Fotoplayer Fridays: What the heck is a Harp Guitar? 

Actually, I know what a harp guitar is but I'm intrigued to discover how it is related to your Fotoplayer...

Great job Nate!

Yeah uh it’s at 1 am for me I can’t stay up that late so I’ll watch it in the morning 😂

Thanks, Nate. Each time I watch one of your videos, it's like I'm attending a master's class in pneumatic construction, operation, and restoration.

Really enjoy your vids Nate, keep ‘em coming👍

Fabulous channel ! We have two theatre organs that have had similar butchery undertaken on them to restore for our museum over the next few years, annoying when people take the trouble to make such awful changes as yours previously had.

Very nice job! Your work always looks factory even when your adding new features!

I'm so excited; i just can't wait for the percussion video😋

Man, this is somewhat a lot like working on a giant cuckoo clock incorporated into a piano. the pneumatics look a lot like cuckoo clock bellows, and like pneumatics in antique Emilian Wehrle trumpeter clocks of the 1800's. Excellent work, Nate!

What happened with the new video? Yesterday was Friday :( .I just cant wait more for the percussion video.

Nate, great work sir, what an amazing instrument. It'll be fun to join along as you go, cheers! Adams Family theme huh, sounds damn good!

With all those subtle jokes you will make an amazing dad, if you are not one already, which would explain.

Wish you lived closer, Nate....still have my grandmother's Caldwell player and it needs to be restored....I'll never be able to do it on my own.

Very nice instrument and something worth resorting. Great video2x 👍

I think Joe Rinaudo's Fotoplayer has a wooden xylophone under the keybed. Watching you drill into the case of the piano had my blood pressure so high, I 100% feel the stress of doing that! I never knew that American style Fotoplayers didn't have a sustain pneumatic built in, I remember seeing one in a museum in Germany that had one. I'm still going to add a sustain pneumatic to my piano since I've never gotten to have one in a player piano before, and I do what it so be able to play the piano to the best of its ability even without me sitting there controlling it. I love how the American Fotoplayers had the switches in such an easy location and man, they are fun to push. Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on one of those parts so I'm going to be making my own version that will actually hang under the keybed just out of sight. I bought a bunch of original African Mahogany reed organ stops that have porcelain engraved caps that will be perfect for toggling the instruments I plan on adding. If you don't mind me asking, how do you get newer wood to look like the old, fine grain wood of the original parts of the case? I want to have the cabinet behind my piano look as much like the piano as possible but the wood is hard to mimic. The wood is African Mahogany, just like the organ stops if that helps at all. Wonderful video as always, Nate! I always get excited for these. :)

Hi, Nathan. I just watched your series on restoring player pianos and enjoyed it very much! Many, many moons ago, my grandparents had a player piano with a similar attachment to what you called a "harp guitar" and they called it the "rinkie-tink" sound. Oh, how my grandfather HATED that sound, but then again, he hated just about everything! My grandmother used to use the rinkie-tink sound just to piss off my grandfather whenever they were feuding about something!! To this day I still believe that I got my evil sense of humor from her!! :) I miss that player piano almost as much as I miss my grandmother! My grandfather, not so much. I've "acquired" a total of 4 players over the past 40-or-so years, several of which I was told worked, and paid a lot of $$ for, but alas some people in this world are not exactly honest. I haven't given up my quest. Watching your videos has given me the confidence to undertake restoring my present player. It sorta works, but, like the one in your restoration series, I have to pump the pedals with a vengeance to get it to work, and even then it barely activates the hammers enough to make an audible sound. It was also electrified, but the motor for that doesn't work either. I wish that I had found your channel sooner, but then again, I wish I was 30 again, too! I would have gladly offered the three non-working players to you to scavenge whatever parts you wanted. Not knowing about you, they each made one HELL of a bonfire! As much as that just killed me to do, I had no other options. To me, burning a player piano was nothing short of sacrilege, but it seemed like the only respectful way to put them out of their misery- something like respectfully burning an old flag. 😁 Anyway, keep the videos coming, and I'll keep watching!

Great Video Nate I Enjoyed It 😊

You're very generous with some of the handy tricks you showed. There's a mid 20's car hidden in one of the last pics, curious what it is? Regards Chuck

Well, that wasn't at all what I expected but it was most enjoyable all the same. Thank you Nate. Roll on the drum episodes. (See what I did there?)

I'm not sure if it was original, but Joe Rinaudo's Style 200 has a harp guitar. Also, the kazoo variant looks like it I tried to make a custom photo player out of a player piano.

Here I am again!! Can I suggest Simichrome for your metal polishing. I have been an Antique dealer for years and have always liked Simichrome much more. I think they will send you a sample free..at least they used to. Still amazed by your work!!

Smooooooth!

Does this operate using an electric motor to pump air that moves the parts? I put silent movies up on RU-vid and Dailymotion and use quite a bit of Fotoplayer music to soundtrack the movies. Fotoplayer music is perfect period music for WWI era silents.

I have a 1927 player that has been in the family all these years. It’s in the basement of my house that I’m selling and knowone wants it. I was going to dismantle it and reuse the soundboard. It’s a shame as it sounds so good. But I wonder if there are any particular parts I could save and also when I get down to the plate, how heavy is that and could I take a grinder and cut it up so I could carry it up the stairs.

Boing

Nate.....Did they ever make Player Upright Grands???

Do you do Military Band Organs too?

Can your fotoplayer play “Vampire Penguins” by “Worm Quartet”

Sound a bit muffled (by the muffler rail?).

I believe this piano orchestrion also uses the harp guitar, you can see the bar go down: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GPrsEc3Kp0Y.html

What's wrong? I really like your fotoplayer videos, so. Please i wanna see the percussion video 😢.