Coin Slot
Issue: 1981 February 072 - Page 25
Coin Slot Magazine - #072 - 1981 - February [International Arcade Museum]
PUT ANOTHER NICKEL IN
Q: What do you recommend as a first music machine for
my collection?
A: That depends upon several factors: how much money
do you wish to spend? How much space do you have? Do
you like loud or soft music? Does it matter to you whether
or not a huge variety of music is available for the machine,
in the way of rolls, discs, cylinders, etc? I will address each
of these questions separately.
Available space is as important a consideration as any
other. A collection of ten music boxes takes up no more
space than one medium size European orchestrion. A
twenty by thirty foot room will hold a whole collection of
coin pianos and American orchestrions, but if you have
just one corner of a small room, even a Seeburg or Coinola
A-roll piano might be too big.
Starting with the smallest space—an empty spot on a
shelf, for example—a nice instrument might be a relatively
common 15 1/2" Regina table model disc music box, or a
fine Swiss music box, or just a simple Gem or Celestina
roller organ. One of these instruments will put out a
modest volume of sound and take up the minimum
amount of space. Just a little larger is a fine wall-mounted
disc music box by Polyphon or Symphonion—made in
various models with or without a coin slot. Small floor-
standing instruments which make a lot of music include
the Seeburg L, Encore Banjo, Mills Violano Wurlitzer
Pianino, or one of the automatic disc-changing music
boxes made by Regina or Polyphon. Any one of these in
struments makes good listenable music, has interesting
mechanical action, takes up no more than about 2' x 3' of
floor space, and is a good investment. If you have room for
a full-size piano—about five feet wide by two feet deep-
then you can select from a huge variety of instruments,
from a simple upright player piano all the way up to a large
American orchestrion such as a Coinola CO, Seeburg G or
H, or WurliTzer LX, one of which takes up little more floor
space than an ordinary piano, providing that there is
Art Reblitz
music box, reproducing piano and orchestrion collectors
are three different breeds, although there is some overlap
between the three fields).
Are you more interested in the music machine or the
music? Some collectors who have twenty coin pianos and
orchestrions are satisfied to hear the same music over and
over on each machine and never change the rolls; their
variety is in having a number of instruments. Others have
just one piano with a huge library of rolls. If you fall into the
former category, a rare orchestrion like a Berry-Wood
AOW (for which rolls are very hard to obtain) will be more
interesting than if you are a person who needs to have a
big collection of rolls. In that case you should have
something like an A, G or O roll piano, Ampico or Duo-Art
or a home player piano, for which the greatest variety of
rolls exist. A good selection of music is available for a
common disc music box, but the music programmed onto
the cylinder (or several interchangeable cylinders) of a
cylinder music box is all the music you will ever have for
that instrument. If you want one music box, and the
mechanical action is more important, get a cylinder box
with its exposed mechanisms; if a big variety of music is
more important, get a disc box of a type for which discs
are available.
Cost of instruments versus available budget is the most
obvious factor in deciding on starting a collection of music
machines. Would you rather have a whole collection of
less expensive items, or one major item? A variety of roller
organs can be purchased for the price of a coin piano, a
room full of simple coin pianos can be purchased for the
price of a few small orchestrions, and an entire diversified
collection equals the value of a few restored large
orchestrions or band organs.
After considering the above factors, go out and visit as
many public and private collections as you can find. Ex
amine and play all sorts of instruments until you decide
what sounds and looks good to you; by putting some time
and effort into learning what you would like to live with
before you buy it, you will be happier with your collection in
the long run.
enough ceiling height. Most large orchestrions such as a
Hepfeld Helios or large WurliTzer PianOrchestra require a
ten foot ceiling and take up quite a bit of floor space, but
are made in sections in order to fit through a door. (Check
the size of each section carefully, however, or you will wind
.com
m
:
u
m
e
d fro de-mus
e
d
nloa w.arca
w
o
D
w
://w
very notable
collection
of music boxes wished to branch
p
t
t
h
up paying four big burly movers $100 per hour to stand
and watch you dismantle your doorway and part of a wall).
If loud music grates on your ears, consider buying one
of the softer music machines rather than a nickelodeon or
orchestrion. One California collector who used to have a
into collecting larger instruments, and found that he wad
happy with a WurliTzer harp and Encore banjo, but a
reproducing piano was on the verge of being too loud for
him and an orchestrion was out of the question. (Most
FEBRUARY,
© The
International 1981
Arcade Museum
Q: I saw a beautiful old English player piano for sale for
$165. This seems like a real bargain—is it?
A: Generally speaking, no, unless you happen to live in
England, you plan to leave the piano there, and it is in
working condition! Importers of antique furniture import
these things in container loads of antiques, bringing them
to the U.S. where they dry out and become totally useless.
After spending sixty years in
humidity, when they hit
America's centrally-heated buildings, the dryness causes
wood to crack and glue joints to pop loose. Action parts
are usually not interchangeable with American parts, and
the pianos are not built as substantially as contemporary
American pianos were, making repairs much more expen
sive. Although the cabinet of an English player is usually
beautiful, veneered with rosewood or fancy walnut, and
decorated with brass candlestick holders and curliques,
the high cost of putting one into excellent playing condition
makes most of them a poor value indeed. If you live in
America, buy an old American player piano which is still
glued together and stays in tune.
Send your questions, suggestions and ideas to Art
Reblitz, Box 7392, Colorado Springs CO 80907.
THE COIN SLOT — 25
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
PUT ANOTHER NICKEL IN
Q: What do you recommend as a first music machine for
my collection?
A: That depends upon several factors: how much money
do you wish to spend? How much space do you have? Do
you like loud or soft music? Does it matter to you whether
or not a huge variety of music is available for the machine,
in the way of rolls, discs, cylinders, etc? I will address each
of these questions separately.
Available space is as important a consideration as any
other. A collection of ten music boxes takes up no more
space than one medium size European orchestrion. A
twenty by thirty foot room will hold a whole collection of
coin pianos and American orchestrions, but if you have
just one corner of a small room, even a Seeburg or Coinola
A-roll piano might be too big.
Starting with the smallest space—an empty spot on a
shelf, for example—a nice instrument might be a relatively
common 15 1/2" Regina table model disc music box, or a
fine Swiss music box, or just a simple Gem or Celestina
roller organ. One of these instruments will put out a
modest volume of sound and take up the minimum
amount of space. Just a little larger is a fine wall-mounted
disc music box by Polyphon or Symphonion—made in
various models with or without a coin slot. Small floor-
standing instruments which make a lot of music include
the Seeburg L, Encore Banjo, Mills Violano Wurlitzer
Pianino, or one of the automatic disc-changing music
boxes made by Regina or Polyphon. Any one of these in
struments makes good listenable music, has interesting
mechanical action, takes up no more than about 2' x 3' of
floor space, and is a good investment. If you have room for
a full-size piano—about five feet wide by two feet deep-
then you can select from a huge variety of instruments,
from a simple upright player piano all the way up to a large
American orchestrion such as a Coinola CO, Seeburg G or
H, or WurliTzer LX, one of which takes up little more floor
space than an ordinary piano, providing that there is
Art Reblitz
music box, reproducing piano and orchestrion collectors
are three different breeds, although there is some overlap
between the three fields).
Are you more interested in the music machine or the
music? Some collectors who have twenty coin pianos and
orchestrions are satisfied to hear the same music over and
over on each machine and never change the rolls; their
variety is in having a number of instruments. Others have
just one piano with a huge library of rolls. If you fall into the
former category, a rare orchestrion like a Berry-Wood
AOW (for which rolls are very hard to obtain) will be more
interesting than if you are a person who needs to have a
big collection of rolls. In that case you should have
something like an A, G or O roll piano, Ampico or Duo-Art
or a home player piano, for which the greatest variety of
rolls exist. A good selection of music is available for a
common disc music box, but the music programmed onto
the cylinder (or several interchangeable cylinders) of a
cylinder music box is all the music you will ever have for
that instrument. If you want one music box, and the
mechanical action is more important, get a cylinder box
with its exposed mechanisms; if a big variety of music is
more important, get a disc box of a type for which discs
are available.
Cost of instruments versus available budget is the most
obvious factor in deciding on starting a collection of music
machines. Would you rather have a whole collection of
less expensive items, or one major item? A variety of roller
organs can be purchased for the price of a coin piano, a
room full of simple coin pianos can be purchased for the
price of a few small orchestrions, and an entire diversified
collection equals the value of a few restored large
orchestrions or band organs.
After considering the above factors, go out and visit as
many public and private collections as you can find. Ex
amine and play all sorts of instruments until you decide
what sounds and looks good to you; by putting some time
and effort into learning what you would like to live with
before you buy it, you will be happier with your collection in
the long run.
enough ceiling height. Most large orchestrions such as a
Hepfeld Helios or large WurliTzer PianOrchestra require a
ten foot ceiling and take up quite a bit of floor space, but
are made in sections in order to fit through a door. (Check
the size of each section carefully, however, or you will wind
.com
m
:
u
m
e
d fro de-mus
e
d
nloa w.arca
w
o
D
w
://w
very notable
collection
of music boxes wished to branch
p
t
t
h
up paying four big burly movers $100 per hour to stand
and watch you dismantle your doorway and part of a wall).
If loud music grates on your ears, consider buying one
of the softer music machines rather than a nickelodeon or
orchestrion. One California collector who used to have a
into collecting larger instruments, and found that he wad
happy with a WurliTzer harp and Encore banjo, but a
reproducing piano was on the verge of being too loud for
him and an orchestrion was out of the question. (Most
FEBRUARY,
© The
International 1981
Arcade Museum
Q: I saw a beautiful old English player piano for sale for
$165. This seems like a real bargain—is it?
A: Generally speaking, no, unless you happen to live in
England, you plan to leave the piano there, and it is in
working condition! Importers of antique furniture import
these things in container loads of antiques, bringing them
to the U.S. where they dry out and become totally useless.
After spending sixty years in
humidity, when they hit
America's centrally-heated buildings, the dryness causes
wood to crack and glue joints to pop loose. Action parts
are usually not interchangeable with American parts, and
the pianos are not built as substantially as contemporary
American pianos were, making repairs much more expen
sive. Although the cabinet of an English player is usually
beautiful, veneered with rosewood or fancy walnut, and
decorated with brass candlestick holders and curliques,
the high cost of putting one into excellent playing condition
makes most of them a poor value indeed. If you live in
America, buy an old American player piano which is still
glued together and stays in tune.
Send your questions, suggestions and ideas to Art
Reblitz, Box 7392, Colorado Springs CO 80907.
THE COIN SLOT — 25
http://www.arcade-museum.com/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).