Questions about an Autopiano

mrj_442 · Post by **mrj_442** » 20 Mar 2006, 01:12

Hello,

I just purchased a 1911 Autopiano from a woman for $10 (she needed it out of her shop - saved it from becoming a cherry table!), and got it home today

. The finish looks good, and the piano plays fair, with only a few bad keys, and the need for a tuning. The player mechanisms are out of it, and I plan on rebuilding it someday - need to get the piano playing well, first.

I've done some research on this piano (hence the age discovery from a serial number cross-reference - serial 83339), and have found a lot of information on what is missing. I do have a few questions about this piano.

First, all the levers are there, save the one to open the front panel. I can't find a way to open the panel to access the levers. Any suggestions?

Second, under the front of the piano is a small box, about 1" by 3", with two tubes at the back, two holes near the front, and two metal straps, which have what looks to be two metal contacts under them at the front, with rubber or something around them. What on earth is this? Something electrical, or a vacuum switch? Seems like you'd get shocked if it was electrical

!

I got the piano because of my kid's interest in music. I am amazed at the finish quality after all these years (a little cracked in places, but I understand that's normal). Looking forward to hearing it play when well tuned.

Please let me know if you have any answers.

Thanks,

mrj_442

Post by **Barrie Heaton** » 22 Mar 2006, 19:39

Sound like the contact box for the electric motor the best place to find information about your piano would be is at http://www.pianola.org/index.html

Barrie,

mrj_442 · Post by **mrj_442** » 23 Mar 2006, 00:50

Thanks for the reply! I did find out more about that black box. I removed it, and found out it was a vacuum box of some sort. I accidentaly pulled out one of the "contact points" - turned out to be a button of some sort. There are two black buttons, attached to a rod that goes up into the piano, apparently a vacuum release. Today, I finally managed to get the front panel open - it was simply a snap catch (small spring ball). Upon examination, the two buttons were marked "soft bass" and "soft treble". The panel had apparently not been opened in years, which would explain the difficulty I had opening it. It still had the sustain pedal, soft, treble, and reroll levers in it.
It will take a while to get it back in shape, but hopefully I can get it tuned up in the future. It is a fascinating piece of equipment.

Thanks,

Jim Grant