Duo Art Conversion
Hi, Most of you know I have been wanting to convert my 1/2 Duo Art to a full expression Duo Art system. Generally with an English made instrument it is much easier to get a full expression instrument in the first place. My piano seems to be a bit of an oddity? What is an American made Steck doing in Britain when Aeolian had a factory in Hayes Middx churning out instruments? Secondly 1/2 Duo Art models are virtually unheard of in the US - full expression being the American thing! Also it has a transposing system (rather than tracker bar on an ordinary player) as you know you cannot transpose the tracker bar on a Duo Art because it has the expresion holes in it. Anyway I have tracked down virtually all the parts I need to turn my 1/2 Duo Art pedal model into a full expression pedal electric. Most of the parts will be from an American Stroud which was scrapped because the pinblock was split. So it will be fun putting it together. It will have extra levers at the front too! The Owner of the parts has offered to saw the front piece of timber out from his donor instrument for me so I can use it as a guide for fitting the additional controls. I will need to rebuild the full expression box when I get it along with other pneumatics. What I will need help with is positioning the additional components... Andy

Hi there Andy, sound slike you've got a right fun job there on your hands! The transposer is not unusual especially on a pedal-Duo-Art (PDA). Transposers are really only ever used for singing accompaniment rolls. The bar slides at the back over the note holes and not the Duo-Art ports or the themodist positions so these and their functions are not compromised in any way. If you have a transposer bar the instrument will probably have an 80-note stack making conversion to full PEDA spec easier. You won't need to fit the cut-off-blocks that cancel the last 4 notes from each end and switch the channels over to the Duo-Art ports - it is finding a set of these and fitting them that normally cause the major problems in this sort of conversion. The rotary switch for the spool box is very important. What are you doing for auto-rewind and shut-off - does your tracker have an auto-rewind port? It's not imperative if it doesn't as the earliest Duo-Arts had no auto-rewind or auto-shutoff mechanisms at all. Let us know how you get on! Adam :D

Conversion
Adam, All the parts are coming from a scrap USA built Stroud. I'm not into butchering so won't be carving the piano case up. I will probably need to source a British motor as the US one will probably cost a bomb to ship across. In addition I would have to change the pulley size and use a variac as it is made for 60Hz at 110 - 120 Volts! Will keep you posted with developments. Andy