[ Matthew Caulfield wrote --

> What is the long-term solution, not just for Seabreeze but for
> any venue operating mechanical musical instruments?

Matthew, I am not sure if younger people today know about, or care
about, something like a mechanical music instrument.  For the kids now,
maybe there will be interest if it will fit in a cell phone or tablet,
or appears in a Western-themed video game!  Most have never seen or
heard one unless they visit a museum with such a collection.  The
Seattle Museum of Industry and Art had a few, as I recall.

There is a nascent, slowly growing "idea" called the "Maker Movement".
It's nothing new really; it is "Do It Yourself" or "Roll Your Own"
renamed as usual by those who think they invented everything themselves.
My, how far we have fallen since our parent's (Greatest Generation) and
even our own were doing it ourselves for pleasure, because we couldn't
buy one, or other reasons...

At any rate, it might behoove the mechanical music repairmen and groups
to contact people in the Maker Movement and see if anyone is interested
in mechanical instruments and learning how to tune, adjust, and repair
them, as either a vocation or an avocation.  There seems to be interest
in the mechanical, particularly in the Steam Punk sector of the Makers
Movement, and I have seen steam powered mechanical horn players and the
like (check YouTube), so I think there are probably some young people
who might like the idea.  Just a thought.

Back in the day when Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm were places
where the Main Street and Western areas had quite a few of the Reginas,
Polyphons and other coin-op mechanical players, and museums that house
collections were still around, they probably drew their repair or tune-up
help from the same base of available technicians.  How does Disneyland
keep their instruments running today?

Just some thoughts.

Tom Detweiler
Grass Valley, California