Player Piano Restoration Gallery

This section of our site gives you an overview of the player piano restoration process from start to finish.

(Click on the thumbnails to full size versions of the photos below)

Restoration #1 - Kimball Upright Player Mechanism Restoration

In December of 2000, Accutone Piano Service undertook the restoration of a 1926 Kimball Player. As this was an interior restoration - just the player mechanisms and the electrification of the instrument - the restoration took place in the customer's home, and was completed in the course of several days.

When we first did an estimate on the piano, it had suffered years of neglect and poor storage at the hands of a previous owner. There were rats' nests inside the case, and the bottom-board of the piano was broken. A hinge on the foot pumps had broken, necessitating a new weld.

We went to work, and these pictures show various portions of the piano as work is under way. 

In this photograph, our technician is putting a new roll onto the restored mechanism for testing purposes. As you can see in these photos, the cabinet of the piano is opened for access.

In the two photographs below, you see two of the most important elements of the player piano. On the left is the tracking mechanism, which ensures that the roll is playing properly, in perfect alignment, and the right notes are playing. If the cabinet is opened while the instrument operates, you can see the valves move left and right - adjusting the roll while it moves! On the right is the actual motor, which makes the roll reel out from its spool to the lower spool.

The two pictures below are taken underneath the piano, near where the foot pedals are. The large black object in the picture on the left is the trunk of the player mechanism. When the foot pedals are pumped, this is where the vacuum that operates the whole mechanism is created. In the photograph at right, we see many of the control tubing has not yet been re-connected. The large orange tube on the left has been run down from the new electric motor, which has been installed in a perfect niche on the upper left portion of the instrument.  

The picture below shows where the new motor (the wooden box near the tracking mechanism on the far left) is positioned. In most old upright player pianos, this empty space is the perfect place to mount the new motor. This motor, when properly activated, creates all the vacuum for operation of the player. Hence, the owner can use the foot pumps when it is desired, but for best operation, the electric motor is switched on. The new electric motor comes in especially handy for playing some of the new, longer rolls!

The three photographs below show an overview of the instrument. The entire cabinet is opened up, the foot pumps can clearly be seen on the floor. At this point, the player works perfectly once again - probably for the first time in many years. All that is left to do is put the cabinet back together, and the job is finished!

Coming Soon!

Restoration #2 - A Melville Clark Solo Art Apollo Player Upright restoration (interior and exterior)

Restoration #3 - A Mehlin Player Grand with Welte Licensee mechanism restoration (interior and exterior)

Restoration #4 - A Melville Clark Player Grand restoration (interior and exterior)