19
PRESTO
October 18, 1924.
SMALL GOODS AND SUPPLIES
CONN SAXOPHONES FOR CLUB
The Houston Saxophone Club Attributes Its Success
to Fine Instruments of C. G. Conn Brand.
The Houston Saxophone Club, Houston, Tex.,
which uses Conn instruments, is an organization
which has many club features in connection with its
regular rehearsals, as entertainments are given for
the club from time to time. The history of the club
is interesting.
Back in 1921 a few saxophone players got together
and decided to see if they could organize a saxophone
band and soon they were successful in getting twenty
members and the organization was formed, with Mr.
Dreschel as the conductor. The band now numbers
fifty members and is famous in South Texas for its
splendid music. The Houston Saxophone Club at-
tributes its success to the use of C. G. Conn saxo-
phones, for which the D. L. Whittle Co., of that city,
is the local agent.
WOOD IN PIANO MAKING
Valuable Book by Prof. Koehler, University of Wis-
consin, Tells About Sound Boards.
Arthur Koehler, lecturer on forest products at the
University of Wisconsin, is author of a new book on
"Properties and Uses of W r ood," which merits the at-
tention of piano manufacturers. Information from
the researches of the Forest Products Laboratory is
set forth in the book in as non-technical a manner as
possible and several of its chapters deal with the se-
lection and preparation of wood for piano-case con-
struction. In a section on "Sounding Boards" Prof.
Koehler writes:
"Wood, like other elastic substances, can be set in
vibration by sound waves in the air. This property,
known as resonance, is the principle involved in all
sounding boards. Wood is preferred to metal be-
cause it modifies the tone and does not produce the
mechanical sound, which would be inevitable if metal
were used. In other words, the wood % modifies the
quality but not the pitch of the tone.
"For this same reason many musical instruments
and horns of phonographs are made entirely .of wood.
The wood used for this purpose must be selected with
great care. It must have uniform texture and be free
from stresses and all defects and irregularities in
grain, so that all parts respond alike to vibration.
"Spruce is commonly used for piano and violin
sounding boards, organ pipes and ribbing of small in-
struments, as guitars and mandolins. Spruce with
narrow rings, fairly uniform in width, is said to make
the best sounding boards. Maple and yellow poplar
are also used considerably in various parts of musical
instruments, because of their uniform texture and
good sounding qualities."
The purposes of kiln drying he outlines as follows:
''(1) To remove moisture from the wood more rapidly
than can be done by air drying; (2) to reduce the
moisture contest of wood below that attained by air
drying, so that further drying and shrinking will not
take place; (3) to avoid or reduce injuries to the lum-
ber, such as checking, staining and insect attacks;
(4) to harden the resin by evaporating the volatile
matter, and (5) to make the wood more suitable for
painting."
The Starr Piano Co., 423 S. Wabash Avenue, Chi-
cago, is pushing sales of the upright models of phono-
graphs in a vigorous manner. The demand is favor-
able to the console model and many retail establish-
ments have limited their stock in the upright kinds.
The Starr Piano Co., however, has found that there
is still a good demand for the better class of up-
rights, and has arranged a fine display of Starr in-
struments in its show rooms.
The Starr products have always been characterized
as leaders, and the upright phonograph is no excep-
tion to the rule. The busy Chicago branch of the
Richmond, Ind., company has made a fine showing
in its drive to stimulate interest in the upright phono-
graph.
CALL FOR SLINGERLAND BANJOS.
LARGEST BANJO BAND.
Pittsburgh, Pa., has what is said to be the largest
banjo band in the United States. It has been formed
in that city by M. J. Scheidelmeir, nationally famous
tenor banjoist and proprietor of Scheidelmeir's Music
Store. The Scheidelmeir Banjo Orchestra numbers
nearly seventy-five musicians, all playing banjos,
tenor-banjos, 'cello-banjos and guitar-banjos.
SPECIAL AMPICO RELEASES.
The following special releases of the Ampico Cor-
poration, New York, are now ready for shipment:
In a Little Rendezvous, fox-trot, by Vincent Lopez;
Maytime, an established hit, particularly adapted for
dancing; You'll Never Get to Heaven with Those
Ej'cs, played by Adam Carroll; Adoring You, hit of
the "Zcigfeld Follies." These recordings will be
listed in the November bulletin and will be included
in all contract orders.
"BUESCHER" FOR NEW ORCHESTRA.
The Multnomah Hotel Strollers, a new orchestra
of Portland, Ore., which is composed entirely of ex-
college men, has been equipped with a complete set
of Buescher instruments. The members are a high
class of musicians and each plays several instruments.
They have been engaged by the hotel and hold forth
in the new Indian grill, where the after-dinner
dancers of the city are flocking on account of the
high class of dance music featured.
Manufacturers of
PIANO ACTIONS
ONE GRADE ONLY
The Wessell, Nickel & Gross action is a
guarantee of the grade of the instrument
in which it is found.
FACTORIES:
45HiSt.,10thAw. &W46rli.
Starr P:ano Co., Chicago Branch, Launches Cam-
paign to Stimulate Interest in Phonographs
of That Style.
Increase in demand for Slingerland banjos from
music dealers has not come from new styles and
flashy designs, according to H. H. Slingerland, head
of the Slingerland Banjo Co., Chicago. He attributes
the popularity of the banjo to a quality policy. The
factory at 1815 Orchard street has been working over-
time the greater part of the fall, according to Mr.
Slingerland, president of the company. The Slinger-
land Mfg. Co. has one of the largest and most inter-
esting exhibits of the Illinois Products Exposition in
Chicago this week.
WESSELL, NICKEL & GROSS
HIGHEST GRADE
FEATURING UPRIGHT MODELS
OFFICE:
457 W . 45th Street
Comstock, Cheney & Co.
TRUCKS
That Are Labor Savers
Your equipment is not complete without our TRUCKS for handling
Pianos and Talking Machines.
Sill Trucks and End Trucks
for Pianos
With the LEA TALKING MACHINE TRUCK, one man can
handle the Edison Chippendale, Victor No. 17, Cheney No. 6 Queen
Anne, and other large makes, from show-room to any apartmeni
floor.
A*k tor Circular
Ivory Cutters and Manufacturers
MADE ONLY BY
Piano Keys, Actions and Hammers
SELF-LIFTING PIANO TRUCK CO.
FINDLAY, OHIO
IVORY AND COMPOSITION-COVERED ORGAN KEYS
TK« only Company Furnishing the Keys, Actions, Hammers and Brackets Complete
Telegraph and R. R. Station: Essex, Conn.
J
Office and Factories: Ivory ton, Conn.
THE O S. KELLY CO.
Manufacturers
of
High
-
Mills
JULIUS BREGKWOLDT & SON, ING. Saw
Fulton Chain
Manufacturers of
-
OHIO
and
Tupper Lake
Piano B a c k s , Boards, Bridges, B a r s ,
Traplevers and Mouldings
SOLE AGENTS FOR RUDOLF GIESE WIRE
WESTERN REPRESENTATIVE:
Grade
PIANO PLATES
SPRINGFIELD
Factory ai
DOLGEVILLE,N.Y
CENTRAL STEEL & WIRE CO.,
119-127 N. Peorla Street,
J. BRECKWOLDT. Pres.
Chicago, III.
W. A. BKECKWOLDT. Sec. & Treaa.
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