Are There Piano Roll Catalogs or Price Guides?
I'm most interested in rolls from the teens through the 1960s and was wondering if there are any guides out there to tell me which rolls were available through the years and an approximate "book value" on them. I've seen old catalogs from Ampico and others from the 1920s, etc., but am interested in more of a comprehensive guide that covers numerous companies. I've looked just a little so far but haven't found anything yet. Does anyone here know of any?

Simple answer: no. If you want a hit-list of the generally-regarded and hence desirable rolls look at the lists of what's been recut. If you can find a copy, Richard Riley's "Hot Recut Rollography" does this for jazz and hot music, being a summary of recutters' lists over many years. No idea where to get a modern copy, if one even exists, as mine is a years-old photocopy. The roll hobby is thankfully entirely devoid of the concept of things having a 'book value' - whose existence is to dictate somebody else's opinion, usually farcially incorrect, and all too often utterly dishonest (dealers jacking up prices of stock items, as seen in the antique trade). No, roll collecting is too much a minor niche market for anybody to make money out of it, hence the lack of such 'guides'. Instead, it's up to each individual's view of supply and demand to set the price. In reality, prices vary vastly, and even in fairly open forums such as eBay there's little consistency. Rolls are bought to play, not as investments, hence edition is irrelevant to most buyers, who choose music they want. Indeed, because old rolls are often quite ratty, recuts (even though less accurate) can be seen to command a premium in auctions - particularly those reproducing piano rolls where originals are now so brittle that they can shatter when played. This is another reason why edition & matrix-based guides as seen in the book- and record-collecting world have absolutely no relevance to rolls. The rolls which fetch high sums are often surprising, things such as the rare (dullest) movement of sonatas, for instance, bought by those completing sets. Even there, once the three collectors worldwide have sated themselves nobody else wants them. The PPG postbid once regularly got £20+ for rolls Beethoven's last couple of Sonatas, on plain 88-note. The same rolls now go unsold, as nobody else wants this material at any price (a shame, because it's good). There's an ongoing hoovering-up of Duo-Art Audiographic rolls, but even here prices are dropping because what are hens-teeth rarities in the USA are modestly common in the UK (I have at the moment three copies of a set that was once confidently announced on MMD as "only one complete set in existence"!). Here eBay has been a great leveller. Again, I suspect no more than a handful of big-money collectors have driven these prices and haven't spawned mindless followers who presume such prices to indicate worth. I suppose the other big-ticket items are the ragtime and jazz rolls where originals are sought by some - original Thomas "Fats" Waller rolls, for instance, which didn't sell that many when new. Most have been in recut catalogues for decades using the original serial numbers, and sales lists under-describe them, so this is an area where a little knowledge is called for. So, my recommendation would be instead to discover what you like and then go hunting, with wallet open as wide as your desire dictates. Personally, I'm an el-cheapo collector, picking up what looks good when it appears rather than scurrying round to get a targetted list of rolls in the shor-*test*-('") time. It suits my way of collecting, but others will differ utterly in their approach. I find the problem is to keep the number of acquisitions down, not the finding of rolls! Julian

Thanks for the lengthy response, Julian. I suppose I should have noted that I'm not interested in collecting for an investment. We just got a great old Hobart M Cable player piano and have bought a few nice lots off of eBay and are interested in buying more. The reason I was asking about a guide/catalog is because we'd like to know more titles that are out there. Right now I'm spending time typing in songs like Hong Kong Blues or Memphis In June on eBay but don't know for sure if those rolls even exists. Also, we've got some rolls of songs we love but aren't crazy about the particular version and are curious if there are other versions available. We're definitely having fun with it and have found, somewhat to our surprise, that it's many of the unknown titles that are bringing the most enjoyment, as opposed to some of those better known songs. Just like my 78 collection. Thanks again for the response and hopefully we won't be bidding against each other on eBay! I'm like you in that I like going after the good deals. Some of the bigger lots you can get rolls for an average of a buck or two a piece.

Hi Julian I picked up nearly all of the late Beethoven Sonatas at the old Mechanical Music Museum for 50p each, - but did Aeolian ever produce the late Bagatelles Opus 126 (or the Op119 set) at any time in 88 note format? I have long been after these, and have never seen them either on the postbids or ebay. Cheers Neil

Neil, The 1914 Pianola catalogue lists the entire Op 119 and 126 Bagatelles - on 65 note only! No idea whether they ever made it to Aeolian 88 note, quite possibly not. They did, however, appear on Hupfeld/Animatic, both Opp. in 2-roll sets played by Felix Wernow. These pieces are all readily available in MIDI form, so you could always have rolls made... Julian