Piotr, Greetings from The Bronx! Regarding your request [210430 MMD],
in what type of player piano do you want to install the PianoDisc system?

In an upright installation, all the components are installed beneath the
keybed. That would consist of the solenoid rail, to which the decoder
boards are attached, one on the bass side and one on the treble side.
There are also two large power solenoids, one for the operation of the
Sustain pedal, and the other for the Soft pedal.

There is also a main board that connects to the bass and treble
decoder boards and the power supply unit. The large pedal solenoids are
connected to the power supply unit. All these components will negate
the reinstallation of the pneumatic foot pump assemblies or rotary pump
system.

Installation of the solenoid rail may require the removal of the keybed
to allow the modification of the back of the keybed, as the solenoid
plungers play the piano by pushing up the tails of the keys to actuate
the piano action.

(You could set up an external vacuum system to operate the pneumatic
system from outside of the player piano. I've seen pianos where the
lower right-hand corner of the soundboard. You could even have the
vacuum supply coming through the bottom board. This would be assisted
by the installation of larger casters on the bottom of the piano,
raising the clearance of any large hose connections to a vacuum supply.)

As for installation in a grand player piano, if it is of the reproducing
type, there will already be a crowding situation, or in this case an
overcrowding situation. The solenoids would be vying for space with the
poppets of the pneumatic player system. And there would have to be
additional mechanics to actuate the Soft and Sustain rails.

I've seen and assisted with installations in each type, including
ex-player grands, where the pneumatic systems had been removed years
before. I hope that this is of some help.

Dale F. Rowe
Bronx, New York
fredsorchestrion@aol.com.geentroep [delete ".geentroep" to reply]

(P.S. It might be simpler to MIDI-fy the pneumatic player, as there are
devices that can be installed 'inline'. And there are tens of thousands
of MIDI music files available, of all types.)