The Wurlitzer Style I or IX coin operated player piano is really a
great music maker.  The X designates a model with an automatic roll
changing device that held six rolls, usually with five tunes on each
roll.  Those roll changing models would play one tune for nickel until
the end of the roll at which time it would shift into the rewind mode.
After the roll was finished rewinding then the piano was ready for the
next roll or the patron could select which roll would play next.  These
were very reliable mechanisms rarely needing work.  Mine has played
continuously for thirty years without any attention.

The Style I usually played a ten-tune roll.  There were variations in
number of tunes on the rolls depending on type of music.  The rolls had
a tremendous variety of music cut into them over the years, from ragtime
to popular tunes to classical music.  No other coin piano roll company
produced as much music variety as Wurlitzer.

In the pre-1920 years the music was arranged by Wurlitzer in their
factory.  Sometime in the early 'twenties they started using Q.R.S.
arrangements made by some of the best pianists known.  These rolls
played 65 notes, more musical notes than the coin piano rolls known
as "A" roll (58 notes) or "G" roll (48 notes).

The Wurlitzer Styles I and IX, as well as other models, used a roll
commonly known as the Wurlitzer APP roll or the Automatic Player Piano
roll.  These rolls had the playing notes as well as holes to work the
shut-off (coin trip), soft pedal, mandolin, sustain pedal, and pipe
register.

If the machine had bells then it was known as the Style I-B or IX-B.
The holes to control this instrument was not in the roll scale so
Wurlitzer came up with a multiplexing system to turn on the bells when
two holes in the tracker bar came on at the same time and two holes
would turn them off.  Holes 4&5 together turned the bells on and 2&3
together would turn them off.

The motor shut-off or coin trip was hole number 1, but in the changer
model the coin off switch is activated by a valve in the piano stack
while playing and a large pneumatic that the roll changer opens when
a roll has rewound.

Soft pedal and mandolin on was hole 2, soft pedal off and mandolin
off was hole 3, sustain pedal on was 4 while 5 would turn off the
sustaining pedal.  Hole 6 was snare drum and not used in the Style
I or IX.  Holes 7-71 were the playing notes playing A2 to C sharp.
Hole 72 turned on the flute pipes in the larger models while 73 turned
off the flute pipes.  In these larger models with two ranks of pipes
one rank would turn on while the other rank would turn off.

Hole 74 played the bass drum and triangle together.  At the time these
instruments were made many drummers had a cymbal that beat at the same
time the bass drum was played.  Typically in the larger Wurlitzers
known as the style B or C and some others the violin pipes would play
when the drums were being played and the flute pipes would play in
parts where the drums were not so dominant.

LOCK AND CANCEL

All of the above is just to get to the part about lock and cancel.
Wurlitzer used several different methods or devices to achieve the lock
and cancel functions.

One of the methods used two valves on the stack for lock and cancel
using a small block with a pouch in it that would open the port to one
valve keeping it one.  The second valve would pull the pouch to close
off this hole thus canceling the on valve.

If your stack has extra valves then the lock and cancel function was
achieved with this simple method.

A second type of lock and cancel used a device with two opposing
pneumatics that moved a piece of wood back and forth.  This piece of
wood had an opening in it that would channel the air.   Neat to watch.

The links below are to pictures of a lock and cancel device with the
slide.  There are also some blueprints from Wurlitzer showing the other
lock and cancel system for a Wurlitzer Violin Flute Pianino with
xylophone.  You should be able to get an idea of how that system worked
from the blue print.

Other lock and cancel systems were used that I have not seen.

Don Teach
Shreveport, Louisiana

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