Frank B. Long

Biography

Frank B. Long was born at Waterloo, Indiana, in 1863. He left school at fourteen and two years later studied piano construction in the shop of Story and Clark under Peterson, later spending nearly two years studying violin and piano playing under Master Wirschel at Peoria. He then sold pianos and organs for leading firms across much of the United States. In 1885 the Southern California land boom drew him to San Diego, where he went into business and lost money when the boom collapsed; he returned to tuning and selling pianos from Santa Barbara until his debts were paid, then held positions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cincinnati before settling again in Los Angeles in 1900 to run his own wholesale and retail piano business. His intimate knowledge of piano construction led him to invent and patent adjustable agraffes, a touch regulator, and several upright action improvements, but his signature achievement was the 'Melodigrand' sound board construction, patented October 17, 1905 and July 23, 1912, which glues the sound board to a continuous oval laminated rim of nine-ply maple veneer with diagonal sound posts to maintain the board's crown; it was adopted by Henry and S. G. Lindeman of New York. He also patented a cork-cushioned upright piano action to eliminate rattling.

Highlights

• Born at Waterloo, Indiana, in 1863; invented the 'Melodigrand' sound board construction, patented in the U.S. and abroad and adopted by Henry and S. G. Lindeman
• Also patented adjustable agraffes, a touch regulator, and a cork-cushioned upright piano action to prevent rattling
• Weathered the collapse of the Southern California land boom at San Diego before establishing his own wholesale/retail piano business in Los Angeles

Source

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. II (1913), pp. 137, 138, 139, 140.

Public domain.