Presto
Issue: 1933 2269 - Page 7
Jan.-Feb, 1933
PRESTO-TIMES
QUALITY WELL SUBSTANTIATED
Three individuals recently called at the Charles
Frederick Stein piano factory out on Carroll Avenue,
Chicago, to critically examine the grand pianos now
being manufactured at the Stein factory and, inci-
dentally, as they always are, under his personal di-
rection.
These three individuals were a piano teacher, a
piano tuner and a piano scale draftsman and techni-
cian who is a piano maker by trade; each of the
three well able to judge the musical and mechanical
merits of pianos.
The teacher came at the request of a prospective
purchaser; the tuner, and he is one of the most noted
in his profession in Chicago, came to satisfy himself
more fully in a certain fundamental principle in the
construction of Mr. Stein's instruments. The piano
maker came to note, casually, conditions at Mr.
Stein's factory; whether progressive, dormant, or
retrogressive. He was satisfied with the progressive
conditions in the manufacture of the Charles Fred-
erick Stein pianos, and he is an expert of the first
degree construction. The three met again, by coin-
cident, at a musical gathering, and their expressions
of approval of Mr. Stein's w T ork in building good
pianos were given without stint or reserve.
Little, if anything, more need be stated to sub-
stantiate Mr. Stein's assertion that he is building a
piano so good he does not know "how it could be
better."
THE NEW JESSE FRENCH COR-
PORATION
The Jesse French Corporation is the title of the
new company which purchased the inventory of the
Jesse French Manufacturing Company, succeeding,
of course, the former corporation known as the Jesse
French & Sons Piano Company. This inventory is
being put in shape and shipments are now being made
of the new product; that is to say, the product of the
former business as it is completed and made ready
for shipment. The head of this new corporation is
H. Edgar French, who has been the president of the
former Jesse French corporations. Mr. French in-
forms Presto-Times that a sufficient supply of all
Jesse French pianos will be ready for shipment in
the near future and most of them are now ready.
Associated with H. Edgar French, president of the
Jesse French Corporation, are Frank Field, vice-pres-
ident, and Elizabeth French, secretary-treasurer.
Mr. French recently returned from a 1,600-mile
motor trip to Montgomery, Ala., visiting Nashville,
Birmingham, Chattanooga, Knoxville and other im-
portant centers on the trip. He said to a representa-
tive of Presto-Times that he found a great deal of
faith and hope in the future of the piano business,
but that at the present time dealers seem to be trying
to do business entirely on second-hand stock, and
have no money to buy new goods. "However," he
said, "I feel sure they will get over that when the
supply of used players is finally disposed of, and it is
being reduced, but not fast enough to suit many of
MR. WEISER'S IMPORTANT
INVENTION
Mr. Frank J. Weiser, well known piano scale drafts-
man, piano builder and technician, who has been con-
nected with leading piano factories of the west and
who resides at Elmhurst, 111., has taken out a patent,
No. 1,892,296, under date of Dec. 27, 1932, which
provides means to hold the sounding-board of a piano
in its original arched position and thereby keep its
crown.
The synopsis of the patent which explains fully the
advantages of Mr. Weiser's invention, says that the
object of the invention is to obviate the tendency for
the surface of the sounding-board to curve or pull
away from the strings, so that the original arching
or crown of the board is not maintained, with the
result that the pressure of the strings on the bridge
is lessened and the tone is not so strong. Also, at
times dampness causes the sounding-board to buckle
or become distorted which destroys its original arch-
ing of the board and impairs the tone.
Hence this patent provides simple and efficient
means whereby the crown or arch of the sounding-
board is retained in its original position and the
pressure of the strings on the bridge at the time
the instrument was made is maintained. Also, by
the invention the string-bridge and ribs are kept from
loosening from the sounding-board, and the board is
rendered more rigid without impairing its requisite
vibration. Mr. Weiser further states that his inven-
tion gives the piano a more liquid and singing tone.
"TOO GOOD A MAN TO LET GO"
A correspondent of Presto Times writing from New
York and speaking of Charles Mehlin's vacation from
activities in piano manufacturing and his extended
European trip says, in reply to an inquiry: "Yes,
Charles M. is back in the harness and is very active
in the conduct of the Mehlin Piano Company. He's
too good a piano man to let go."
Mr. Mehlin, in speaking of conditions abroad, said:
"The piano business has suffered terribly in Ger-
many, but in no comparison to the United States.
With all their hardships in Europe they are by far
better off than we are in this country. I understand
that the Bechstein and Bluthner factories are manu-
facturing knocked-down houses, a la Sears Roe-
buck, etc."
SALE OF NEVIN MANUSCRIPTS
Original manuscripts of many of the best known
works of the famous American composer, Ethelberi
Nevin, are to be sold at the American Art Associa'
tion Anderson Galleries, New York City, the after-
noon of March IS, by order of Mrs. Nevin.
HARDMAN -
91 YEARS
of
Absolute Reliability
Manufactured by
HARDMAN, PECK & CO.
433 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, N. Y.
MATHUSHEK-
THE PIANO
"KNOWN FOR TONE"
Distinctive Back Construction—Open Sound Chamber
Mathushek Method of Holding Strain of Strings
AMERICA'S FAMOUS
SPINET GRAND PIANO
MATHUSHEK PIANO MFG. CO.
Piano
Manufacturers
132nd St. and Alexander Ave.
New York, N. Y.
APOLLO-
An Apollo grand piano justly
carries with it a sincere pride of
ownership and will bring a lifetime
of both musical and decorative
enjoyment.
THANK YOU, MR. BECKER
Presto-Times acknowledges receipt of some marked
copies of New York papers sent to this office through
the kindness of Mr. Rudolph Becker, head of the
house of Becker Bros., manufacturers of excellent
pianos, New York City, containing articles on the
value of music in the home and the great influence
of the piano as the basic instrument.
Some Valuable Territory Open Can
Now Be Secured
PHILADELPHIA
ADDRESS
APOLLO PIANO COMPANY
DE KALB, ILL.
EDITION OF 1933
PRESTO BUYERS' GUIDE
Contains Full Lists with Concise Classification and Description of all
American Pianos, Players and Reproducing Pianos, with Sketches of
Manufacturers. Essential to All Salesmen. Price 50cents, postpaid.
NO PIANO DEALER OR PROSPECT CAN AFFORD TO BE WITHOUT IT.
PRESTO PUBLISHING CO.,
417 S. Dearborn St., CHICAGO
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
PRESTO-TIMES
QUALITY WELL SUBSTANTIATED
Three individuals recently called at the Charles
Frederick Stein piano factory out on Carroll Avenue,
Chicago, to critically examine the grand pianos now
being manufactured at the Stein factory and, inci-
dentally, as they always are, under his personal di-
rection.
These three individuals were a piano teacher, a
piano tuner and a piano scale draftsman and techni-
cian who is a piano maker by trade; each of the
three well able to judge the musical and mechanical
merits of pianos.
The teacher came at the request of a prospective
purchaser; the tuner, and he is one of the most noted
in his profession in Chicago, came to satisfy himself
more fully in a certain fundamental principle in the
construction of Mr. Stein's instruments. The piano
maker came to note, casually, conditions at Mr.
Stein's factory; whether progressive, dormant, or
retrogressive. He was satisfied with the progressive
conditions in the manufacture of the Charles Fred-
erick Stein pianos, and he is an expert of the first
degree construction. The three met again, by coin-
cident, at a musical gathering, and their expressions
of approval of Mr. Stein's w T ork in building good
pianos were given without stint or reserve.
Little, if anything, more need be stated to sub-
stantiate Mr. Stein's assertion that he is building a
piano so good he does not know "how it could be
better."
THE NEW JESSE FRENCH COR-
PORATION
The Jesse French Corporation is the title of the
new company which purchased the inventory of the
Jesse French Manufacturing Company, succeeding,
of course, the former corporation known as the Jesse
French & Sons Piano Company. This inventory is
being put in shape and shipments are now being made
of the new product; that is to say, the product of the
former business as it is completed and made ready
for shipment. The head of this new corporation is
H. Edgar French, who has been the president of the
former Jesse French corporations. Mr. French in-
forms Presto-Times that a sufficient supply of all
Jesse French pianos will be ready for shipment in
the near future and most of them are now ready.
Associated with H. Edgar French, president of the
Jesse French Corporation, are Frank Field, vice-pres-
ident, and Elizabeth French, secretary-treasurer.
Mr. French recently returned from a 1,600-mile
motor trip to Montgomery, Ala., visiting Nashville,
Birmingham, Chattanooga, Knoxville and other im-
portant centers on the trip. He said to a representa-
tive of Presto-Times that he found a great deal of
faith and hope in the future of the piano business,
but that at the present time dealers seem to be trying
to do business entirely on second-hand stock, and
have no money to buy new goods. "However," he
said, "I feel sure they will get over that when the
supply of used players is finally disposed of, and it is
being reduced, but not fast enough to suit many of
MR. WEISER'S IMPORTANT
INVENTION
Mr. Frank J. Weiser, well known piano scale drafts-
man, piano builder and technician, who has been con-
nected with leading piano factories of the west and
who resides at Elmhurst, 111., has taken out a patent,
No. 1,892,296, under date of Dec. 27, 1932, which
provides means to hold the sounding-board of a piano
in its original arched position and thereby keep its
crown.
The synopsis of the patent which explains fully the
advantages of Mr. Weiser's invention, says that the
object of the invention is to obviate the tendency for
the surface of the sounding-board to curve or pull
away from the strings, so that the original arching
or crown of the board is not maintained, with the
result that the pressure of the strings on the bridge
is lessened and the tone is not so strong. Also, at
times dampness causes the sounding-board to buckle
or become distorted which destroys its original arch-
ing of the board and impairs the tone.
Hence this patent provides simple and efficient
means whereby the crown or arch of the sounding-
board is retained in its original position and the
pressure of the strings on the bridge at the time
the instrument was made is maintained. Also, by
the invention the string-bridge and ribs are kept from
loosening from the sounding-board, and the board is
rendered more rigid without impairing its requisite
vibration. Mr. Weiser further states that his inven-
tion gives the piano a more liquid and singing tone.
"TOO GOOD A MAN TO LET GO"
A correspondent of Presto Times writing from New
York and speaking of Charles Mehlin's vacation from
activities in piano manufacturing and his extended
European trip says, in reply to an inquiry: "Yes,
Charles M. is back in the harness and is very active
in the conduct of the Mehlin Piano Company. He's
too good a piano man to let go."
Mr. Mehlin, in speaking of conditions abroad, said:
"The piano business has suffered terribly in Ger-
many, but in no comparison to the United States.
With all their hardships in Europe they are by far
better off than we are in this country. I understand
that the Bechstein and Bluthner factories are manu-
facturing knocked-down houses, a la Sears Roe-
buck, etc."
SALE OF NEVIN MANUSCRIPTS
Original manuscripts of many of the best known
works of the famous American composer, Ethelberi
Nevin, are to be sold at the American Art Associa'
tion Anderson Galleries, New York City, the after-
noon of March IS, by order of Mrs. Nevin.
HARDMAN -
91 YEARS
of
Absolute Reliability
Manufactured by
HARDMAN, PECK & CO.
433 FIFTH AVENUE
NEW YORK, N. Y.
MATHUSHEK-
THE PIANO
"KNOWN FOR TONE"
Distinctive Back Construction—Open Sound Chamber
Mathushek Method of Holding Strain of Strings
AMERICA'S FAMOUS
SPINET GRAND PIANO
MATHUSHEK PIANO MFG. CO.
Piano
Manufacturers
132nd St. and Alexander Ave.
New York, N. Y.
APOLLO-
An Apollo grand piano justly
carries with it a sincere pride of
ownership and will bring a lifetime
of both musical and decorative
enjoyment.
THANK YOU, MR. BECKER
Presto-Times acknowledges receipt of some marked
copies of New York papers sent to this office through
the kindness of Mr. Rudolph Becker, head of the
house of Becker Bros., manufacturers of excellent
pianos, New York City, containing articles on the
value of music in the home and the great influence
of the piano as the basic instrument.
Some Valuable Territory Open Can
Now Be Secured
PHILADELPHIA
ADDRESS
APOLLO PIANO COMPANY
DE KALB, ILL.
EDITION OF 1933
PRESTO BUYERS' GUIDE
Contains Full Lists with Concise Classification and Description of all
American Pianos, Players and Reproducing Pianos, with Sketches of
Manufacturers. Essential to All Salesmen. Price 50cents, postpaid.
NO PIANO DEALER OR PROSPECT CAN AFFORD TO BE WITHOUT IT.
PRESTO PUBLISHING CO.,
417 S. Dearborn St., CHICAGO
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).