Spinet Ampico Plays, Brown Eyes Why Are You So Blue?

[arburo1]

Heard about but never seen until now. This is a really fantastic little reproducer, and a real engineer's delight inside, so compact. Many thanks for posting.

[ranchovistadenada]

Nice piano, I now have 2 of these, a '38 and '39. Ampico knew something-how to get such great sound out of a small piano.....only problem I have are those grasshopper pumps! I truly enjoy the music these little guys put out. There great when I dont what to here the big sound of the Steinway DA. Thanks for sharing such a great piano!

[Wurlitzer157]

Wow! This is a very dandy (and compact too) instrument you could easily fit anywhere!

[JamesPriceJohnson]

how you supposed to tune that?

[ampicoab]

It's not easy! The top action slides forward about four inches, and that allows access to the tuning pins.

[jev1937]

This little spinet with it's stripped down price and ampico system plays remarkably well. Regretably, I passed on one of these for sale but needing restoration back twenty years ago.. If I only knew then how good they could sound.....like the little engine that could! Thanks for bringing this to share with us all. OldSeaDog37

[Pianosyncrazy]

Thanks for offering this rare footage...

[KawhackitaRag]

The way he changes up the rhythm at 2:09-2:10 reminds me of Frank Banta, but the swung 3-over-8 ragtime figure following this is pure Delcamp.

And of course, the big break in the coda is a Confrey break.

I'm sure most of those guys knew and listened to each other, and so I am not surprised to hear bits of each other's styles creeping in.

Both Banta and Confrey are also listed Ampico artists, although the jury is still out on whether they actually made those particular rolls.

[pm0501]

The $495 price in 1937 may sound cheap but, the average monthly income in 1937 was about $130. Even a piano roll selling for .65 was a chunk out of a $30/Week paycheck.This is a very nice sounding piano!

[ampicoab]

Good idea. Somehow, I missed giving credit to Delcamp, but now he is included in the tag.

[KawhackitaRag]

Please add "J. Milton Delcamp" to the tags for this video... he is one of my favorite pianists, and I collect his rolls.

If you want to hear the only two known audio recordings of him at the piano, get the two Folkways CD's "Swingin' Piano 1920-46" and "Ragtime Piano Originals". He plays on these, respectively, his own "Swanee Blues", and an unknown rag that he probably wrote. Both recordings are private pressings from around 1920. Fantastic performances!

[a78ba]

Thanks very much for all teh wonderful videos of these pianos you post!!! This piano is wonderful, like all the others ampico...

[ampicoab]

Regarding the George Steck brand--I think the stencil name was chosen to match the dealerships. I've seen the same spinet design with at least three other names. The Ampico system is simplified to conserve space and expense.

[bigcity233]

Thanks for posting this - I've never seen an Ampico spinet up close. These were indeed the last of the Ampicos. It's amazing how they got the intricate mechanism in the spinet case. Interesting that Aeolian American chose the George Steck brand for their Ampico spinet which was a Duo-Art system brand.

[DuoArtDanOz]

Excellent to see the workings!....so tight on space but great sound.

[aknabea]

Thanks for the new video.  Very interesting and a nice sounding little piano. Thanks for all of your videos.

Aknabea

[Cadw]

Another great video!