The ongoing discussion about removing that Ampico mechanism brings
to mind my experiences tuning pianos over the past 20+ years.

On numerous occasions I've been working on a piano in some public
place, and a stranger comes up to me and volunteers a story of how
they had destroyed the old family piano years before, "because nobody
played it anymore".

The methods differ -- sledgehammer, bonfire, etc. -- but quite often
the piano is remembered to have been a Steinway.  Then they stand
there and await a response.

I generally nod sympathetically and say "That's too bad.  Some of
those old pianos are worth a lot of money nowadays."

I'm really not sure what reaction they expect from me.

Richard Friedman