Hey All, I have 1926 Chickering Ampico (A drawer).  It's a beautiful
instrument with a hand painted Vernis Martin design and 14k gold leaf
throughout.  It supposedly was custom ordered by a Hollywood movie
producer.  It's my pride and joy.

However, I've noticed this winter that the volume at which it has
normally played is greatly reduced.  I know very little about the
mechanism of this piano, but does cold weather cause a noticeable
reduction in the efficiency of the vacuum system on a player?  I didn't
notice much of an issue last winter but this year it has been
exceptionally cold.

I checked to see that the hoses were all attached but didn't find any
evidence of leakage.  Can the stacks on the left side of the tracker
bar affect volume? I've had to jimmy with the levels at which the metal
guides sit.  I think they're all even but those seem to fluctuate as
well.

The main stack was rebuilt only a couple of years ago so that shouldn't
be the issue.

Sorry for my novice questions.  If anyone can shed some light, I'd be
most appreciative.

Thanks!
Bill Daugherty

 [ Winters are tough on player pianos.  See the MMD articles
 [ about "Plays Too Softly", indexed at
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Archives/KWIC/P/plays.html 
 [ -- Robbie

 [   1926 Chickering Ampico A - Vernis Martin design 1
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/19/03/02/190302_194951_piano6.jpg 
 [   1926 Chickering Ampico A - Vernis Martin design 2
 [ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/19/03/02/190302_194951_piano%201.jpg