[ Ref. David Dewey in 160917 MMDigest ]

Thanks, Dave, for highlighting these excellent players to readers.
For several months I know Robbie and Jody have been inundated with
shared Craigslist player piano postings from me almost daily.  I have
been collecting and restoring(strictly as a hobby) automatic musical
instruments for over 40 years, since I was a teenager.  This has been
the most satisfying pastime ever.

It breaks my heart to see wonderful pianos being discarded like kitchen
garbage!  Why can't the younger set wake up and realize how beautifully
engineered and constructed these "plain old" player pianos are.  This
era of workmanship will never come again.  Just look at the life
expectancy of most computers and electronic devices being made today.
One is lucky to get 7-8 years of usable service from these "state of
the art" machines.

Player pianos and music boxes were built by master craft persons,
who really took pride in making quality products.  They usually didn't
think of "planned obsolescence" like today's manufacturers of TVs,
computers, iPads and keyboards, who make their products so cheaply as
to encourage product buyers to purchase the same items, over and over
due to component failure and making repairs impossible.

I know many collectors think of the standard player piano as "at the
bottom of the food chain" of collectible antiques, but the home player
is what spurred my interest in mechanical music years ago (and they
still fascinate me today).  Let's try to save and restore as many of
these fun instruments for our own enjoyment as well as for future
generations to appreciate and love.

David Oppenheim
Savannah, Georgia