I recently obtained from the estate of an old friend an early dual
spool- and card-playing 14-note McTammany Organette. After completing
full restoration and setting it up as obtained, I found it played card
music perfectly but that music played from spooled rolls was very poor.

Looking at the few photos of these organettes found in books or on the
Internet I saw the leather belt installed on all these went over the
top of the external cast-iron take-up spool wheel, just the same as the
setup on mine. Also I noticed that in the various pictures the paper
roll fed from underneath the supply side spool and went over the top
of the take-up spool. Very tough on paper, bending it both ways!

The answer proved simple: the spooled paper is driven by the card
feed roller and thus the take-up spool is not designed to be driven,
but simply to be tensioned with a friction belt. So, with a new belt
now running under and not over the take-up spool wheel it plays spooled
paper music perfectly and gathers the roll precisely.

So my friend could never have heard it playing like it should, and
fortunately the rolls had not been damaged. Maybe other McTammany
owners at MMDigest have discovered this tool, but I have not found
any references to this rather counter-intuitive set up.

Jim Harper
Wellington, New Zealand