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@PiotrBarcz Isn't that wonderful?? It's one of my favorite parts of the whole song. Pretty swingy for this time period on Ampico nonetheless!

@@Yalie06405 Indeed! Was there ever a piano roll made of We'll Meet Again? I just hooked on that tune xD

@PiotrBarcz Unfortunately not according to the Ampico book. I suspect it may have been too late of a tune or not popular enough for the late run of rolls.

@@Yalie06405 Yeah, a shame, the 1953 recording Vera Lynn made would make such a good roll.

I have a suspicion that like many others, he was relatively quickly phased out after the merger and bottom started falling out of the market. From what I've read and heard, Frank Milne was preferred due to his popularity and of course abilities to create and work magic into both the styling of the Ampico and Duo Art systems and familiarity with it all. Of course to make it seem like they still had a wide artist recording base, that's why he assumed so many pseudonyms.

I'm currently converting my garage in a finished showroom and workshop for all the pianos I have as it'd be nice to have them all almost in the same space and would be nice to have a dedicated space to work on them. I rebuild pianos for myself. I've been doing it for over 20 years. Slowly getting into player work now too.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Kirk. Let's get together soon!

@@merimar3 Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it. Knabes really are wonderful instruments. They are generally very well built and have a much more natural sound to them compared to most other higher quality instruments.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Sohmer built some very high quality instruments. I got that Case Steam tractor from our local Steam Pageant in Canandaigua, NY many years ago. Probably at least 20 years ago now.

I would imagine not too much difference. This Knabe is 6ft 4in long and the RBB is 6ft 11.5in. I've played both instruments and I can testify there is not too much difference in sound or bass!

@@Yalie06405 Really? Huh, I thought the BB's were 7 foot, maybe the RBB is a bit longer because of player system but I don't think that's the case when it's in a drawer. Probably depends on the piano too, your Knabes have phenomenal bass tone.

​@PiotrBarcz You're right. With reproducing pianos that have drawers, generally there is not adding on to the length of the piano unless it's the Duo Art system, unless you have one of those later Duo Art systems that were in the Ampico B drawers. I think what helps with Knabes is that they have such wide tails compared to most pianos which adds more soundboard volume and generally makes them sound larger than their actual size.

@@Yalie06405 Yeah, the boat tails are awesome for bass tone!

Thanks Kirk! I'm glad you liked it!

Why do you think it's a sloppy recut????

@@Yalie06405 Chords sound a bit rough. I automatically jump to think it was one of those Play-Rite cuts, I hate them with a passion. I assume by your reaction that you have an original and that's just Milne's late mastering coming through.

@PiotrBarcz OH, this one is a Klavier recut. I think some of the harshness just comes out of the original hammers. I may try to voice them down a little but inclined to just replace them.

@@Yalie06405 Klaviers were good cuts, so I think this is one of Milne's late hand made masters that had some sloppiness to them giving them that very loose sound. The hammers are fine actually! I like them, bright enough not to get lost in the room!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Yes, at this point, the stack had been rebuilt, but everything below - bellows, sustain and soft pedal pneumatics, and expression pneumatics were all still original from 1914!

It will be soon! The piano is currently getting some much needed work done and a complete rebuild of the Ampico.

Yes, the upbeat version is a nice treatment of the song. One of the nicest piano solos of this song that I've ever heard was done by Johnny Green. Peter Mintun was kind enough to share the recording with me.

Thank you! He's my favorite pianist. I recently got a card from the Savoy Hotel with his signature on it and it inspired me to try out his "On The Air."

@Yalie06405 How lucky are you. Have you heard the rather amusing recording of 'On the Air' with both Carrol Gibbons and Johnny Green?

I'm glad you enjoyed it, Kirk!

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it 😊

Hahaha? OH? But what do you mean? Does it sound similar to an Ampico roll, maybe? 😜 And I agree. There has been sole vast improvement in the microphone Samsung is using. There used to be some kind of "drop out" or "blurring" depending on how intense the volume or expression was on the piano but now seems to have a very nice balance without any compromise in quality of sound. Sometime this summer, a good friend of mine who is also a pianist and has a youtube channel, is going to bring his more high tech recording equipment and we're going to try recording some material!

@@Yalie06405 Indeed xD A Frank Milne one at that! Do you remember which medley roll it's in? I can't remember but I KNOW I have a scan somewhere! Also I'll be looking forward to seeing what you and your friend come up with! Also, I'm working on setting up a recording studio at my new place, I also live in the Upstate New York area, it would be really cool to have you over to do a session at some point!

@@PiotrBarczWhen you find it, I’d love to have it! 😁

@@TheAmpico You bet! I'll try and find it, knowing how things go it's going to be an elusive bastard though xD

The wine glass turned into a tip glass. That remained empty too! 😂

@@Yalie06405 If I was there I would've thrown in a hefty one, you can be sure of that xD

@@Yalie06405 Haha.

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it! 😊

Thank you! I really appreciate the compliment. Carroll Gibbons is my favorite pianist and have over the years tried to adopt his playing style. Thanks again!