[ Part 2: Conclusion ]

The hooking up of the control lever linkages, as well as designing and
bending them, was no easy thing.  Some are multi-angular acting, and
quite complex.  They're enough to try the patience of a person familiar
with Duo-Art linkages, as was Clare.

A set of Ampico primary valves was used before the stack to insure good
repetition.  It is excellent.

The Duo-Art air motor was retained and runs effortlessly from its own
Ampico pump.  Another Ampico pump provides vacuum for the remaining
needs.  Both pumps are mounted in a remotely located Duo-Art basement
pump box and are driven back to back (one running clock-wise, the other
counterclockwise) by the original motor.  Incidentally, these pianos
originally had two internal pumps.

For quietness, a model "B" pedal valve block was used.  Soft pedal
compensating pneumatics were found and attached to the two previously
unequipped expression units.

Endeavoring to learn of the piano's past, I wrote to Steinway and Sons.
A prompt reply from the vice president stated that they merely sold
pianos to Aeolian, who resold them.  In reply to my question of the
number of this size piano that was made, the reply was, "very few."

I have since learned of two others, and perhaps four.  Kay is currently
rebuilding another 1920 serial number 201835; mine is 201022.  He
obtained his from a very old deserted mansion.  Fortunately, his piano
was complete and original.  He is presently restoring it with all the
care it deserves.  The other 9-1/2' Steinway Duo-Art is owned by The
International Piano Library.  Unfortunately it suffered considerable
fire damage in their fire, and currently awaits funds for rebuilding.

A fourth piano is a part of a large pipe organ installation in Minnesota,
or was it Wisconsin?

Although I have not seen the fifth piano, a thoroughly reliable source
has told me of its existence in a wealthy home in Los Angeles.  It is
decorated, painted, I believe, and I don't believe it functions as a
player.  Does anyone else know of any others -- for sure?  I would like
to know!

Of other brands, Anaheim High School had and perhaps still has a
stripped 9' Chickering Ampico like Ivan Shapiro's -- but this one had
"The Ampico" in large letters on the curved side.  Bernard Comsky of
Comsky Pianos here remembers removing the player from a 9' Mason &
Hamlin "A," years ago.  Ralph Jensen had its mutilated stack last year
when I visited him.  Although Ralph wasn't the one who did the dastardly
deed, he said that the stack was the same size as that of a regular
Mason & Hamlin.  This piano in all probability still remains somewhere
around Los Angeles.

Please excuse a bit of digression, but my rough draft didn't quite mesh
correctly.  I'll tell about the condition of the piano when I acquired
it, work up to what happened to it since, and wind up with a subjective
report on performance...

When I acquired the piano it had already been rebuilt and refinished,
and in all probability stripped at the same time, around 1962.  At
that time new Steinway hammers and unknown dampers were put in, plus
restringing, etc.  The person who did the work, though highly respected
in his area, now deceased, did not perform up to his usual local
reputation.  The hammer line was lost.  Furthermore, the dampers didn't
function properly.

This is now corrected.  New Steinway hammers and new Steinway dampers
were installed with the correct hammer line reestablished.  Keith
Hardesty, who handled the piano work, even improved upon the Steinway
dampers in the lower notes, which at first failed to dampen properly.
The action was thoroughly gone through and regulated.

The piano originally came with a hammer-rail lift, but this was gone
when I acquired it.  Keith fabricated a beautiful lift from a piece of
angle aluminum, which gave a very flat, rigid and light lift.  It is
operated by a large direct acting book-shaped pneumatic which Clare
rebuilt specially for this application.  He spent several days on this
one aspect and was finally delighted with the results.

As I mentioned, when I obtained the piano it had been disguised as a
"straight" piano.  The double legs characteristic of most reproducers
had been updated with singles.  The spool box cover had been replaced
with a new solid cover.  The fold-down front cornice, which folds down
to expose the front controls, had been sawed and screwed into permanent
placement.  A beveled piece of wood underneath covered the opening
through which the stack operates.  Tubing holes and cutouts had been
filled.

The first step accomplished in restoring the original appearance was in
locating a set of Steinway Duo-Art legs.  Legs from an OR Steinway were
obtained from Keith's shop.  Refinished ebony, the legs looked terrible
without the skirts, but beautiful diagrams of these were provided by
Kay Harmes and new ones were fabricated.  Incidentally, all Steinway
Duo-Arts use the same size legs.  Of the three legs, 5 of the 6 dowels
were in perfect alignment, as were all 8 screw holes!

A new front cornice and other wood parts were easier to replace, but
all were involved and costly.  Little by little, and believe me when
I say it seemed like an eternity, the piano progressed until two months
ago it played its first notes.  Since then Clare has experimented with
changes in several things.  A model "B" sleeve valve amplifier was tried,
but resulted in the loss of the "human feel" that the "A" amplifier
yields in this installation.  A temporary vacuum cleaner for a pump
produced the first sounds, giving way to supplemental assistance by a
Duo-Art pump on the piano part.  Finally the two Ampico pumps were
connected and the mechanism again regulated.  The Duo-Art pump worked
well, incidentally.

Performance results are gratifying.  A delicate light pianissimo, the
test of a good reproducer, is beautifully rendered.  The reproducer
responds quickly to intensity changes, thus accenting well.  And there
is ample power for fortissimo passages.  Pressures range from 5 to 28
inches.  The repetition is all that could be desired.  The only thing
needed now is more use on the new hammers, but they are improving and
will liven up with more use.  Briefly stated, the project was a complete
success and our "tongue in cheek" apprehension has given way to "oohs"
and "aahs" as the nuances, trills, accents, and heavy bass chords roll
along!

 - - -

Epilogue

I was around during this restoration process and after, and it was a
barrel-full-of-monkeys-worth of fun!  Sam's home, then on Iris Circle
drive, was both sumptuous and large.  Clare Spencer, Mel Shores and Sam
and his business partner George Ho and myself and others too, all under
that typical reproducing piano trance that often strikes one first when
young, stayed over and watched all with wonder.  Also, before as after,
AMICA meetings where scheduled and had for the Southern California
Chapter, being always notable as they were noted in The AMICA Bulletin.

The amount and quality of reproducing piano discussion was fulsome and
ongoing always, as were dinners and Hollywood Bowl visits by the gang.
It is hard to impart what delight all this was, back in those earlier
days of youth and a just-formed AMICA and a rip-snorting, no holds
barred real Editor of it's bulletin, such as Jim Elfers himself
certainly was.  (There will never be another.)

As for the performance of Sam and Clare's masterpiece, it was a thing
past splendid, being always truly artistic of rendering, and potent in
the imparted impression of sheer fineness.

One musical treasure I remember it reproducing, in particular, was
Arthur Rubinstein's rendering of a certain Albeniz item from the Ampico
catalog, this having been made at the height of his youthful interpretive
and executive powers.  Therein the mood of the Spanish/Moorish exotic
under his hands was delivered with panache and aplomb-unmistakable.
Absolutely so, and magical.

Yes, it was "gratifying" as Sam wrote and, very, very much more.

Jim Miller
Las Vegas, Nevada

 [ "Rebirth Of a 9-1/2' Steinway Reproducer," by Sam Thompson, published
 [ in The AMICA Bulletin, Vol. 8, No. 11, November 1971, is re-published
 [ here with the kind permission of AMICA and The AMICA Bulletin.
 [ -- Robbie