Please
note: The resources listed herein are provided as a
convenience and courtesy, with the intent of providing a more
expansive and enjoyable Internet experience for anyone interested in
automatic mechanical music services. The author and/or anyone
associated with the production of this site shall assume no
responsibility or liability of any kind regarding the actions,
content, or products related to or offered by any individual,
entity, or site mentioned or listed below. It is the sole
responsibility of the reader/visitor to determine the suitability of
any person, advice, service, or product that may be a consequence of
contacting and/or dealing with anyone or anything mentioned or
inferred within this site. This is particularly the case before
hiring a technician to work on a piano or another valuable
instrument. It is wise to ask a technician for references, and to
take the time to see and hear examples of their previous repairs
before having work done on your own music box, piano, or organ. It
might be especially worthwhile to see examples of their work done
five or ten years previously, so as to verify its durability of
their work.
Resource items are grouped by category
for convenience, and then within those individual categories they
are arranged alphabetically by last or company name.
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Books, Magazines, and Recordings
Books, Recordings, Music Rolls and Music Box Disks
AMICA Publications — Automatic Musical Instrument Collectors' Association
AMICA is proud to announce this long-awaited publication of The Reblitz-Bowers Encyclopedia of American Coin-Operated Pianos and Orchestrions and Related Instruments. The title says it all! Written by the most revered authors of mechanical music, this entirely new hardcover book in 8-1/2” X 11” contains over 900 pages packed with the history of every major American builder of coin pianos and orchestrions, plus pictures of every known model.
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Bopp's Carousel Music — Ron Bopp
5207 10th Avenue Dr. W.
Bradenton FL 34209
(918) 527-0589
E-mail:
Author of “Fantastic European Organs” and “The American Carousel Organ—An Illustrated Encyclopedia.”
Anyone fascinated by Carousels and the wonderful band organs that accompanied them will enjoy the incredible musical repertoire offered by this website. Cassette tapes and CDs of historic band organs abound, with a smattering of Tangley Calliope, Wurlitzer Caliola, orchestrion, and photoplayer music available, too. Classic organs ranging from the tiny Wurlitzer style 103 organ up through the styles 105, 125, 145, 146, 148, 153, 165 and the gigantic Wurlitzer style 180, along with beautiful examples from builders like Artizan, Bruder, Gasparini, Gavioli, Hooghuys, Richter, Ruth, and North Tonawanda, make this an absolute treasure trove of historical musical entertainment. If you like band organ music this is definitely one place to go!
Diamond Cut Productions offers audio computer software and a wide selection of CD's filled with music taken from the original Edison Lateral "Diamond Cut" Electric Masters, some music being from previously unreleased Edison recordings. The two men behind the site are participants in the restoration and preservation of thousands of original Edison masters housed at the Edison National Historic Site, West Orange, New Jersey, giving them access to a treasure trove of heretofore unreleased Edison Lateral Cut music.
The musical legacy of the late Paul Eakins lives on through this website (operated by his daughter, Patricia Eakins, and his grandson, Chris Carlisle), where you can purchase original recordings of Paul's famous collection of historic mechanical musical machines. The recordings were made during the heyday of The Gay 90s Village, Inc., which began operation in the 1950s. The "Village" is where the collection of machines was originally housed, in the Million Dollar Museum, Sikeston, Missouri. Later, The Gay 90's Melodie Violin Museum was opened in St. Louis, Missouri. Both museums were closed in the 1970s, when Mr. Eakins sold the bulk of his collection.
This site offers music rolls (with new arrangements) for Wurlitzer Style 125, 150, and 165 band organs, as well as a selection of band organ recordings. It also makes available a myriad of trinkets and small gift items.
Nancy Fratti Music Boxes, formerly Panchronia Antiquities, has been specializing for some 39 years in antique musical boxes, cylinder and disc box restorations, restoration supplies, books, and mechanical music recordings. She offers an extensive selection of mechanical music recordings in both cassette tape and CD formats. The various titles feature musical boxes, early flute clocks, orchestrions, street organs, carousel organs, DeCap Dance Organs and more.
Wilfried, who is located in Bonn, Germany, offers a large selection of CD's featuring all kinds of street and dance organs, ranging from small organ-grinder type instruments all the way up to large and
impressive classic Fair and Dance Organs. For someone with more modern tastes, one CD features Wilfried's Happy Robot Orchestra, a large key-frame operated dance organ with electronic organ, traditional pipework and trapwork, and advertised as representing a 16-man orchestra.
A digital resource for band organs, orchestrions, player pianos and more, where Mikey Mills sells newly arranged and recut music rolls and also offers feature free recordings from a variety of mechanical music instruments.
This is an amazingly detailed site that delves into the history of ragtime and popular music, inventions of the ragtime era, silent movie music, player pianos and rolls, biographies of composers and artists,
sheet music covers and lyrics, audio clips, recordings for sale, and much more! Anyone interested in the music of the golden age of automatic instruments should take some time to study this site.
Home place for the new Ramey Banjo-Orchestra, this distinctive website features extensive information on both the Encore Automatic Banjo and the Banjo-Orchestra, with audio CD recordings of the Banjo-Orchestra, as well as a selection of easy-to-read books on the subject. Additionally, for anyone wanting to revisit the nostalgic sights and sound of the late Al Svoboda's once famous Nickelodeon Tavern as it was during its heyday, there are several audio CDs available, plus a DVD video tribute to Svoboda's Nickelodeon Tavern presenting its history circa 1908-1986.
Over 1500 Duo-Art music roll translations into MIDI type 0
and type 1 format, suitable for use with pneumatic pianos fitted with
PowerRoll or similar MIDI conversion devices, and electronic and synthesized
pianos, such as the Kurzweil Micro Piano, Yamaha Disklavier and PianoDisc.
This website offers a selection of compact audio discs (made by Jack Perron Associates) of Regina Disc Musical Box Music, as rendered by the "Music Box 15" system. This site also sells various music box discs, Ampico rolls, Duo-Art rolls, as well as standard 88-note player piano rolls. From the site's home page, a visitor can access The Musical Box Museum, which is divided into the Cylinder Room, Disk Room, and the Clock Room, and that both describes and illustrates a wide range of beautiful musical artifacts.
A U.S. based organization with a major interest in reproducing pianos, as well as all other pneumatically operated automatic mechanical musical instruments.
Devoted to enjoying, preserving, and sharing knowledge of
all outdoor mechanical musical instruments, including band, fair, and street
organs, calliopes, and hand-cranked organs of all sizes.
GSM (Society for Self-Playing Musical Instruments), the
German society for all types of self-playing musical instruments. A "Shop"
page menu option displays a page containing numerous reprinted mechanical
music related catalogues.
"The KDV is a Dutch society for the preservation of fair
organs, street-organs, dance hall organs, orchestrions, and other automatic
musical instruments; their history and development, and their present
situation."
The Mechanical Music Digest is a popular, moderated
discussion forum in a newsletter format, and is distributed to subscribers
via e-mail. It is a good way to get to know collectors around the world.
An international organization primarily focusing on
musical movements and music boxes, but that additionally includes all other
aspects on mechanical musical instruments.
As stated in the website, "The purpose of the National
Carousel Association is to promote conservation, appreciation, knowledge,
and enjoyment of the art of the classic wooden carousel and especially the
preservation of complete wooden carousels."
A group in Great Britain "founded in 1985 to breathe new
life into player pianos around the world, and to lure them back into the
mainstream of music by means of recordings, exhibitions, publications, and
archive and study facilities."
Founded in Great Britain in 1959, this group brings
together all those interested in the artists who recorded rolls,
techniques of playing the pedal player piano, restoration, materials, and
other related areas.
Founded in 1981, the Reed Organ Society is an
international, non-profit organization devoted to the appreciation, study,
collection, restoration, and preservation of reed organs.
Always Jukin' is an on-line magazine for Jukebox and Gameroom enthusiasts, with Jukebox, Pinball, Arcade, and Soda Machine articles, troubleshooting questions from subscribers answered by a technician, Tech Hints, Feature Articles on your favorite jukeboxes, books, service manuals, and supplies.
The information on this website is based on the documents in the non-commercial, private reference library Dansk Jukeboxhistorisk Arkiv, of which the objective is to collect and preserve historic information, sales brochures, advertising material, original factory and on location photos, patent reprints, service manuals etc. relating to the American nickel-in-the-slot machines, European coin-op gramophones, automatic multi-selection phonographs, and the modern style pre- and post-war jukeboxes, and to the audio/visual coin-op music machines of European and American origin.
Flippers is an on-line Pinball, Video Arcade, and Jukebox Corner Game Store. The Jukebox Help Page provides service information and it lists "fixers" located in Canada, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
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Hack Mechanical Music Company — Dick Hack
E-mail:
Restoration of all types of jukeboxes (coin operated phonographs), as well as coin pianos, orchestrions, and band organs. Also new music rolls for the Mills Violano-Virtuoso, Regina Sublima, North Tonawanda Pianolin, Wurlitzer Automatic Harp and others. Located in the Baltimore, Maryland, area.
This German site offers historical information and reproduction jukebox parts and accessories for various US and European manufacturers: Rock-Ola, Seeburg, AMI, Wurlitzer, Rowe, Tonomat, Bergmann, Jupiter, NSM, Wiegandt, Eltec, Deutsche Wurlitzer, OMT, Harting, BAL-AMI, Jensen et al.
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Rutoskey, John
E-mail:
Telephone: (410) 960-7816
Full restorations on all jukebox makes and models from any part of the USA, but service calls are limited to the Baltimore/Washington/Northern Virginia areas, and occasionally also New Jersey and New York. Familiar with Seeburg, Wurlitzer, AMI, and Rockola, plus the less well-known brands that include United, Mills, Aerion, Packard, and Capehart. John also does restoration work on coin pianos and band organs.
Founded in 1979 to better serve the needs of jukebox collectors and dealers, Victory Glass, Inc., supplies a wide array of high quality reproduction jukebox parts for antique jukeboxes.
The “Early Music Machines” section of Rick Crandall’s Library site includes his detailed articles on the Encore Banjo, the Engelhardt BanjOrchestra, Gabel, the Hupfeld Phonoliszt-Violina Rollography, Peerless, the Popper Felix, the Wurlitzer Automatic Harp made by J.W. Whitlock, the Boyer Museum, and Penny Arcades. Other library sections are devoted to articles by and about Rick on Computer History, Hiking Colorado Fourteeners, and Other Publications.
A well laid out website that offers historical information, literature, marketing brochures and catalogs for the Mills Novelty Company's Violano-Virtuoso, plus instruments and music rolls for sale.
Philippe Rouille's site includes links to other organizations and museums, mechanical music events and other information in French, German, and English.
The Violano Rollography and the Violano Rollscanning
Project includes data for more than 3100 Mills Violano music rolls. The
database reports are made available for a nominal fee on CD-R in Microsoft
Access, Excel, and Word formats.
This site is a must see for anyone interested in learning how Wurlitzer music rolls were made, and for the details regarding Wurlitzer 165 and 180 band organ music roll production. Detailed photographs of
Wurlitzer roll making equipment and research observations are included, along with a tune/composer listing for most Wurlitzer 165 music rolls.
Restoration Services
Rebuilders and Technicians for Music Boxes, Automatic Pianos and/or Organs, Etc.
AMI Enterprises (John R. Grant)
14 E. 21st Street
Baltimore, MD 21218
410-952-8168
Fax: 410-685-1848
E-mail:
40+ years experience in restoration and maintenance
primarily for reproducing pianos (Ampico, Duo-Art, Welte, etc.), but also
have extensive experience with parlor reed organs, nickelodeons, and similar
pneumatically operated musical instruments. Member of AMICA, MBSI, and
Associate Member of the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG).
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Another Time Restorations — John Pohlpeter
18347 South Redland Road
Oregon City, Oregon 97045-8823
(503) 631-8033
E-mail:
Restoration and repair of automatic musical instruments —
Player Pianos, Reed Organs, and Orchestrions.
Craftsmen working to preserve the history and glories of the past. Their work includes the restoration of Grand Pianos, Square Grand Pianos, Upright Pianos, Reed Organs, and Melodeons.
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Biasella, Jerry
Chicago Heights IL
(708) 756-3307
Restoration of coin pianos, orchestrions, reproducing
pianos, and band organs, since 1972.
Founded in 1955 by the late Dave Ramey, Sr., who received his education and training while maintaining the nickelodeon collection at Svoboda's Nickelodeon Tavern, Dave Ramey, Jr., carries on with expert knowledge passed down from his father. Along with restoration of automatic musical instruments, Ramey also manufactures new automatic musical instruments, beginning in 1978 with the new "Encore" Automatic Banjo.
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Eric, Christian (Chris) and Kathleen — Music Box Repairs
Costa Mesa, California
(949) 548-1542
E-mail:
The Eric's do accomplished work on all aspects of music
box restoration, but do be prepared for any major project to be put on a
"wait list." Moreover, do reserve their efforts for the finer aspects of
music box restoration, as they do not have the time nor inclination to
repair the more modern and inexpensive novelty items.
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Gonzales, Stephen (Steve) — The Rhone Corporation — Case
and Piano Restoration
4931 Durfee
Pico Rivera, CA 90660-2488
(562)
695-0019
Complete piano action rebuilding and casework restoration
for any type of coin-in-the-slot piano or orchestrion. Capabilities
including major case repairs, repair and/or replacement of carvings, expert
refinishing, tuning, and other repairs.
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Hack Mechanical Music Company — Dick Hack
E-mail:
Restoration of orchestrions, nickelodeons, coin pianos and
band organs. New music rolls for the Mills Violano-Virtuoso, Regina Sublima, North
Tonawanda Pianolin, Wurlitzer Automatic Harp and others.
Terry Haughawout has over 40 years of experience specializing in the restoration of the Mills Violano-Virtuoso, including the installation of MIDI systems that offer a wide selection of Violano music without the hassle of dealing cumbersome with music rolls. This website, “Home of the Violano-Virtuoso,” buys and sells Violanos, Violano music rolls, parts, and offers a wide array of information about the Violano-Virtuoso and the company that built these marvelous coin-operated instruments.
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Historical Instrument Restorations — Durward R. Center
Baltimore, Maryland
(410) 752-4771
E-mail:
Specializes in the restoration of barrel and paper roll
operated Welte Cottage, Concert, and Philharmonic Orchestrions.
Restoration of hand-cranked organs and fairground organs;
manufacturer of new organs and music.
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Johnson, Dana
17822 Carranza Lane
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
(714) 842-0333
Specializes in the restoration of coin operated pianos and
band organs. Also an excellent source for finding and/or fabricating custom
reproduction parts for coin pianos, orchestrions, and band organs.
Restoration, Tuning, and Repair of Pianos, Player Pianos,
Reed Organs, Nickelodeons, Reproducing Pianos, Carousel Organs, and
Calliopes. Instruments for Sale.
Restoration, servicing, and tuning of orchestrions, coin
pianos, reproducing pianos, and band organs since 1964. Custom music roll
arranging and MIDI files. No music rolls are kept in stock.
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Rutoskey, John
E-mail:
Telephone: (410) 960-7816
Full restoration of coin pianos, orchestrions, and band organs. Also full restoration on all jukebox makes and models from any part of the USA, but service calls are limited to the Baltimore/Washington/Northern Virginia areas, and occasionally also New Jersey and New York.
A professional who enjoys working with and restoring all types of automatic musical instruments, as well as designing and manufacturing new mechanical music devices, too.
Mr. Yorburg is an established and recognized woodcarver and restorer, specializing in amusement related woodworking, including band organ facades, carousel pieces, penny arcade games, other architectural
ornamentation, and signage and lettering.
Tuning, repair, and restoration of Band Organs, Pipe and Reed Organs, Orchestrions, and
Reproducing Pianos. Also works with Custom MIDI Systems and transcribes
Music Rolls into MIDI Files.
Rollographies — Music Roll Compilations External to this Website
Player Pianos, Coin Pianos, Orchestrions, and Violin Players
In association with the Carousel Organ Association of America, this broad based rollography features information for anything cut 8-to-the-inch. This includes Artizan band organs for 46 Key, 48 Key, 52 Key, 57/61 Key, 66 Key, 82 Key, and 87 Key music rolls; North Tonawanda Musical Instrument Works band organs and the Pianolin and Style "L;" plus historical perspectives and a Scale Summary regarding various music roll manufacturers that should be of interest to any band organ or coin piano enthusiast.
Over 650 out of a total of some 1270 “O” Rolls estimated made by QRS, U.S. Music, Columbia, Capitol and Clark are catalogued on this beautifully laid out website.
Annual antique shows for talking machines, music boxes,
78rpm and cylinder records, and everything mechanically musical. Free
classifieds, newsletter archives, online show and many items for sale.
Le Ludion manufactures hand-cranked organs, street organs, and a large library of music for new and old instruments on cardboard books, music rolls, and MIDI microchips.
An easy to navigate website featuring reference photographs and audio samples, along with sections offering for sale a variety of books, music rolls, player pianos, reproducing pianos, coin-in-the-slot pianos and an occasional band organ.
Large website covering just about everything related to
player pianos; technical articles, listing of technicians, as well as music
rolls and supplies for sale.
Specialists in 19th Century Music Boxes. The company was
established in 1966 in Camden Passage, one of the most important antique
centers in Europe, and has been trading at this location for more than
thirty-years. Their website is elegantly simple, easy to navigate and its
pages are filled with beautiful music boxes for sale.
The J. Verbeeck Company, established in 1884, is world renowned for
the building of superb new Street, Fairground, and Dance organs, as well
as for the expert tuning, repairing, and full restoration of historic organs of all types.
The American Treasure Tour is an all-indoor massive collection of Americana ranging from antiques to kitsch to pop culture. The mechanical music display explores hundreds of machines, including coin pianos, band organs, and music boxes.
The extremely unique museum (the former home of Mr. Charles B. Brown, III, the museum's founder) houses a large collection of music boxes and other fascinating automatic musical instruments, as well as many other interesting items. The building itself provides guests with a most interesting experience as they pass from room to room, at times through hidden doors and secret passages.
This is a wonderful place for the entire family to enjoy several automatic musical instruments, as well as all kinds of entertaining rides, exhibits, shows, and a fabulous steam train ride.
This mechanical music oriented website is for the whole family, friends, and other mechanical music enthusiasts. Not only are there lots of pictures to tantalize your interest, but many enjoyable audio clips are available for immediate listening, too. Additionally, the site also hosts a useful list of resource links.
The world's FIRST and ONLY Mechanical Music Radio Station. Listen to Fairground, Dance, and Street Organs, Pianolas, Music Boxes, Orchestrions and more. This station also reports news, information, and events relating to mechanical music.
Jukebox and Pinball Museum, with about 850 jukeboxes and 250 pinball machines on display. One section is dedicated to the pre-jukebox area from 1880 through the 1920s and is all about music boxes, player pianos, orchestrions, etc.
The Music House Museum's mission is to collect, restore, preserve, and display automated music machines and related Americana, and to educate and entertain guests of all ages.
Founded in 1963 by the late Frank Holland, the Musical Museum of London has been a valuable historic attraction for a long time, and features many beautiful examples of automatic musical instruments. The
year 2002 was the last season in the old St. George's church, when the museum was relocated to a nearby new purpose built building. A map of how to get to the museum is provided on its website.
The Nethercutt Collection speaks for itself, and can be seen for free. San Sylmar not only has a superb collection of automatic musical instrument, but has an elegant display of meticulously restored antique automobiles as well. Across the street, the Nethercutt Museum houses a lot more of J.B. Nethercutt's fantastic collection of vintage automobiles. Click here for information on how to arrange a visit. Children under 12 are not admitted.
Recreating the classic era of motion pictures, Old Town Music Hall is the place to go for anyone who enjoys viewing memorable motion pictures, with many silent movies accompanied by a magnificent Wurlitzer theater organ. A schedule of attractions, along with show times, is available at the Old Town Music Hall website.
The large and impressive Sanfilippo Foundation collection encompasses a wide variety of all kinds of automatic musical instruments, ranging from small music boxes to coin-pianos, large orchestrions, band organs, and even larger dance organs, with the main featured instrument being a 4-manual Wurlitzer Theatre Organ. All instruments have been restored to the peak of perfection. Also on display are restored steam engines, a steam locomotive, and an assortment of other interesting machines of historical significance.
The three Zaharakos brothers opened their confectionery in 1900, which, ever since 1908, has been home to what is now the only Welte Cottage Orchestrion still in its original commercial location. Visit Zaharako's and see and hear the beautifully restored Welte Style 3 Cottage Orchestrion, located at 329 Washington Street, Columbus, IN.
Established in 1908 by the Zaharako family, the confectionery is famous for its decor and turn-of-the-last century elegance. The Welte Style 3 Cottage Orchestrion installed in 1908 continues to provide a musical treat for visitors.
