Which tracking system?
As some of you know on here, I am in the process of restoring our Steck Duo-Art Player Piano. I have just about finished the hammer action section, new springs, buckskin, felts, dampers and hammers (pictures coming soon). I have two spool boxes and I am wondering which is the best one to fit. One spool box is fitted with a moveable tracker bar and uses 2 sets of offset holes to manage the tracking of the rolls. The second spool box uses an ear, either side of the tracking bar. The bar is fixed and the roll moves side to side. I can swap either over with the other, but would suspect that the roll moving rather than the tracker bar would be the best start. One further point. many years ago my father had a pianola (I don't remember the make of it), but I remember that the tracking system worked both on playing and re-wind. I have never seen this on a pianola since. Are there any benefits to this system, or is it more to do with that tracking, when re-winding is not recommended Regards, Steven.

Hi, If you want my opinion, the offset holes are much kinder on rolls, particularly in rewind. Unless the ear tracking system is 100% adjusted correctly, it can easily damage fragile rolls. Paul

I also agree with Paul on this , i have the tracker ears on my Aeolian but the offset holes on my Hupfeld , will have to say i perfer the Hupfeld tracking system more.

Hi, ..."but I remember that the tracking system worked both on playing and re-wind"...In the Duo-art it's the same way that's why you should forget the ear type,the moveable tracker bar it's far the best don't rip the rolls in rewinding.I made the same choise for my Weber 'full' Duo-Art.Well it's not a 'problem' when the tracking devise it's well 'tuned' but if you want to preserve your rolls this way it's best. Miguel

Thanks for all your replies. I would have replied earlier, but have been rather busy with work. The concensus seems to be the offset hole static tracking bar with the roll moving from side to side as it plays. Unless the roll is perfect, lets face it most are not, the problem with the tracking bar moving, this does nothing to stop edge curl on the take up spool, but where the roll moves as it plays, at least it has a fair chance of placing the paper correctly on the take up spool, which should make for a better re-wind when the roll has finished. There are plus's and minus's for all the differing methods. Steven.

I think the worst sensing device is single ear, as made by Gubransen etc, it can shred rolls in both directions (even if set correctly) Aeolian are way better but can still damage. But the Standard/Autopiano twin offset hole system has never damaged a single roll of mine. In fact this system plays previously damaged rolls easily, more accurately and with no progressive roll damage. For all the mechanical brilliance the designers undoubtably had, no-one ever solved the tracking problem 100% that I am aware of. Paul

If the spool box is accurately aligned the roll will move from top to bottom spool, or the other way, without damage to the paper (unless the paper has a bias to it so that it pulls to one side or the other). So, the first thing for any machine is to align the top and bottom spools. Then it's a case of getting the paper to align with the tracker bar. You can move both spools (Aeolian manual tracking), move one spool (common) or move the tracker bar (UK Aeolian with 4-hole tracking). Occasionally there were other ways of making the paper moves differently, such as some Hupfeld machines that have a rocking bar underneath the paper to make the paper shift sideways. Then you've got the mechanism to sense what tracking is needed. Normally one ear, two ears, or holes in tracker bar. Different combinations of the above all have their strengths and weaknesses. For instance, holes in the tracker bar to sense the edge are obviously not so good when the paper is damaged; a moving tracker bar means that the spools are always in alignment. The system I have deep reservations about is the type that moves one of the spools, simply because of its ability for catastrophic failure! These systems must be locked into the centre position for rewinding, which is why Aeolian two-ear tracking systems have two suction feeds: one is powered all the time, so powers the tracking to the centre on reverse, while the other feed operates the edge-sensing and is disabled on reverse. It's a 50:50 chance that these will have been switched round by a 'restorer', so that the machine tracks on reverse or drifts to one side, giving the characteristic turned-over edge to the roll, the so-called "Aeolian Pleat". For me, the best machine to deal with tatty elderly rolls is Aeolian's manual-tracking system on a machine with an adjustable-width takeup spool. It copes with anything! Julian