This is my first post here so a brief introduction.  My name is Regi
Hedahl and I'm a full time piano technician out of southern Texas.
I tune and service pianos around my area and rebuild a few pianos.
My knowledge of player pianos is very limited but I would like to
learn more.  That said, I acquired my very first player piano the
other day so thought I would post here.

The piano in question is a J & J Hopkinson, built in 1911, fitted
with an Electrelle player mechanism.  It appears to be a factory
installation.  However, I have never seen or come across anything
like this and thought maybe someone could tell me more about it.  The
nice thing going for this piano is that it's not clapped out like 99.9%
of pianos from this vintage that I find here in southern Texas.

It must have had an easy life in Europe and once it came to Texas, it
sat in an air conditioned home without ever being used.  As a result,
it does not have rusty strings or a host of other problems I often find
in pianos from this area.  The soundboard does not have any cracks and
the bridges are in good shape.  However, the piano was massively out of
tune as if it had never been tuned since leaving the showroom.  It was
2-1/2 steps flat but I was able to tune it to A=440 after two pitch
raises followed by a fine tuning.  The pinblock was nice and tight and
very consistent.

I'll let the piano settle for a few days and then go back and tune
it again.  That said, my expectations for this piano were pretty low
before I got busy on it.  However, I was pleasantly surprised after
I got it all tuned.  As far as an instrument is concerned, it's very
promising.  There is a lot going for it such as a sustain in the upper
treble that rings on forever and an extremely mellow tone when played
softly.  It is so different from, say, a Yamaha U series, but honestly,
I would take this piano any day over one of those.

Any information regarding this Electrelle player mechanism would be
appreciated.  The motor says 220 volts and shunt motor.  What kind
of power source is needed to run this?  The tracker bar mechanism is
located under the keybed but I have not been able to figure out how to
slide it out.  Any ideas on how to accomplish this?  What kind of rolls
does this take?  Attached are a few photos so you can take a look.

Regards,
Regi Hedahl
pianotuning@gmail.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

 [   Overall view of the piano case
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/15/02/19/150219_063112_IMGP0516.JPG 
 [   Top view of the Electrelle player mechanism
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/15/02/19/150219_063112_IMGP0517.JPG 
 [   Bottom view of the Electrelle player mechanism
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/15/02/19/150219_063112_IMGP0524.JPG 
 [   Tracker bar mechanism
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/15/02/19/150219_063112_IMGP0534.JPG 
 [
 [ The Electrelle electric piano player mechanism is described
 [ in an article at John Tuttle's Player-Care web site, visit
 [ http://www.player-care.com/player-piano-actions.html
 [
 [ Another article, with many photos, appears at
 [ http://pianola.fr.yuku.com/topic/438/Electrelle-An-unusual-electric-kicking-shoe-player#.VObWcyxR4ow 
 [ -- Robbie