This Seeburg Style C was purchased by Frank Rider in the late 1970’s from King Arthur’s Pub in Chicago. The Style C is an “art case” coin piano which plays an “A” roll, featuring a piano with mandolin attachment, no extra instruments. Frank really wanted an orchestrion. With a little ingenuity, Frank modified some player piano parts and made his coin piano into an orchestrion that plays a “G” roll, with a set of bells, snare drum, triangle, cymbal, and wood block with three beaters (using the tracker bar controls for bass drum and tympanis), dubbing it the Style C-R Special. After Frank’s passing and many years of entertaining family and friends, the C-R Special fell into disrepair and slowly quit playing. The Rider family asked D.C. Ramey Piano Company to bring Frank’s creation back up to playing condition. The idea was not to restore the instrument to new factory condition, but to honor Frank’s intent and preserve the character of this 100 year old music machine.
The Seeburg C-R Special is ready to entertain another generation, here performing “King Chanticleer” from the “G” roll “Echoes of the Barbary Coast”, arranged by Art Reblitz.