An answer and more to Colin Mills' posting in MMD 13.12.29

Hi, all Hupfeld friends, especially in Australia.  Unfortunately,
I have no diagram and probably it won't exist, but some hints might
help.  Richard Lipp & Sohn, Stuttgart, made very beautiful sounding
pianos during the first quarter of the 20th century and earlier.
The Philipps DUCA reproducing system was built into many Lipp pianos.

The pictures of the Lipp Claviola to be seen in the link of Colin
Mills' recent posting are showing the typical Hupfeld elements of
a 73-note Phonola player piano, except the 88-note tracker bar and
some minor details.

The production numbers of Lipp pianos which can be found in the Web
are not correct.  I have copies of the original Lipp books for the
years 1910-1913 and a few pages of 1914.  January 1914 begins around
No. 35910 (dates are not in complete order with numbers).  On March
18, 1914, I find with No. 36147 a "Modell 88 Claviola, Nuss Maser,
Zeichnung 500, 7 Oct. Einheitsteilung, php2" (curled walnut, sketch
500, 7 octaves, standard 88-note tracker, ?Phonola piano 2?) delivered
to W.H. Paling & Co, Ltd., Sydney.  So this piano must have been
delivered about three months before the Claviola of Colin Mills,
numbered 36348.

Beginning with mid-1910 until Dec. 1913, Lipp delivered about 185
Claviola pianos to Sydney and Melbourne (Allan & Co Prop. Ltd.).
But a Claviola model 88 is mentioned in the book for the first time
on Aug. 13, 1913.  Claviola pianos do not exist in Germany, and the
name might be derived from the 73-note Hupfeld Clavitist electric
piano to avoid complications with the brand name "Phonola" when
Hupfeld competed with Aeolian's Pianola on the Australian market.

Later in 1913 Lipp also delivers to Australia pianos equipped with
a Uniola.  I am not sure but I assume the Uniola was the brand for
the standard 88-note player in Australia, as the Claviola was not,
as I will explain.  Even later the Uniola will be accompanied by an
Unioliszt, which might be the electrically-operated version of the
88-note Hupfeld player.

The pneumatics below the keyboard can often be found in Hupfeld
instruments, e.g., in the Hupfeld Violina and Triphonola.  Here, in
Colin Mills' Claviola, I count only 24 striking bellows in the lowest
of three wind chests.  So the whole stack should have 73 bellows all
in all, like every Phonola player piano by Hupfeld except a few later
88-note players.

The standard 88-note tracker bar seems to have a shifting device in
order to transpose the music up to three notes up or down.  I am not
sure but it should be operated by the round knob on the left side
underneath the tracker bar.  This was a help for accompanying singers.

When 73 notes (c-c) are played by the pneumatics, 8 notes in the bass
side and 7 in the treble are missing to complete the whole 88-note
scale, and therefore there are the T-connectors -- they serve as octave
couplers.  The wooden bar connecting upper and lower pneumatics has
81 holes (plus 3 for screws).  73 lead tubes will serve for the notes,
2 for the bass and treble Themodist (Hupfeld calls it "Solodant",
switched on and off by the "Solo" lever), and one tube for the right
pedal; 5 are not used.

This 88-note Claviola is an interesting mixture of the 73-note Phonola
and an 88-note standard player.  I have never seen a comparable
instrument in any Hupfeld catalogues.  But some Hupfeld players with
a 73- and 88-note scale, to play both types of rolls, are known.  Can
any reader tell more about Uniola and Unioliszt pianos?

Hans Schmitz
Stuttgart, Germany