Operations and Operatorsin the big STANDARDFACTORY

BE SURE YOU'RE RIGHT: 'THEN GO AHEAD!

RT doesn, 't matter whether you're driving a car, building a house, composing

a sermon, delivering a campaign speech, performing a surgical operation. or building a player action,-- be sure you're right before you go ahead,

" In the building of STANDA]~D PLAYER ACTIONS every endeavoris made to see that every part of the action is correctly adjusted before

they are included in the complete product.

In the picture shown herewith we have a man engaged in testing the secondaryvalves of an action to see that they do not bind and that they have the correct play.

This is only one of the many tests and inspections that a Standard Player Actionundergoes before it is delivered to the purchaser.

You, as skilled Piano Technicians, have often written us, testifying as to theexcellent way in which our action stands up, even in the face of hard usage;and this sturdy durability can be accounted for not only on account of its excellentdesign, or because of its fine craftsmanship, or by reason of its fine material, butalso because of the rigorous and thorough testing and inspection of each individualpart. VVe are sure we're right before we go ahead.

STANDARD PNEUMATIC ACTION CO.W, A, MENNIE, Pres,

638 West 52nd St. New York City

Standard Playe~~~,;~K1liA~t MaN T l-l L Y· {~

Vol. 12, No. 7 July 1926

Contents Copyrighted 1926 by Standard Pneumatic Action Company

WHO BUILDS UP THE HOME BUILDS UP THENATION

IOOD homes stabilise a nation: poor homes breed discontent: who builds

up the home builds up the nation.There may be those who think differently, but, in our opinion, the good

. home is that in which gentle culture is engendered; the home in whichis bred a love for the arts and sciences; the home in which is born a lovefor ones fellow-man; the home in which one learns "high thinking";

the home in which dwells whole-souled laughter as well as heart-deep sympathy;the home of books and flowers and music; the home that is considered an abiding­place and not merely a resting-place; the home that is considered a hard placeto leave behind and a good place to return to. Such a home is a strong link inthe chain of patriotism which binds a nation together and makes of it a strongnation. It is this idea which our artist has pictured on the cover.

===X===

NEXT MONTH, THE BIG CO'NVENTION

===X===

To those men of the Tuning Fraternity who have not attended a Conventionof the N. A. P. T. we would suggest that they make a big effort to attend this year.

The Convention at Detroit in 1925 was so mightily successful, and proved sucha big source of inspiration, instruction and pleasure, that it would seem a safeprediction to say that those who attended it will also attend the Convention thisyear in Chicago. "Bigger and better than ever,". is the forecast Don't forgetthe time, week of August 8, 1926, and the place, the Hotel Sherman. And don'tforget to be there.

THE DANQUARD SCHOOL AT THE CONVEN­TION

The announcement that The Danquard School will begin a three-weeks' courseof instruction at Convention time, and at the Convention hotel, will be receivedas good news by many Tuners. Milton L. Cheek will be the instructor. TheStandard Pneumatic Action Co. will also have an exhibit there. Do not fail toregister at Room 17. You will be heartily welcomed there and will meet oldfriends. Put the number of the room down on the cuff of the shirt you intendto wear to the Convention.

In 1777 Mozart set out upon his secondtour. He was now a young man oftwenty-one, But the enthusiastic recep­tion that had been given the child-prodigywas lacking on this tour. Jealousy, per­haps, of older musicians, had somethingto do with this. While in Paris a sym­phony of Mozart's was produced at theConcerts Spirituels, with a fair amountof success. But joy in this small successwas overwhelmed by sorrow in the deathof his mother, who died in the youngman's arms after he had devotedlywatched over her for two weeks. Shortlyafter this he received another shock forAloysia Weber, with whom he w~s inlove, turned cold toward him.

Returning to Salzburg after two years,he wrote his first serious opera, "Idome­neo." It was produced at Munich in1781, with great success.

In March, 1781, Mozart was orderedby Archbishop Hieronymous to follow

Standard Player Monthly

BRIEF BIOGRAPHIESC~F FAMOUS COMPOSERS

MOZART

IOANNES Chrysostomus \Volf­gangus Theophilus SigismundusMozart was born on January

.. 27th, 1756, the seventh child of

. Leopold Mozart, violinist in the.,.. band of Archbishop Sigismund,

Prmce of Salzburg, Germany.He truly was a born musician, for, at

the age of six, he and his sister playedthe piano before the Empress MariaTheresa and her husband: and in thataugust court his simplicity and grace ofmanner, no less than his ability, won himfriends, instantly. At the age of sevenhe was a composer.

In 1763 the Mozart family went ontour, visiting Munich, Paris, London andthe Hague. By this time the boy hadlearned to play the organ and so wonder­ful was his playing that a priest in thechurch at Heidleberg, where a visit wasmade, had the name of Wolfgang Mo­zart, with the date of his visit, in mem­ory of "this wonder of God," engravedupon the organ. On this same tour heplayed in London before King GeorgeIII and Queen Caroline.

A visit to Italy, land of music, fol­lowed. In Naples young Mozart's won­derful playing was looked upon by super­stitious people as the result of magic, anda ring on his left hand was credited withsupernatural power. Mozart removedthe ring,-and played as wonderfully asbefore.

Mozart's nature was of the most sensi­tive fibre. He was loving and gentle inhis own character: and while the love ofothers exalted his soul, indifference ormeanness hurt him keenly.

Standard Player Monthly 5

him to Vienna. The composer did so:and was given the treatment, not of agenius, but of an ordinary lackey. Atthis Mozart's pride rebelled. He resignedfrom the Archbishop's service, and wasviolently ejected from the premises.

In 1782 his opera "Die Entfuhrung ausdem Serail" was produced in Vienna,with such wonderful success that Mozartbegan to think of marriage: and on Au­gust 4th of this same year he marriedConstance Weber, sister of his formersweetheart. The love- of these two wasconstant: but neither Mozart nor hiswife were sufficiently practical-minded tocope with the exigencies of life, and theirfinancial affairs were always at an ex­tremely low ebb-tide.

After a visit to Leipsic, Mozart re­turned to Vienna. There, at the Kingof Prussia's orders, he composed a num­ber of quartettes. A comic opera, "Cosifan tutte" followed, and the "Zauber­flote"-The Magic Flute-was written.

And now poverty began to press onMozart, and certain of his g-oods had tobe pawned in order to provide a means ofsubsistence. On one occasion Mozartand his wife were discovered dancing intheir room in order to keep warm, their

fire having gone out and no money onhand to buy fuel.

Then, one day, appeared a stranger,who asked for what sum the composerwould write a mass for the dead. Thesum of fifty ducats was quoted, and themoney was paid. Mozart began at onceupon his marvellous "Requiem." Andnow a strange fancy seized upon himthat this "Requiem" he was commissionedto write was for his own death.

Illness took hold of the great com­poser, but in spite of it he continued withhis work. But he rapidly got worse.

The day before his death certain ofhis friends assembled in his room to singthe almost completed "Requiem." Mo­zart, in bed, with the score before him,weakly sang the alto.

The following day he died: his lastwords being in regard to the "Requiem"-which was truly his own. He wasburied in a pauper's grave, December6th, 179I.

The amount of work he produced wasprodigious, and included cantatas, sym­phonies, masses, oratorios, sonatas, etc.The operas Cosi fan tutte, Don Juan,Idomeneus, The Magic Flute, Nozze diFigaro, and Seraglio are known to mostmusicians.

Building Up a Tuning Business

The Sixth of a Series

AS TO PRICES

e..N this series of articles on Build­

ing Up a Tuning Business theendeavor, so far, has been to

- point out to the Tuner and. I Technician ways and means of

getting more work to do. Butin the matter of the Tuning and Adjust­ment of Pianos and Players there issomething more to be considered thanmere quantity of work,-there is QUAL­ITY.

It might be stated that, in some cases,the reason some Tuners are alwayssearching for more work is because oftheir low charges for work done. Theyhave to do a great deal of work in a

day in order to make a respectable day'spay.

A Tuner should so set !lis prices thathe will receive a fair day's recompensefor a fair day's work. If he sets hischarges too low, then he has to hurrythrough each job in order to take careof other jobs; and hurried work is sel­dom good work.

One of our readers wrote us not longago that he had more work than he couldattend 00, but that he wasn't going tohurry on that account. He said that hewould do just as much good work in aday as he possibly could, and that therest of it would have to wait. His busi-

6 Standard Pli\}'erMon~

ness, he said, was bringing him in a goodliving; and the way things appeared atthat time there would be work enough tokeep him comfortably for many monthsto come. His charges, said he, were fairbut not exorbitant.

In that last expression, "fair but notexorbitant," we feel that this tuner gaveto the Tuning Profession a mighty goodtext. There is such a thing as overcharg­ing as well as undercharging. And howquickly we all resent paying what we con­sider an unjust price, whether it be forcoal, or beef, or flour or a hair-cut!

It must be remembered that there aremany thousands of piano-owners who

have to work even harder for their dol­lars than does the Piano Tuner: andwhile these working- people love Music,and realise the necessitv of keeping thePiano in tune, they cannot afford to ig­nore the most urgent needs of food,clothing and shelter. the primal necessi­ties, and they will not consider getting thepialllJ tuned if the cost of tuning- is be­yond their means.

A fee that will be fair recompense tothe good Tuner, and that will not appearexorbitant to the piano-owner. will domuch toward inducing- the latter to havehis piano tuned when necessarv. and willgo far toward helping the Tuner buildup a satisfactory and permanent business.

The Seventh Article of a Series on the Reproducing Piano

The Selector-Chest Cut-Off Valve

lAST month the Selector-Chest

Governor was explained, and inthe drawing illustrating the ar­ticle a box-like arrangementwas shown attached to theupper leaf of the pneumatic.

This is the Selector-Chest Cut-off Valve.

J

The Valve, as shown in the cut, (page6, June number) consists of a circulardisk of leather, felt and fibre, attachedto a pouch, and this disk is situated di­rectly above a. hole or port in the topleaf of the pneumatic.

When playing the regular player-rollsmade for the Reproducing Piano, theCut-off is not in operation: but whenplaying 88-note rolls a port is opened forthe admission of heavy or atmosphericair above the Cut-off Valve pouch.

The pouch is thereby forced down,and with it the attached disk. This ef­fectually closes the hole or port in theupper leaf of the pneumatic, and theSelector-Chest Governor is cut off entire­ly from the Exhaust Fan or Pump.

The port for the admission of heavy

air above the pouch is not shown in theillustration.

The Hammer Rail Expression andThe Loud Pedal Expression

In the Upright Action the HammerRail Expression and the Loud PedalExpression Pneumatics are found to­gether, one below the other, at the bassend of the piano: but in the Grand Ac­tion they are separated.

StandanJ Ph\ver Mon'thJ¥ 7

The Hammer Rail Expression is workedby Tracker Bar holes eight, "on," andseven, "off," at the bass end.

In the same type of action the LoudPedal is worked by Tracker Bar holeseight, "on", and seven "off", at the trebleend.

The valves operating these expressionsare, for the Hammer Rail, F, and for theLoud Pedal, E, as shown in the illustra­tion.

It will be seen that two holes are re­quired to control each of these expressionpneumatics, one hole to throw them on,and another to take them off.

The Hammer Rail' Expression is usedto obtain a very soft or double-pianotone. This tone is obtained by throwing

OUR MONTHLY HOROSCOPE

IHOSE born in July come under thesign of the Lion, Leo; and theirbirth-stone is the Ruby.

If you were born in this month it'. is very probable that you will make a

change of residence either this• month, or next,--or perhaps last

month. The change will be but a temporaryone. Those living inland will move to thesea, and those living near the sea will journeyto the country.

Many of those not born in this month willalso make a change of residence, followingthe lead of Leo.

By making this change much will be ac-,quired. Some will acquire a coat of tan,some will get burned, many will get bitten,and others will discover what poison ivy is.

The Ruby, your lucky stone for July, is ared jewel 01 wonderful lustre. In value itranks next to the Emerald. Collectingrubies is an excellent hobby.

We knew a man who collected a Ruby,­married her in fact,-and he said she was a"pearl."

But then, there are rubies and Rubies,­and then there are Rubes.

the hammer rail forward, thereby short­ening the stroke and reducing thestrength of the hammer blow on thestrings.

In order to work the hammer rail theHammer Rail p'neumatic closes, and therod, attached to the movable leaf of thepneumatic and to the rail, rises andthrusts the rail closer to the strings.

This is much the same as in the foot­power player, the only difference beingthat, in the case of the ReproducingPiano, the rail is worked through a two­way, or lock-valve, and will remain "on"until released by the "off" hole in theTracker Bar. The Lock Valve was ex­plained in a previous article.

The Loud Pedal Expression will betaken up in next month's magazine.

PUNTING ON A PIANOThe celebrated pianist was telling a few

tales at the dinner-party."Yes," he said, "the fact of my being a

good pianist once saved my life from asevere flood I experienced."

"Oh, how was that?" queried a voice."You see, when the water struck our

house my wife managed to scrambleaboard the dining-room table and floateddown the stream until she was rescued."

"Yes, but where did you come in?"queried the same voice.

"Well, I accompanied her on the piano,"grinned the pianist genially.

WE ACKNOWLEDGE AN ERROR

In the June issue of the magazine, ourartist pictured for us the differencebetween quarter-sawed lumber andlumber of regular cut. There was amistake in the picture showing themethod of quarter-sawing. We will givea correct picture of this in next month'smagazine.

We regret very much that this errorwas overlooked by us.

Standard Player Ac·tions are known in

these countries

AfricaAustraliaArgentinaAlaskaBarbadofiBelgiumBermudaBoliviaBrazilCanadaCanary

IslandsChinaColombiaChileCubaJ;>enmarkDominicaEgyptEcuadorEnglandFinlandFranceGermanyGuatemalaHawaii

4P' ~cIF,"')·c··'·ij~' .-'

Standard Player Ac­tions are known in

these countries

HollandIndiaIrelandItalyJamaica,

B. W. I.JapanMexicoNorwayNicaraguaNew ZealandPortugalPorto RicoPeruPhilippine

IslandsSwitzerlandSpainScotlandSwedenSouth AfricaTrinidadTasmaniaUnited StatesUruguayVenezuelaWales

BE once heard of a man who, whenever the thermometerclimbed above seventy-five degrees, turned the instrumentupside down; then, whenever he looked at the heat­measurer, he got a chill.

In this issue of your magazine we are copying a leaf fromthe above gentleman's book.

Above are shown some views of Niagara Falls, taken in thewinter time. They were taken and sent to our Mr. Lawrence byMr. Chauncy Bond, superintendent of the Weaver Piano Co., ofYork, Pa.

Now, get out your winter overcoat, turn the old thermometerupside down, and take a good long look at all the ice and snow.

Vie are publishing these pictures with the expectation that by thetime this number comes out we all will be experiencing some realsummer weather. So far (and this is written about the middle ofJune) we have not discontinued carrying the coal-hod to be replenishedfrom our small remaining supply of Black Diamonds.

,;I,Thether you get a thrill or a chill from these pictures, you maythank Mr. C. Bond for it, even as we here take occasion to thank him.

10 Standard P1alYer MontbJay

6clilorialThe STANDARDPlayer MonthlyPublished Monthly by

THE STANDARD PNEUMATIC ACTION CO.

638 W. S2D ST. NEW YORK CITY

English Representatives:THE PIANO ACCESSORIES, LTD.,

IS Mortimer Street, London, W.I.

Editorial Board:

W. A. MENNIE - - - - PresidentFRED A. BARROW - - - - - EditorA. K. GUTSOHN - - - - Technical Editor

The Sense of Smell and the Senseof Hearing

OMETIMES we wonder if thiscivilisation of ours is not bluntingsome of our senses: and then againwe are afraid that other of oursenses are becoming morbidly

sensitive.Take the sense of hearing, for ex­

ample: isn't it reasonable to conclude thatthe- chaos of sound that is constantlydrumming on the ears of city dwellersmust, eventually make the hearing lessacute to consonances and dissonances.The rattle of surface cars, the clatter ofelevated roads, the rumble of subways,the honking of motor-horns, the "shout­ing and the tumult" must surely eitherdull the sense of hearing or drive thecity dweller to wearing earmuffs.

Then as to the sense of smell. That,we know is becoming too blamed sensi­tive, for each year we suffer from eitherhay-fever or straw-fever, or rose-fever,or ragweed fever, or some other kind of

fever that makes us sneeze and cough toour own discomfort and the discomfortof our friends. This, we feel, is not anatural condition, but is induced by ourdeparture from natural living conditions.

But, in spite of all, we will live in thecities, or we will hie to the country forour vacations. Anyhow, we're "betweenthe devil and the deep sea," so what arewe going to do about it?

And a cynical voice replies, "\Vhy notgo to sea?"

Cleveland in 1927?The Cleveland division N. A. P. T. and

the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce arestriving to :have the 1927 Conventionpulled o.ff in their City. They claim to

, have one of the finest Convention Hallsand the best hotel conveniences in theU. S. A. President of that division, J.B. Wurstner and the Secretary Frank J.Lyon are largely responsible for the move­ment to have the ,1927 Convention cometo Cleveland and they are backed in theirefforts by the entire division.

June Meeting of Phila. Div., N.A.P.T.The Philadelphia Division of the

N. A. P. T. held their June meeting onTuesday evening, June 1st, at the homeof our worthy chairman, W m. J. Lenz,1748 Church Lane. Had a very goodcrowd out and talk about eats-well justask some of the boys that were presentand they will vouch for Mrs. Lenz beinga good cake baker and they appreciatethe trouble she went to.

Weare expecting our National Presi­dent and Secretary on later in the month.The Tuners of Philadelphia who do notbelong to the N. A. of P. T. do not knowwhat they are missing. Come on in boys,the water's fine.

W. H. RUPERT,Sec'y. Phila. Div.

Standard p~Mon 1h\Y 11

AMONGFRIENDS

Under the above heading there will be a page of yourmagaSline each month, given to the publication ofletters, written in a friendly tone, on subjects ofinterest to the Tuning Fraternity general/y. Makeyour letters as short and friendly as possible. Limit

them to about 200 words if you can.

Editor S. P. M.New York, U. S. A.Dear Sir:

In reading the "Among Friends" page of theS. P. M. (in which I am very much interested)many ideas are suggested to me, which wouldmake an interesting article, if I had the time toput them in logical order. There is no presentopportunity for this, however, but I feel that afew random remarks, based on the lettersprinted heretofore in the S. P. M. may be ofhelp to others in the same boat as myself.

Contrary to the experience of Brother A. W.Barnard who operated in Oklahoma, I find iteasier to deal with women; men seem to be in­different to me. Thank God, we're not allalike! What work I miss, he ought to get! Itis a matter of personality and temperament, andI advise all tuners to study themselves, andchoose what methods of solicitation suit thembest.

I can get no results at all with phone calls asa means of solicitation. Others can. There­fore they should. My personal letters nearlyalways bring results; so I get most of my busi­ness that way.

As for the time which should be spent on atuning, we must use diplomacy. If you tellpeople you charge them for what you know, in­stead of what you do, many of them will pre­fer a man who knows less and does (or seemsto do) more. As a rule, people who earn moneyby the hour, consider the time you spend as thebasis of the charge; those who earn their livingby commissions, and contracts, do not considerthis phase of the work as much as they do theresults. There are, however, many exceptions.Study your customers, with the idea of work­ing in with their ideals, as far as you can. Thisprinciple is useful in "putting over" estimatesalso.

On the subject of soliciting business throughnewspapers and "movies" the nature of yourterritory will control this. My "territory"comprises the west half of Long Island, andmovie ads would not be practical to cover such afield. Nor would local newspapers. Yet thesemethods are no doubt better for tuners who arejust building a practice, as a quick means ofgetting results in a small territory, or well estab­lished tuners who wish to build up local work.Personally I feel that much of the work gainedin this way is undesirable; work which several

brother tuners have probably estimated upon,and a cheaper job, if possible, is sought; theirpayments, too, may not be as prompt or sureas patrons secured through friendly recom­mendation.

I find the best way to secure work is to do agood job, assert your friendship to the owner,and find out if her (notice?) mother, sisters,friends, or neighbors could not benefit by thesame service. It takes longer to get establishedthis way, but the work is far more enjoyable,and the payments surer. For the year 1925 Ilost less than $20.00 through bad collections.The "friendly" appeal, I think, accounts forthat.

There is an interesting subject which, forlack of space, I will not treat, further than men­tioning it: "What is the most brief, accurateand practical method of keeping record and ac­counts?" I feel that a tuner's success dependslargely upon this; I feel also that most tunersare naturally weak on the subject unless theyhave given it special study. I will be glad todevote a letter to this subject alone, but mean­while would like to hear from others.

Closing, with the best wishes to the "craft"and to the S. P. M. that shows so much interestin us, I am

Fraternally yours,G. C. ESKHOLME, JR.

N ewcastle-on-Tyne, EnglandDear Editor:

We do not know to what extent we are in­debted to your goodselves for all your goodnessin having supplied us with the "Standard PlayerMonthly" for a very long period, and we havenever had an opportunity of showing our ap­preciation.

You have often asked us to contribute some­thing to your paper, but nothing that has comeour way has ever, as far as we can tell, been ofinterest. There is, however, a happy exceptionto this monotonous rule, and this happened twodays ago.

We have a very high class tuning connection,and one of our tuners went to a house to tunea piano where he had frequently been before,and had got the scale set and a few of theoctaves done, when the lady of the house, whohad been out shopping, came hurriedly into theroom as soon as she entered the house, andasked him to give up tuning at once as her dearlittle dog, a pet of some sort, (breed unknown)was very ill in the next room, and she couldnot bear to have it disturbed. The tuner wasrequested to call back in a fortnight when shehoped the dog would be better.

We think you might incorporate in your ownlanguage this true story, in your monthly Horo­scope.

Again expressing our great appreciation forwhat you have done on our behalf, and for theplayer business all over the world, we are

Yours faithfully,C. F. A.

12 Standard P~rMonthly

O-U EST 10 N S\~ __,ASKED AND ~ ~~(

/, 1 l..ANSWERED

IMPORTANTWhen writinl1 to us about a Standard Action, will you be sure to letus have the Player Action Number, and the make of Playerpiano inwhich the action is installed? This information will eliminate muchdelay and will enable us to give you very prompt service.

H. B. Would you kindly give me youradvice as to what could be the matterwith a certain piano. The piano is abouteight 'years old. I covered the pneumaticsalso covered the motor, and find motoris in good condition, and also the pneu­matics. I think there must be somethingwrong with the valves where they closebut I cannot hear any leak. The playeraction is your make with double valvesand it has good bellows. I would liketo send the 111,achine to you to ha1le youfinish this 'work for me. The piano playsall right 'lClith the one difference-thatwhere you pump the regular piano fourtimes, on my piano I have to pump fiveor six times, and it works tight under thefeet, not as it should be. Could you lettile know the cause of this trouble? I'llappreciate your advice.

Answer: We have your letter in whichyou advise us that you have in for repairsone of our players which is apparentlyabout eight years old. We believe that thisis in need of an entire overhauling and wewill be glad to have you send it in to usfor our attention. This would call forrenewing almost everything on the actionexcept the wooden parts and the actionwill be practically as good as new whenit is returned to you. No doubt the cause

of your trouble is in the valve system,and possibly the cloth on the pneumaticshas become hard, all of which will needrenewal.

C. B. H.: I have been having troublewith the top action of a Standard action.Bottom action is O. K. as well as motoron rewind. Have massaged pouches ofboth primary and secondary valves. Atfirst the pedals offered no resistance withthe tracker bar covered on play, withtempo at O. I got a, little results aftermassaging secondary pouches. Can heara rushing of air around primary valvesbut cannot locate cause or overcome it.The action is in a Piano. Ifailed to get the number of the action.j would be glad to have one of your valvegauges. Please advise me on this matter.

Answer: We are in receipt of yourletter of recent date in which you advisethat you have a Piano contain­ing one of our player actions which isgiving trouble. According to your de­scription we feel sure that the troublemost likely can be located in the primaryvalves and that they need to be re-regu­lated. While you have the action apart,it might be advisable to blowout thechannels and bleeds to clean same fromthe accumulated dust and lint. Also ex-

'Standard PJaiyer Monthly 13

amine the secondary valves carefully tosee whether the cement holding the metalseats in place has not become brittle andfallen off. Also see whether the feltedparts of the valves have not become motheaten. We would also suggest that youexamine the striking pneumatics. Seewhether the rubber cloth thereon has notbecome hardened. I f this action appearsto you to need an entire overhauling, itmight be weIl for you to send it in to thefactory here for repairs. The work isguaranteed and the action should then bepractically as good as new giving yousatisfaction for many more years.

R. W. One question I would like toask you. That is: Granted bottom ac­tion of player is alright (air-tight) topaction leaking. Pedals go sixty miles anhour and music passes over holes withoutsounding. I can hear a rush of air goingthrough top action. How am I to dis­tinguish whether it is the secondaryvalves or where the action joins,. wheretubes join action or where pneumaticsare glued on to action? I do not thinkit is the Silencer as tempo works alright.The pouches are made of Zephyr. Itis a new player. What do you think ofZephyr pouches? Does the hot weatheraffect them? The player is brand new.How am I to know when a secondaryvalve is seating properly, and how tomake it seat properly? Trusting to hearfrom you at your earliest convenience.

Answer: You state that the player inquestion is a brand new one and so faras I can deduct from your description,I feel almost sure that the trouble is inthe valve system, most likely with thezephyr pouches. While perfectly air­tight, a zephyr pouch is not the propermaterial to be used in our estimation forthis purpose. It is so easily affected byatmospheric conditions and they becomestiff and stretch across the diaphramsimilar to a drum. When this happensit will have a tendancy to affect the valveinasmuch as the valve is caused to belifted off its inner seat and this is whatI think most likely is the matter with theplayer you complain of. Now, it mightalso be possible that the valves themselves

are made of improper material whichdoes not stand up under atmospheric con­ditions and changes and probably arewarped or have become rigid in theirguides and when in this condition, lightpumping will not affect them. You donot tell us what make of action this isand with this information we would bebetter able to give you suggestions howto affect a remedy. We would advise,however, that you carefully study thevalves and see whether they have sufficientplay or whether they are pliable enough.Also the pouches. I f you can do so, wewould suggest that you change thepouches from zephyr to the regular sheep­skin pouches or possibly you can softenup the zephyr pouches by manipulatingsame with the tip of your finger

J. R. W. I am in the tuning business,and tuned a Piano that has aStandard player action in it. I twasbought about seven years ago but I didnot tune it until recently. The party whoowns it said that' he 'had to pedal just asfast when he got the piano as he doesnow. In pedalling, you have to makethree strokes where it should require onlyone. I do not claim to be an expert onplayers. Can you give me some instruc­tions so that I can remedy the trouble?

Answer: 'vVe note you are having diffi­culties with a Piano containingone of our player actions. You did notgive us the action number of same, butstate that the action rs over seven yearsold. This would indicate to us that itis in need of an entire overhauling andwe would suggest that you take the topaction apart entirely, blowing out all thebleeds from the accumulated dust andlint and see that they are clean q.nd thatthe primary pouches are still in good con­dition. If they seem to have become stiff,they can be softened up a little bymanipulating with the tip of your finger.Next carefully inspect the primary valvesand see if they have the proper play.Next examine the secondary valves tosee whether the metal valve cups that arecemented on the board have not become

14 Standard P~rMon1h\v

corroded or whether the cement holdingtheP1 in place has not become brittle andfallen' off. See whether the felted parton both primary and secondary valveshas not become moth eaten. All of thiswould prevent them from seating prop­erly arid would cause the action to pumpthe way you describe. While you havethe action apart, examine the strikingpneumatics to see whether the rubbercloth thereon has not become hard andbroken through. I f you' find that thisaction is in need of a complete overhaul­ing, possibly the replacement of thevalves, etc., it might be well for you tosend it to our factory for repairs as weconduct a repair department for ourproduct. However, it is just possible thatyou could undertake the job yourself andput the action in first-class conditionagain after the receipt of our booklet andthe information contained therein.

•The following !Ven answered the May

questions, but their answers were receivedtoo late to be given credit in the Juneissue of the magazine:H. L. Trimble. Des Moines. Iowa.W. A. Hook. E. Lynn. Mass.Chas. E. Forsythe, Dayton, Ohio.Oliver MacCollum. Williamsport. Pa.John R. Leeks, New London, Conn.

The names following are those of menwho answered the June questions:Manuel J. F. Cor<rar, Brooklyn. N. Y.Paul Wascher, Frackville. Pa.Thos. A. Hendricks, Erie, Pa.W. H. Schaeffer, LaPorte, Ind.Patrkk J. Gaffney. Troy, N. Y.Allen R. Fichthorn, Reading, Pa.Frank J. Lyon, Cleveland, Ohio.R. L. Spayd. North Glenside, Pa.T. Solberg, Stamford, Ct.

Here are the answers to last month'squestions:

Question No. I. If the take-up spoolof a Type C action is out of center, howwould you effect adjustment?

Answer: By means of collar, locatedin transmission, at extreme right on lowerdrive shaft. .

Question NO.2. If the music rollshould travel in jerks over the tracker-bar,what would be the cause?

Answer: Either motor or transmissiondrive chain might be too tight. Motorshaft might be bent; or a foreign sub­stance might have lodged inside heel ofpneumatic. The pinion-gear might be tooclosely regulated to the big gear wheelin transmission.

Question NO.3. If 'there is a grindingnoise in the transmission while playing,where would you locate it, and how wouldyou remedy it?

Answer: In the mesh of pinion-gearand the big drive gear-wheel, due to tootight an interlock. To remedy, loosen setscrew on collar of big gear, and move biggear away from pinion-gear'.

Question NO.4. What would be thecause of a treadle that is depressed failingto come back?

Answer: The pin driven into treadle­board connectinf; treadle-link may bebinding; or spring broken--or off. Incase of tight pin, this can be loosened byslightly tapping with hammer on insideof link, close to board.

Question No.5. How would you adjusta secondary valve if the bleed or ventcap has fallen or been removed fromits place?

AnSWEr: No adjustment needed of sec­ondary valve. Put in new bleed.

July QuestionsQuestion No. 1. How would you regu­

late the lift of the pneumatic and thestroke of the hammer?

Question NO.2. On a double-valveaction two of the secondary valves areinflated while their primary valves remainseated. How would you account for this?

Question NO.3. How does the CrashValve operate?

Question NO.4. When notes play onre-roll, what is the cause?

Question No. S. Should an inflatedpneumatic open fully or only partly?

Standard p~Mon~ 15

WANTED!These Want Ads. are Printed Free of Charge

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Send in your ad­vertisements before the fifteenth of the monthto insure insertion in the edition of the firstmonth following. Want ads. received aft"the fifteenth will have to appear in the editionof the second month following.

POSITIONS WANTED

Retail Store Manager with previous. excellentrecord, desires position with large piano COli­

cern. Able to produce good results. Canhandle sales force to advantage. Want Col.No. 1194.

Tuner and Repairman· with several years expe­rience desires position. W rite full details.Want. Col. No. 1195.

Tuner and Refinisher--also understands burn­ing-in, and French-polishing. Very goodworker. 30 years experience. 49 yrs. of age.Considered quick workman. Best reference.$40 per wk. Desire to locate in South. WantCol. No. 1196.

Tuner and Repairman with knowledge of refin­ishing, and burning-in, desires position withgood piano house. Also work on violins andsmall instruments. Steady, reliable and fastworker. Want Col. No. 1197.

Experienced Tuner and Repairman. Employedby concern for past 9 yrs. Still in theiremploy. Can do any kind of player repairwork. Have specialized on automatic instru­ments and pipe organs. Some selling experi­ence. Best of references. Want Col. No. 1198.

Position Wanted: With reliable piano concernas Tuner and Repairman. Familiar with Re­producing pianos. Eastern States preferred.Want Col. No. 1199.

Experienced Tuner and Player Repairman wantsposition with good firm. Familiar with Re­producer. Employed at present but desirechange. References furnished. Married. Age36. Give fu11 details and salary in first letterWant Col. No. 1200.

Tuner and Service Man. Expert on Repro­ducers. 20 years experience. Rebuild anypiano or player. Desire change of location,where ability and results are appreciated.Want Col. No. 1201.

Tuner and Repairman with experience as Sales­man desires position with reliable dealer inEnglish-speaking Canadian town. Formerlymanufacturer of pianos in England. Perfectlyunderstand construction, tuning and repair ofcomplete instrument. Want Col. No. 1202.

Experienced Tuner and Player Mechanic wouldlike steady work with dealer. WiII locateanywhere. "Vant Col. No. 1203.

Tuner with some player work experience desiresto connect with good music house where thereis a chance for advancement. Best referencescan be furnished. Want Col. No. 1204.

Tuning College Graduate would like positionas Tuner and Repairman in music store. Un­derstand players. and can also assist withsales. Prefer to locate in California. WantCol. No. 1205.

Salesmanager. 30 yrs. of age. Experiencedand qualified to manage and handle sales force.Desires to locate with good company in Pa.,N. Y. or N. J., but would consider elsewhere.Am a high grade salesman and have originalideas in managing sales force. Can increasesales. Write Want Col. No. 1206.

High grade Tuner and Mechanic on Player andElectric instruments wishes partnership inestablished Repair Shop or Music House, pre­ferably in Central States. Over 20 yearsexperience. Able to meet public. Want Col.No. 1207.

Piano Repairman and Refinisher, also ActionMan. wants to locate in city of 50,000 or more.Ready for business. Will take charge of shopfor some good house, or will work up. WantCol. No. 1208.

Blind Tuner, Married and with family, wishesto locate in West. Good Tuner and Repair­man. Steady and reliable. Had experienceplaying piano in theatre. State location andsalary. Want Col. No. 1209.

HELP WANTEDThere may be, shortly, an opening for a Tuner

and General Repairman of Pianos andPlayers, in Mexico. Preferably one who canspeak Spanish. If you are interested writeWant Col. No. 1210.

Tuner and Repairman: One who understandsReproducing action and can also refinish.Good salary to right party. State age andreferences in first letter. Located in WestVa. Want Col. No. 1211.

One of best houses in N. Y. State handling lead­ing Reproducer lines, has opening for experi­enced Tuner, Regulator and Reproducer Me­chanic. Permanent position. Give experienceand send reference with application. WantCol. No. 1212.

Competent Tuner and Player Mechanic who canalso do case work. Permanent position. Lo­cated in Illinois. Want Col. No. 1213.

Tuner and Playerman with Selling abilitywanted to take care of manufacturer's branchstore. Investment required. Located in N. J.Want Col. No. 1214.

MISCELLANEOUSFor Sale: 1 Type "D" Tuner's Case; 1 Ampico

Mercury Gauge, "New"; 1 No. 1 De Luxe"Lyon & Healy" Tuner's Hammer. $15.00.Exceptionally rare bargain for tuner in needof these tools. Only reason for selling isbecause I have new outfit. Want Col. No. 1215.

Th Joy that Comes~t~lliJblls,v er and Editor

•OBILE Co.

Your. truly. .

cx£.tC~Ilu:bn of ~.A.\~f P.T.

Iol'llwUeoI'O.TIllV.•

Ku. 33rd 1836.

PIANOS. EDIO ...ML...UolO,

WALTER.

Gent.lemen:

638 w. ,and..1J\net,

New Yori' Cay, II.Y.

1 nat to e.;teod, to you rr.y elnoer, appnci ....

tion tor the Btazr.c1ard 'layer Wonthly. Thi. l1ttle

magadne 1. ,h1et .. rellable 10 Ite _weanne, every

IllDntb u the 8ta..o4Az4 -'O\ton 1. In ",",y plano every

day in the year.

I '~t you to CO.. th<Lt I appreciate and

value very hllkly every article you pr1Jl,t in 11.. I

&= j\l.,t ... stroDS tor lobe SUn4&rd Play.r Ilon~bly

.. I &c tor tU Stao4ard. Pl.yer ACtioa.

Wtehlng you the .\lCC." tbat you actu-.J.ly

_.C>~ ,

I,HE actor, when re(':~ r

. ing his lines upol(nle, . stage, knows when

: 'his linesafi "going.,~.;. . r" by the im,•.. >

. "c,'!f< _,t-'r:lause ~ ... ~~is audi-ence: the baseball player,yvhep he rna~ps a good play,Is·,~reu ,-, +-l,~ f,m~ til

Grandslap~ ";<-H.f':'::.:.. ~ :iers:but the publishers and edi­tors of magazines are, as arule, left very much in thedark as to how their effortsare being received by thereading public.. Occasion­ally, when a blunder is dis­covered, they hear aboutit:but words of condemnationare oftener received thanwords o-f praise.

But we, of the "Standard," can-not complain in this respect. L ---'

Many real. friendly letters arriveat the office saying kind things about STANDARD PLAYER MONTHLY as well asabout Standard Player Actions,

We are very pleased indeed to show a copy of one of these letters which, in a fewshort lines, says as much, in the way of appreciation as might be said in a letterof many pages.. Thank you, Mr. Alexander.

It is our aim to make your magazine, more and more interesting as time goes on.

Perhaps one of the biggest stimulants to our efforts comes from the new nameswe are constantly -being asked to add to our mailing list. You can· surely help inthis respect by sending in the names of any tuners you know of who do not re­ceive, but would like to receive, the STANDARD PLAYER MONTHLY.

STANDARD PNEUMATIC ACfION CO.

W. A. Mennie, Pres.

638· West 52nd Street, New York City.