— Extra Instruments —
Pipework in Seeburg Coin Pianos

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Metal violin pipes like these were used in very early Seeburg A roll pianos and in a few of the first style G orchestrions. This example is Seeburg F #7,035, made in 1912. The pipe chest and wooden pipe racks were originally finished in green shellac. Although the longest 10 pipes seem to be the same length in the picture, the lowest pipe at the left is the longest, and the next 9 are successively shorter. To fit within the height of the cabinet, each pipe is mitered, or cut and soldered back together at 90 degrees. In this piano, the first 10 are double-mitered so each pipe goes up, back, and then down. Mitering has no significant effect on the pitch or tone quality of the pipe.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Wooden violins like these, with a narrow slot and tuning slide near the top, and a bent brass “frein” in front of the mouth, were used in many styles of Seeburg coin pianos and orchestrions, including this style K #55,542, made in 1913. In most models, they play at the same pitch as the associated piano notes (“concert pitch”, or in pipe organ terminology, “8’ pitch”).

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Close-up of the violin pipes in the previous picture in Seeburg K #55,542. Early violins like these have the all four walls made of fine-grain quartered spruce (or vertical grain spruce). Later ones have maple fronts and slightly thicker walls.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

A rank of melodias in Seeburg F #57,613, made in 1914. These large-scale open flutes play at 8’ pitch (the same at the associated piano notes) and are very soft and mellow. They were also used in some examples of G and H orchestrions, for owners who wanted an orchestrion that was relatively subdued. In this picture, the longest four pipes are mitered.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Many styles of G and H orchestrions, and a few A roll pianos had piccolos like the front rank of pipes in this G #18,624, made in 1913. They are open pipes, half the length of the violins (back row) and melodias (previous picture), and they speak an octave above the associated violin and piano notes (or “4’ pitch”). Piccolos or harmonic flutes at 4’ pitch (shown in the second picture below) lend a bright, happy sound to a style G or H, one of the reasons these are many collectors’ favorites.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Close-up of piccolos in Seeburg G #18,624. Seeburg used piccolos of two different scales, or cross-sectional sizes, in different pianos. The fatter-scale pipes are a little louder than the thinner-scale rank, plenty loud to be heard clearly even with the front cabinet doors closed. Readers are encouraged to submit the cross sectional dimensions (width and depth) of the longest Seeburg piccolo in various style G orchestrions, so we may verify and compare the size of the two scales.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Another very popular rank of Seeburg flute pipes, the harmonic flute, shown here in G #12,312, made in 1920. This rank is the same length as the violins behind, but each flute has a small hole (called a “nodal hole”) halfway down the length of the resonator, causing it to speak an octave higher at 4’ pitch. The effect is the same as with half-length piccolo pipes, but the tone is more orchestral, a little less bright, and sounding more like a person playing a flute in the high register than a piccolo. The two previous pictures show piccolos (half the length of the violins) in G #18,624.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Stopped flutes in small style Seeburg J #11,129, made in 1915 in a Peerless Wisteria case. These pipes are half the length of the associated violins but play at the same pitch (8’), because stopped pipes play an octave lower than open pipes of the same length. Seeburg used stopped pipes only very rarely, and usually in models where the case has enough depth, as in this J, so the cabinet front doesn’t interfere with the tuning. The author has only personally seen one each of styles E, K, and G with original stopped flutes, although a few others have been reported in the Seeburg registry report. The distinctive sound of stopped flutes, usually associated with Wurlitzer orchestrions, gives a Seeburg equipped with them a completely different sound than usual.