Player Piano Revival Episode 18: Revived and Ready for Music! 

This player piano is now for sale. You can find the listing here. www.ebay.com/itm/404604124151 It was a difficult decision to make. But! All funds from the sale will go towards the acquisition of an exhibition space for a restored player piano, Fotoplayer, and electric piano. Thanks for looking! Nate

This was one of the most satisfying endings to a project that I've ever seen out here on RU-vid. You have an incredible talent and it has been a joy to watch this series, can't wait to see what you do next!

Incredibly underrated channel. Thanks for everything and I hope the exhibition goes well when it arrives. You deserve so many more views.

A very well-deserved victory lap Nate. Congratulations!

My mother (late 80's) has an old player piano that I never saw actually work as a player. She used to teach piano lessons on it as I was growing up. It is from around the 1920's (I found this out later on), and recently my mother expressed an interest in having it work again, but said she couldn't believe anyone still repaired them. A little googling around, and I found someone who restores them, and their shop was less than 50 miles away!! We called him and had him come to her place to look it over. He had the thing disassembled in about 10 minutes!! I was SO impressed with his knowledge of this piano that he just saw for the first time. He took his time, explained how everything works together to make the piano a player piano. After 1 hour he had it reassembled, and promised to send us a quote for a possible restoration. Before the end of the day we had the quote. It wasn't cheap (but I am a FIRM believer in you get what you pay for.) Needless to say we signed up to have him do the restoration work. The ONLY bummer is that he is so busy with restorations that it will be several years until he can get to it. But we are SO excited that he is going to be doing the work. I then found he had all sorts of restoration videos on RU-vid (which I did NOT know until after we signed up for the work) and I was up until 1:00 AM watching them they were so interesting!! They also detail the sheer amount of work and knowledge this artisan has about player piano restoration, and how much he actually "cares" about the piano and it's history. I am so excited he will be doing our restoration, I just wish time could go faster so my mother and I can see the results sooner!! :) Thank you Nate for restoring these piano's and sharing all your videos online!!

I have just purchased a 1920 Broadwood player piano, and to be honest it is in really good condition. It cost me £10 as the owner wanted it to go to a good home and it had been in her life since she was 4, 50 years ago. I am currently renovating the action and will hopefully have it up and running in the next month. The cabinet is chipped and worn and this will be my biggest learning curve, new woodworking skills. Thank you for your channel and videos, they have given me the confidence to attempt this. And yes I have bought the books and I am enjoying learning the amazing history of these fascinating musical machines.

Fabulous video series. I've shown episodes with non-player piano owners and they have been fascinated. Thanks for keeping this niche of history alive. Can't wait for more Fotoplayer videos. No pressure...

It was very exciting to be part of the many work steps. Thanks a lot for this!😃 I'm looking forward to the sequel with the American Photoplayer. I love Joe Rinaudo's RU-vid videos with his photo player. That leaves you wanting more. Until then I wish you all the best!👋🏼😊

Amazing job on this Player piano, your video’s make it look so easy but it needs a lot of skill and craftmanship to get it done (and perhaps a stack of old players for parts) I’ve enjoyed your “show” and I hope that there is more to come. Greetings from Fryslân.

Much respect for your patience and craftmanship from Holland !! What a top endresult!

I binge watched this whole series today. I am a bit bleary eyed, but I really loved it. Such interesting and complex work so well carried out--and with humor. And it really brings a smile to see this fine old machine brought back to life instead of going to a landfill or burn pile as so many thousands like it have.Good job!!!!

We’re so incredibly proud of you. We had NO idea about the intricacies of your work-not to mention your editing skills. Well done, Nate. This has been so entertaining. Thank you!

I have watched all your videos now and I’m extremely excited to hear you are thinking about an exhibition for these marvels of engineering. I hope that with any luck, your machines may end up in a museum exhibit one day 🎉🎉🎉

You have every right to be overjoyed sir! I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work, thanks for sharing with all of us out here! Cheers!

What a great conclusion to the series and this piano really shines in every way now, WOW! Please keep us updated on the exhibit, it is needed! I have thoroughly enjoyed every episode and your humor. You give me hope for the future of the hobby. - With great thanks, Erik

Had this been the only video it would still have been an extraordinary piece of work and entertainment. Thanks for all your very remarkable efforts Nate. And thanks for inviting us along; I feel uplifted too. God bless you mate.

What an amazing series! The complexities of these instruments is amazing. I have a suggestion regarding the leather valve materials. When you bubble tested silicone, there were some bubbles. This could be due to silicone being very permeable to air. You can't make a silicone balloon or inner tube. The silicone molecule is spring shaped and easily deforms. The ideal material would be butyl rubber which is used to make inner tubes. Also this may be helpful. One of the most basic properties of any rubber is its hardness, measured with a Durometer using the Shore A scale with 0 being a liquid and 100 being a brick. Most common values are 30, 40, 50 and 60. 60 is typical of spark plug boots. 30 or 40 for gaskets. If there is a rubber company in your area, you could see if they wouldn't mind measuring the durometer of some leather seals and the silicone ones you used. An old leather seal will be harder than a new one due to oxidation. Think pencil eraser. Silicone is inherently resistant to oxidation. Butyl rubber relies on additives, which could possibly be corrosive to other components over time. Just my two cents. I too am analytical and the more information the better. Thanks for such an enjoyable bunch of videos. We had a player ihn the basement in t he 1950"s and I can't count the hours I spent pushing those pedals. Brough back a lot of memories.

I bet it will sound great

This has been an absolute joy to watch. Thank you so much for taking us along on the ride. I hope you consider doing more content in the future.

I have throughly enjoyed the restoration! Looking forward to many more videos along these lines! I must say I did not expect disco but I enjoyed it!

A perfect finale-with confetti punchings no less! Would you consider a new series of shorts? Each short could hi-light an indispensable “must have” tool of the piano workshop. Something to think about…if you want to…no pressure.

Your excitement and giddiness when the piano started up was palpable. I've so enjoyed being on this journey with you! Looking forward to your fotoplayer in the future...though I'd imagine you'll want a break to recover!

I got sucked into watching all of these thanks to a post on Reddit. I had no idea these machines ran entirely on air pressure. All of the mechanisms are incredible to create a vacuum, even out the differences in pressure created by pumping, which allowed an air motor to run smoothly, not to mention how the music roll stayed centered, or all the machining of the wooden chambers and valves. It's an industrial technology that developed and matured to an impressive degree with a set of materials I don't see today (SO much felt, as well as leather, wood, and hide glue) and it has now just disappeared. This is like a more subtle (but also intricate) version of Hand Tool Rescue. On his channel you see how all of these domestic tools and technologies worked that have since disappeared because they were, like, deadly and insane. This is learning how something worked which has since disappeared just because of electricity and plastic. Thanks so much for all your work explaining these components, how they work, how you fix them, and putting that together in really well made videos.

Beautiful job! You put so much time and effort into this. I wish I had the time and patience to rebuild my player. I don’t think I could do it. Thanks for all the videos! They were so much fun to watch. You should be very proud of yourself and the great gift you have. Thanks again my friend.

Nice work, it sounds and looks great. You need a magnet to pick up all shims or right sorry plastic! 😂 Thank you for the hours of entertainment, and bringing this old player back to life. 👏👏👏👏

Thank you for making this series. Well done.

Fantastic job, Nate! I enjoy your honesty, your creativity, and humor. Thank you for creating a whole new level of enjoyment for me and many, many others.

I am so happy to see the piano come to life again, amazing job! It's been wonderful to watch your videos and they made my day every time they came out. I hope to see my piano/maybe future fotoplayer turn out as well as your piano. I've learned a lot from this journey, thank you for all of this!

I've enjoyed this series so much, and also learned loads from it. The least I can do is shout you a coffee using that conveniently placed link in the description haha. I'm also turning on that notification bell incase you produce another series, would love to see a fotoplayer restored!

Thanks for sharing all the work needed to get a player piano working again! My grandmother bought an Aeolian player piano in the 1920's. I remember messing with it when I was a kid - learning how to pedal, loading the reel, etc, and the sounds of this piano operating bring back all those childhood memories. As a young teenager, I remember hearing that it didn't work well because of disintegrating rubber tubing, and being curious what it would take to repair. The piano's long gone, and I've got plenty of other projects that I'd do before a player piano restoration, but I really enjoyed seeing what would be needed to restore a player piano.

Fantastic, Nate. Thanks for sharing with us.

Thanks so much Nate! You are truly an inspiration to me as I struggle with my own player piano restoration project. I greatly enjoyed and learned from your experience.

Great work Nate! Splendid series documenting the process, you've really got a knack for it.

Your videos on the restoration of this player piano have been amazing. I own 2 player pianos in my garage that need work & one that was a player at one time but someone quite viciously removed all of the player parts, however the piano is an excellent musical instrument. I'm going to keep collecting until my garage is full. Ty again for the videos.

Bravo 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Beautiful job Nate. Thank you very much for sharing such a fascinating project.

So nice to see after 17 episodes, and you in your nicest suspenders. I can't believe you ended with The Hustle, but chacun à son goût. When my kids were growing up we would hum The Hustle (do do do...) when cleaning up after dinner. When we got to the only line with words we would shout "Do the dishes!"

Beautiful workmanship Nate what a pleasure to resurrect an old treasure, must be proud of it. Jim from AUSTRALIA. 😊❤

What a lovely finish to a brilliant project. Congratulations!

A great series. I enjoyed watching each step of the process. Many thanks and all best wishes from Honolulu, Hawai'i.

I loved this series, looking forward to next season!

This was so fascinating to watch! Thank you, and I hope you continue chronicling your projects.

What an absolute fantastic series. One of the most entertaining here on RU-vid. As one who loves music, musical instruments, piano, wood working and mechanical tinkering, I would absolutely love to do something like this. Thank you Nate for the hours of entertainment and best wishes.

This series was awesome to watch. It feels awesome that you brought back a piece of history to life!!! I admire people like you!!!! 😀

WOW! A player piano that doesn't sound like a hideous beast. Thank you for sharing.

Congratulations Nate, watching this unfold has been an absolute joy

Thanks so much for this series Nate - I just binge watched the entire series. We have just been given a old german player piano that has some....issues. This certainly gives me some insight in how to begin.

This has been one hell of a journey. Well done.

Great job Nate! And thanks for the laughs.

Èxcellent pieces of machinery absolutely amazing what amount of work has to be done to put these machines into full working order ive always liked these since i was very young still do

Thank you Nate for this great series. Only tonight have I finally completed watching this great series _(oh, and all your other videos)_ and it was superb experience. Personally I would love to see a video with your critique on your collection of rolls - history of them, your favorites and why and anything else related to their manufacture of any 'errors' perhaps, it would be fascinating. Stay well and thanks again for your efforts in giving these 'living' instruments another lease on life! (p.s. It's OK, I love Disco so no convincing required here, no pressure! 🕺)

It went out with a bang! Well done, till next time

Really enjoyed this antique's path to being operational again! I gotta say you are a very silly human and that's absolutely fine, the goofy humor is charming in its way. (And I think you're a walking "dad joke machine" - nothin' wrong with that.) Lovely and thoroughly meticulous work!

Thanks for the wonderfully entertaining videos that have given me hope with my player piano project. Can't wait to see what you do next! P.S. I Love disco :)

nice one man, congratulations on a great result and enjoy the fruits of your labour!

What they said! Congratulations! 😊

I Can't believe you only have 655 subscribers.

Thank you for this excellent series. It was especially meaningful to me since my player has the identical Autopiano deluxe action. I just wish I could have had the benefit of your videos thirty years ago when I restored it.

Great series of videos and what a great choice of songs for the finale.

Incredible work ! Yet fascinating and entertaining :) Cheers mate.

Amazing series, thanks so much for sharing!

I'm sure you have seen one of these before. I knew a guy who had a device that made any regular piano into a player piano. I don't remember the name or make. It was basically a lower section of a wooden box on wheels which had the running mechanism and held the roll, then there was an upper section which sat over the keyboard of a regular piano this had "fingers" that play the keyboard. I never saw it running but I think it was clockwork rather than pedal powered.

Just curious, looking at your roll cabinet at the beginning, how many rolls do you roughly own? Thousands? They seem to multiply in my experience! Unfortunately, Hawaiian rolls are the first to repopulate! Such excellent work and entertaining videos! Always makes me realize how I pump my players compared to your fresh restoration! Look forward to your future uploads.

BRAVO!!!

Awesome series!

This is so much fun to watch and listen to! Is it possible to duplicate vintage piano roles from the 20's and 30's so that the life of the original performances can be extended? Does anyone do that?

Nate, I have watched this series a few times now, and it has inspired me to go out and restore a player myself, so for this thank you! I’m also curious, I really love the cabinets you have for storing the rolls, have you restored them as well?

2:29 😂❤️

Sounds amazing! great work. I'm curious, how does it make the keys depress when playing itself? I got the action on mine working but didn't start on any bellows or player stuff yet, but it looked to me as though they keys would not move when it played. I must be missing something.

We’ve come a long way!

AUTOPIANO - THE BEST!!!!