I know the MMD public messaging system is down currently, but I do
want to give a big thanks to everyone that has reached out to me about
my new piano, especially Mr. Barnett, who provided a great restoration
guide for the Duo-Art mechanism.

I've also picked up another copy of the Reblitz book and given that
a good read. However, it turns out that the tubing is not _entirely_
to blame here. There's definitely a lot of suspect tubing, but the
real problem turned out to be the motor mount.

It seems that the leather strap around the motor housing has broken,
which means the belt does not have enough tension to keep the pump
turning at a constant speed under load. Clear pictures of Duo-Art
motors in situ are a bit scarce, but it seems like this was an unusual
arrangement. Most of the ones I see have tensioning springs instead of
straps, and evidently these must fail less often because I can't really
find anyone talking about them.

The previous owner's solution was to jam a wooden wedge, which fell out
during the move. One of the movers must have known it was important,
because he tucked it back in, albeit in a different spot. Anyway,
I found it laying under the piano, looked at a photo I'd taken before
buying it, and gently tapped it back in place.

The piano plays much stronger now, albeit not as strong as when I saw
it in the seller's house. I have to hold the Solo lever in the Loud
position in order for it to play with any gusto on Duo-Art or 88-note
rolls (and hold the Bass/Treble levers in the Loud position for 88-note
rolls), and it still loses steam on big chords. Figuring out how to
fix that motor mount properly is going to be key to getting it running
again, along with replacing the tubing and recovering pneumatics.

All that being said, I doubt I can conduct the full restoration that
this instrument deserves. I do at least plan to replace the tubing that
runs under the keybed to the stack, as that is where most of the damage
is, and the tubing above the keyboard going to the tracker bar, as that
is what will have to be removed in order for the piano action to be
serviced.

Maybe I'll tackle more as I get more familiar with the mechanism, but
I do not want to bite off any more than I can chew. My ultimate goal
is to "Do No Harm", both to myself and the instrument, in order to
conserve it for myself and whoever is lucky enough to own it after me.

I've at least cleaned the crap out of the insides, and given the piano
a good tuning, and it plays very nicely by hand. It has a lovely warm,
clear sound not unlike the Steinways that I've played of a similar
vintage and condition. This was definitely a high-grade piano in its
day, although I can tell that they cut a few corners here and there.

The soft pedal is a half-blow instead of a proper Una Corda, and
the middle pedal is a bass sustain instead of a sostenuto pedal. The
half-blow is kind of a letdown, since it only makes the piano quieter
instead of changing the tonal color, but I'm probably one of the few
who finds the bass sustain pedal more useful than a sostenuto, but
that's a separate rant and it really doesn't bother me either way.

John Kurtzke

 [ https://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/21/08/01/210801_131604_photo_2021-08-01_15-50-19.jpg 

 [ In all the systems I'm familiar with, the tracker bar function named
 [ "Soft Pedal" actually halves the hammer travel distance. Some Duo-Art
 [ grand installations also include a keyframe action shift for the
 [ Una Corda effect (aural and visual). -- Robbie