Lester Wolff, in his post [180508 MMDigest], noted:

"I might add here that one must remember that reproducing mechanisms
have no way of knowing if the piano is well tuned and properly
regulated and voiced.  Most pianos out there are sorely lacking the
ability to obtain that level of performance.  "Hat's off" to the
individuals that take the time, money and effort to do that.  The
rewards are remarkable."

A while back I was asked to tune a player piano that was in working
condition.  Usually I play at least part of a roll before I tune
to make certain the player _is_ working, so it can't be claimed I did
"something" during tuning that damaged the player part.  Well, I put
on this roll of "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" and I thought, "Gee,
this is a strange arrangement, not very good."

Then I tuned the piano, which was _very much_ out of tune.  Afterwards
I put on the same roll.  Wow!  It turned out to be a nice arrangement
-- the out-of-tuned piano made it sound bad.  This also impressed on
the owner of the value of having his piano tuned, a nice side effect
for me!

So yes, your player mechanism can be in top-notch condition, but if
the piano isn't, don't expect miracles!

David Dewey
Oroville, California