When I first acquired (1990) a Mason & Hamlin Ampico B grand
(RBB 40084, mahogany finish), the player mechanism had been removed
and discarded, most likely before 1955.  Nonetheless, the absence
of the Ampico B did not dissuade me from pursuing the challenging
rebuilding project, because the musical potential of the instrument
was substantial.  The prior gutting of the Ampico B was so thorough
that every last wood screw hole had been back-filled with 'plastic
wood' or equivalent to hide the fact that an Ampico mechanism
(attached to the underside by wood screws) had once graced this
extraordinary piano.

Prior to having the piano totally restored, I located a complete set
of original unrestored Ampico B components from a 5'8" Chickering
grand which would enable me to return the M&H instrument to its former
glory.  The only real problem was retrofitting an Ampico B stack which
was originally of a length that supported 33 valve block bodies on each
of its 3 decks.  I had a spare original 32-valve block Mason & Hamlin
Ampico B stack from a 5'8" Model A piano of the right vintage and
condition to work with.  With the practiced and supremely skillful aid
of the late Bob Streicher, the stack was lengthened 1.5" (only on the
bass end) for a turnkey trouble-free retrofit into the RBB piano.

Except for one other part, retrofitting the other subsequently restored
Ampico B components did not present any obstacles to achieving musical
nirvana.  The part that caused so much consternation was the Ampico B
pump reservoir assembly.  Because the RBB piano was found 'empty',
there was no obvious and unambiguous way to determine where that one
particular under-the-soundboard component was originally positioned.
With such a large instrument, I did not foresee any difficulty finding
the 'right' place to put the reservoir assembly.  However, no location
allowed a 'fit' with a corresponding set of original screw holes.

At that point (after two months of analytic frustration), I reached out
for help.  Fortunately, Dave Saul had previously restored an instrument
like this one for Gil Kuykendall.  That instrument (RBB 40135), which
was found almost totally gutted, still had a few original parts left in
it, and, thankfully, that included a portion of the reservoir assembly.
Because of the RBB 40084 piano's fan-beam construction, there was no
practical place to locate the reservoir assembly in toto without having
some portion of it objectionably protruding under the piano.

In hindsight, it was clear that the Ampico engineers faced the same
problem years before.  Drawing from their years of experience, they
decided to reconfigure the B reservoir assembly into two distinct
components--the reservoir bellows by itself and the so-called distributor
block that is ordinarily affixed to the stationary board of the reservoir
bellows.  This unconventional physical separation did not affect the
performance of the Ampico because a maze-like but carefully routed
(over and under thick wooden beams) vacuum supply tube was used to
re-establish the necessary pneumatic connection between the
now-disjoint components.

At the very least, the Ampico engineers' approach was unusually clever.
In fact, it was brilliant and obvious, but only after you saw how they
did it.  After seeing pictures (an 'aha moment' for me) of the restored
underside of Gil's piano, I duplicated the configuration for my
instrument.  With great satisfaction, two separate sets of matching
screw holes 'showed up'.  Of course, I had been looking for just one
set of matching screw holes before learning about RBB 40135.

Now things really get interesting.  With this reconstructed but
original component layout, everything Ampico B fit back into the piano
with all the corresponding screw holes dutifully matching and lining
up.  But wait! There were about 12 other screw holes remaining and no
more Ampico B components to retrofit back into the piano.  These
clearly original, residual screw holes were located at the rear
underside of the instrument on the bass-side support beam opposite
where the electric plug connector was mounted.  What else could have
been there when the piano was first delivered to its 1929 owners?

After much thought, I reached the tentative conclusion that the area
remaining with unfulfilled holes was originally home to the components
that were associated with the 'Capehart Switch'.  Capehart was the name
of a very high-end record changer.  It would have been operated in
conjunction with the Ampichron clock, which was available as an
optional accessory and incorporated in the left hand side of the Ampico
B drawer.  The Capehart switch (rotary type) itself was mounted in the
far right hand side of the drawer, with four pointer labels: Capehart
Only, Jointly, Alternately, and Ampico Only.  A photo of the Ampico B
drawer Capehart Switch in a Knabe piano appears in a 1980 Frank Adams
publication: The Ampico, A and B Service Manual.

Now, my objective is to find a set of orphaned Capehart Switch
components (the drawer switch per se and associated pneumatic and
electrical devices mounted under the soundboard) to retrofit back into
the RBB 40084 piano.  I have never seen the under-the-soundboard
Capehart components and do not have any idea of what they might look
like.

Can someone in the MMD community help me with this quest?  Even if you
do not have such parts, do you know what they looked like?  Have you
ever seen any Ampico B piano with both the Ampichron and Capehart
Switch accessories?  Any help you can offer will be much appreciated.

Bill Koenigsberg
Concord, Massachusetts