?  What was the time frame
during which they were manufactured and available for sale?

I recently acquired one of the LG recut rolls, Ampico 71173, Scherzo,
op. 31 B-Flat Minor, by Chopin, played by S. Rachmaninoff (originally
issued by Ampico in October of 1933).  This particular LG roll is also
made from the dark tan Kraft paper, but it is dimpled so much less than
any of the others (with different titles) acquired with it, that it
generates negligible background crackling noise during play and rewind.

Has anyone else in MMD experienced this characteristic with this
particular LG roll title, or any other LG roll, for that matter?
I believe that this piano roll is relatively rare and have found it to
be musically delightful.  Could it have been singled out for 'special'
paper treatment so that the background crackling noise would be
minimized (eliminated?)?

This writer would be grateful to learn more about the history and
manufacturing technology of the Larry Givens recut Ampico rolls.

Bill Koenigsberg
Concord, Massachusetts

 [ Many rolls recut by Larry Givens were of crinkly, thin glassine
 [ paper.  -- Robbie