Spoolboxes used in Seeburg Coin Pianos

(Photograph courtesy of Earl Hennagir)

Very early Seeburg spoolbox with wooden flanges on the takeup spool. The top flanges should also be wood; these appear to have been painted silver or replaced with non-original metal flanges. (Seeburg A #107,908, made in 1909.)

(Photograph courtesy of Ed Gaida)

Close-up of very early Seeburg wooden takeup spool flange with latching mechanism, covered by U.S. Patent 1,080,229, filed by Oscar Nelson in February 1910, and granted in December 1913 after it was no longer in use. (Seeburg A #7,627 with unknown brand of piano, probably made in 1909 or 1910.)

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Early style cast iron spoolbox with standard metal roll flanges, playing 11¼” wide G rolls. This mechanism, used in many thousands of pianos, was covered by U.S. Patent 1,039,066, filed by Oscar Nelson in October 1911, and granted in September 1912. (Seeburg small style J #11,129, in Peerless Wisteria case, made in 1916.)

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Early style cast iron spoolbox for 15¼” wide H rolls. Seeburg adapted the same side frames and gears to play 11¼” wide style A and G rolls, and for 15¼” wide style H rolls simply by installing tie rods, sheet metal backs, and tracker bars to fit the different roll widths.  (Seeburg large style J orchestrion #8,846, made in 1914.)

(Photograph courtesy of David Ramey Jr.)

Fast forward mechanism in Seeburg style W photoplayer.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Wooden spoolbox and wind motor in Seeburg X #54,588, made in 1922. Similar setups were used in mortuary organs and certain styles of photoplayers that didn’t have a pump and direct drive for the music roll.

(Photograph courtesy of Art Reblitz)

Wooden spoolbox of the type used in Seeburg styles L, E Special, C-Xylophonian, and Greyhound. The roll is threaded behind the rods above and below the tracker bar to keep the paper from buckling away the tracker bar when the roll reverses direction at the beginning and end of rewind. The white nameplate under the takeup spool is a label for convenient rewind and shutoff buttons in this Greyhound, #166,043, made in 1928—one of Seeburg’s last pianos.