Here are a few photos of an upright player piano before the restoration process. Mouse over the photos to pause the slide show, or use the directional arrows to cycle through the slides manually.
This is how most player pianos look when they arrive at our shop. Note in particular the dark, alligatored finish.
Another view showing the typical unrestored player. They are typically covered in dust and mold, and the keytops are almost invariably in need of replacing. Believe it or not, this piano is not the worst that we have seen.
A view showing the pumping pedals extended.
A view looking down into the piano. Notice the missing hammers, the worn out strings, the rusted pins, and the obviously worn and unmaintained mechanics.
This photograph shows the transmission, which is mounted to the right of the spool box.
Having dismantled and removed the player stack, the back of the unit can now be seen. This picture shows the back of the stack, with each of the pneumatics visible. These are in very bad condition, actually falling off the stack.
This image shows the tubing that connects the tracker bar with the pneumatics on the stack. Each of these lines needs to be replaced, and the order can not be mixed up in the process.
After taking the stack apart, there are still more parts that need replacing. These are the valves, and each needs to be checked, repaired or replaced in order for the player to operate correctly again.
This view shows the stripping process. The old, dark, alligatored finish hid a beautiful wooden cabinet. No finish has been applied to the wood on the left. That comes later.
After tipping the piano onto its back, all of the pins and strings can be removed and work can begin in earnest on restoring the piano portion of the instrument What will the finished product look like? Look at our next gallery to find out.
Next Gallery – A Melville Clark Upright Player Piano Restoration —>
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