Coin Slot

Coin Slot Magazine - #V8N7 - 1983 - March [International Arcade Museum]
as the D, featured endless paper
play to rewind and back again. Be
music rolls The endless format made
cause of paper buildup on the take-
of coin operated pianos and orches
Most of the larger manufacturers
it easier to manufacture the rolls;
up spool, rolls of more than three or
with no takeup spool there was no
speed change during play so every
four songs (the industry standard
trions also manufactured and mar
keted music rolls, and new songs to
was ten songs) had to be made with
attract new nickels were more im
song could be punched at a standard
the songs toward the end punched
portant than whether or not a music
rate of paper speed.
at a slower rate with longer holes to
roll would last for fifty years. Intact,
The endless rolls also simplified
construction of the roll mech
anism. A typical endless roll
compensate for the gradually in
the
creasing paper circumference on
happy to have operators discard
the takeup spool. This complicated
old rolls. As reprinted in Harvey
mechanism incorporates two pinch
the paper drive mechanism on the
Roehl's Player Piano Treasury, the
rollers that drive the paper across
Clark Orchestra Roll Co. in Novem
the wooden tracker bar, several
roll perforators.
Despite the simplicity of the typical
paper guides, and sometimes a crude
endless roll mechanism, the advan
one of their successful operators in
automatic tracking device, which
tages of the rewind system out
describing the operation of his busi
simply tilts a guide roller one way or
weighed the disadvantages of its in
ness: "In the first place, I see that
the other to adjust alignment of the
creased complexity. The endless
every single piano on my string has
manufacturers of
rolls were
ber, 1926, in a news release, quoted
paper over the tracker bar. To pro
roll mechanism occupied a large
a new roll each week We wouldn't
pel the paper through the spool
space on top of the piano, in a bin
think of trying to interest newspaper
frame one of the rollers has a pulley
with a belt running to another pulley
on the pump crankshaft.
under the keyboard, or behind the
readers in an edition that was many
soundboard. By comparison, a rewind
hours old. How, then, can we expect
spoolbox occupies relatively little
the public to pay their good money
space. I n order to change an endless
to listen to music they have been
quires the addition of a transmission
roll, the roll bin must be opened, a
for reversing the direction of the
crank is inserted, and the roll must
listening to for more than a week?"
Of course, the more rolls that were
paper, driving the play spool in one
be wound on the crank by hand be
discarded by operators, the more
direction at slow speed, or driving
fore putting it away in its box.
A rewind-style roll mechanism re
the rewind spool in the other direc
When a new roll is inserted it is
tion at a faster speed. The transmis
good practice to sit and watch it
sion, in turn, requires a shifting bel
lows mechanism to change from
play all the way through as it unrolls
to make sure it doesn't mistrack or
new rolls the manufacturers would
be able to sell.
In the early 1970s, the author
acquired a gutted Peerless Style D,
which was manufactured circa 1908.
In basically sound condition, the
piano needed the usual restoration
but wasn't falling apart. All of the
player action had been removed
except for the player stack — the
mechanism that plays the piano
keys. Other parts that had been
discarded included the motor, drive
mechanism, vacuum pump, control
pneumatics, most of the wiring, mu
sic roll mechanism and coin mech
anism.
Although Peerless D music rolls
feature good, lively ragtime arrange
ments, they are almost impossible
to find. With the endless roll mech
anism sticking out of the back of the
piano it was originally impossible to
push the piano all the way back
against the wall. In the era when
Peerless manufactured the Style D,
Front v,e/v with the lower panel removed,
illustrating the location of various added
parts. The original piano pedals are still
in place just under the added shelf.
wrinkle.
This takes
much
longer
om
than .c
changing
a re-wind style roll
m
:
u
on
its
simple chuck. Also, despite
m
e
o
s
r
u the fact that endless rolls are fairly
ed f ade to -m
d
Enough space was
left for them
be
a
o
playing many times with
arc shelf durable,
operated o
normally.
. extension
wnl w The
w
little edge wear, a rewind roll made
D
for the spoolbox /w
:/ and pump could easily of high quality paper played on a
be removed
in case a future owner wants
ttp
h
well adjusted machine lasts indef-
to restore the piano to its original format,
leaving no trace of the conversion.
non-player piano. In order to fit all of
the parts in the relatively thin piano
case, the entire player action was
under the keyboard and behind the
piano. None of the automatic mech
anism was above the keyboard,
where the player stack and some of
This is more important to
the control pneumatics are usually
present day collectors than it was
located in later coin pianos. With
the large, bulky, almost "prehistoric"
inately.
to the coin piano companies.
© The
46 International Arcade Museum
they used pianos of the same basic
dimensions of an ordinary upright
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