Ok, a player piano can be made from ANY piano (non electronic) however it's much cheaper to get a player piano that was built as a player piano.
Basically the whole mechanism that transfers the energy from striking the key into the hammer that strikes the string has to be removed. Inside the piano, directly under the hammers, a series of piston like rods are placed and are run to an onboard computer. It's a fairly simple device, but it has to be adjusted to the piano's "personal" hammers. This allows the pistons to recreate a human's touch. The speed at which they fire, the duration, the tonality. It's all incorporated into the device. In essence a midi device could be put on a piano fairly easily if you can find someone that knows what they are doing. There aren't many electrically savvy people that know much about pianos. 
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Originally Posted by Pianoman
Ok, a player piano can be made from ANY piano (non electronic) however it's much cheaper to get a player piano that was built as a player piano. Basically the whole mechanism that transfers the energy from striking the key into the hammer that strikes the string has to be removed. Inside the piano, directly under the hammers, a series of piston like rods are placed and are run to an onboard computer. It's a fairly simple device, but it has to be adjusted to the piano's "personal" hammers. This allows the pistons to recreate a human's touch. The speed at which they fire, the duration, the tonality. It's all incorporated into the device. In essence a midi device could be put on a piano fairly easily if you can find someone that knows what they are doing. There aren't many electrically savvy people that know much about pianos.)
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