Antique Ampico Reproducing player piano - great original condition
When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Antique Ampico Reproducing player piano - great original condition:
$1000.00
This sale is for a 5 ftAmpico reproducing piano. It is in nice, original, unrestored, untampered-with condition. Would be an EXCELLENT candidateforthe full restoration is deserves.
It s aHaines Piano with theAmpico reproducing mechanism.
Reproducing pianos were a huge, giant leap above regular player pianos. Whereas player pianos played every note at the same volume and had no provision for variations in loudness as they played the piece, reproducing pianos had the ability to play the various notes at varying volumes, from very soft to very loud, according to the originalintentions of the composer, using additional coding on the special rolls they utilized.
Reproducing pianos were in the large concert halls and prestigious homes of America (and the world) during the 1920s. Regular player pianos were cheap and abundant, both in the 1920s and now. On the other hand, reproducing pianos were expensive then and are rare now. As an average, reproducing pianos initially cost about ten times what a regularplayer piano cost.
The greatest pianists of the 1920s produced the master cuts for the reproducing rolls of literally thousands of classic and then-popular works. You could for all practical purposes have a famous composer and pianist play classical music right in your living room, with it being difficult to tell from a live performance. Today, when you play a roll of a famous composer, you hear the music exactly like he played it, not as \"interpreted\" or \"improved\" by someone else. Not even a quality CD produced today can match that!
This reproducing piano (like all reproducing pianos) requires special rolls, which are routinely available on (just do a quick search for \"Ampico pianoroll\" to see what I mean). In addition, they will also play all the regular 88-note rolls that were the vast majority of rolls by the 1920s (of course when a reproducingpiano plays a regular roll, you don\'t get any of the volume variations - you just get the roll played as it is).
QRS, in Buffalo, NY still makes the 88-note rolls for player pianos. They have continuously updated their offerings, and now you can even buy piano rolls for present-day popular tunes. Check out their website.Ampico reproducing rolls are also being remade today, but not in the scope and diversity of the QRS offerings for 88-note rolls.
I will include 12 regular 88-note player piano rolls (not Duo-Art reproducing rolls) to the successful buyer.
Contrary to regular player pianos, reproducing pianos do not require pumping with your legs. Instead, they have a vacuum pump inside. The vacuum pump and its motor are present in this unit.
I have had this reproducing piano for about ten years. I got it to restore, but have not gotten around to it, and am not getting any younger.I had looked for a reproducing pianofor about 15 years prior to finding this piano,which turned up in my local area.It was an excellent candidate for restoration whenI bought it, and it has been stored withinmy climate-controlled house ever since.
The piano case is mahogany veneer. It looks to me to be in great shape. The finish is crazed, and needs redone. The veneer itself is very nice, but of course has the typical minor dings and scratches from being about 90 years old. The worst problem with the veneer is the two small missing pieces at the far ends, as shown on the photographs.
All the keys appear to be ivory, all original, no significant damage. About 6 keys have minor splits, and one has a minor chip (see the last photo). Although seriously out of tune at present, I believe this piano could be cleaned up and played (by a pianist, as a piano; not by rolls as a player or reproducer) with a little work and tuning. Of course it would need to be restored by a piano technician to be the great piano it once was and is capable of being again).
The hammers, dampersand strings all look to be original. The piano mechanism will need to be restored. There issome rust on the strings,and all the worksneeds cleaning and restoring). The soundboard appears sound, but that is not guaranteed (and not difficult to repair even if it has some of the usual typical minor cracks).
All the reproducing mechanism is here. All needs restored, but I see no significant damage other than the tubing is hard, the leather is stiff, etc. The usual.
Due to its age, this reproducing piano is being sold AS-IS, WHERE IS. I am not in a hurry to either sell this or to have it removed. So I can work with you on removal timing through the Spring of 2014. Of course I would need to be paid (via PayPal upon your winning in accordance with\'s requirements). You are totally responsible for arranging the moving of the piano from its current location (at your expense), but I wll be as helpful and supportive as humanly possible.
It is located onthe first floor of my residence, and will be an easy removal. All it needs is a short trip throughthe frontdoor onto my porch and into your truck.
Icould provideadditional detailed photographs if interested. Also, please do not hesitate to ask any questions. Would happily show to any local potential buyers.
Does not come with a piano bench. The starting offer price is considerably less than what Iput in it in about 2000.
Reproducing pianos aremasterpieces of pneumatic and acousticengineering. They are very well designed and constructed. Once properly restored with quality materials, you can expect that your grandchildren will be able to enjoy one of the true engineering marvels of the early 20th Century. There are very few left, and nothing can compare with them in terms of anoperating piece of music history.
Thisis one of a handful of reproducing pianos I purchased over ten years ago. I have sincesettled on a Steinway Duo-Art and a Knabe Ampico to restore and retain, and these others must go, due storage limitations and a need to downsize to smaller digs.