Selection of Thorens Manivelles

Latest News

Updated 16th July 2026

A plea for help from Kevin McElhone

Musical Tunelists.

In the 1990’s I ran a Projects and Wants Column in both the MBSI [Musical Box Society International] and MBSGB [Musical Box Society of Great Britain] magazines.

A large part of this included requests for help with compiling tune lists including:

Organette Music, Aeolian and Wilcox-White roll playing organs, Player Piano rolls, Musical Box Discs and many other types such as Triola Zither.

I would  like to do some more work on these lists before I hand them over to someone else.

If readers would kindly check music in their collection to see if they can add any more tunes which are missing from the lists ?

I would be particularly interested to hear of any different sizes / types of music not already listed.

The MBSGB website page below is updated most months and contains all of these lists Click here no no to view

Thank you,

Kevin McElhone – MBSGB New Members Secretary

Peter Both

It is with sadness that we have been informed that Peter Both, Member of AMBC and President of Schweizer Freunde Mechanischer Musik, Neerach, Switzerland, has passed away suddenly.
The AMBC Committee send there sympathies to Peter's wife Jacqueline and family.

2026

Mechanical music Auction - Eastbourne
Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th October 2026

The next Mechanical Music Auction and Social-Meet Event in Eastbourne dates have been set.
​More information will follow later in the summer.
Laurence Fisher
07704 779 603
Website: www.lfisherconsultancy.co.uk
Updated 8th June 2026

AMBC Meetings

At the Committee Meeting held on 24th May the AMBC Committee agreed a new structure which you can find here.
We hope that this structure will enable us to run more meetings than of late, and to build bridges with MBSGB.
To that end there was a meeting at Coultershaw Heritage Site, Nr Petworth, in August 2025 with several members of The Musical Box Society of Great Britain (MGSGB) joining us for the day. A report on this meeting can be found in the Autumn Edition MMW41
​Amended, October 2025
Click the heading to see the dates of Mechanical Music Events that we know about.
Send us an email if you know of any that are not on the list.

Musical Box Fun Facts

Canadian restorer Darren J Wallace writes ...

Fun, maybe useless, facts!
Musical box terminology wasn’t quite what we perceive today. 
Many manufacturers referred to comb teeth as “tongues”.
Music box discs were referred to as “tune sheets”.
Even Capital “cuffs” were originally referred to as “tune cylinders” in their original advertisements.
Governors in both cylinder and disc box nomenclature were often referred to as “flywheels”.
Coin-op boxes were called “….with coin slot attachment”, and lastly, some manufacturers referred to their combs as “keyboards”.

All of this found in original printed matter from original makers and manufacturers.
Perhaps you have seen terminology used in original nomenclature that I have not mentioned (?)

Do let us know if you have any similar facts to share. Ed
Our website development is ongoing as we endeavour to bring you more information.
We have added a Tune Library for Cylinder Boxes, but need more tunes. Do you have any good recordings to share?
The latest addition are two supplements to Paul Bellamy's Cylinder Musical Box Tune Sheet book that some of you may have purchased. We will be adding further supplements as time goes on.
If you notice anything wrong, or you can't find what you're looking for or wish to contribute, please get in touch

Memories of a Founder Member

Founder member Chris Fynes passed away early in 2023 and is sadly missed by many. 
We have added a page dedicated to Chris which contains a brief outline of his life, written by his son Justin, plus a short article about his work with the BBC and his passion for Musical Boxes. Read more ...