Paul G. Mehlin

Biography

Paul G. Mehlin was born in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1837 and left school at twelve to work in a cabinet shop, later apprenticing under the piano maker Friedrich Doerner of Stuttgart. He emigrated to New York in 1853, finding work at Raven and Bacon (where Jacob Decker was foreman) and later at Light and Bradbury. When the Civil War began he joined the 20th N.Y. Volunteers as a bugler, seeing action at Antietam and Gettysburg, and was discharged as first lieutenant in 1863. He returned to Bradbury's factory, then spent sixteen years as chief tone regulator for Ernest Gabler. In 1884 he partnered with Behr Brothers, dissolving that arrangement in 1889 to found, with his eldest son, the firm of Paul G. Mehlin and Son (later Paul G. Mehlin and Sons). Only after founding his own company did he develop his talents as constructor and inventor, building instruments to measure string tension and bridge pressure so as to design scales of equalized tension, and patenting a concert/inverted grand design, a cylinder top for uprights, a metallic action frame, a fall-board, and a touch-regulating device. At seventy-six he was described as looking back on a life of useful accomplishment, with the business's future secured in the hands of his three sons. Mehlin is named in Alfred Dolge's foreword alongside Henry Ziegler, Frank J. Conover, and Richard W. Gertz as one of several contemporaries whose 'valuable labors' could not be detailed in a book confined to historical, already-settled developments. Dolge describes the group collectively as 'earnestly engaged in improving the heritage left us by the masters of the past,' indicating Mehlin was actively working on piano improvement at the time of writing (1911). The surname suggests a possible connection to the Mehlin & Sons piano firm, but the text itself does not state any company affiliation or further biographical detail. Mehlin joined Henry Behr's firm in 1881, at which point it was renamed Behr Brothers and Company and turned to manufacturing pianos rather than only cases. Mehlin designed the scales for the Behr Brothers piano, which the text credits with helping the instrument quickly assume a strong position among leading pianos. His partnership with Henry Behr was dissolved in 1886. From Spillane (1890): Paul G. Mehlin, head of the New York firm P. G. Mehlin & Sons, was born in Stuttgart, Germany, on February 28, 1837. He first trained in a first-class cabinet-making establishment in his native city, then learned the piano trade in the shop of Frederick Doerner in Stuttgart, progressing from case-making to expert regulating and toning while studying the acoustic principles of piano scaling. He arrived in New York in 1854 and worked successively at Raven & Bacon and Lighte & Bradbury. At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 he volunteered for the Twentieth New York Infantry, known as the "Turner Regiment," in response to Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men, returning after two years with the rank of first lieutenant. He then worked for the Gablers for sixteen years beginning in 1865, contributing many characteristic innovations, before becoming a partner in another manufacturing firm in 1881. Around 1888 he founded P. G. Mehlin & Sons with his eldest son, H. Paul Mehlin. An indefatigable inventor, he held numerous patents between 1872 and 1889, including a metallic agraffe cast in the plate, a one-piece metallic action frame, a Bessemer steel action frame, a wrest-block bridge, a harmonic scale, a touch regulator, and a tone reflector. Mehlin was the head of the New York firm P. He is credited with devising a 'harmonic scale' for grand pianos: an auxiliary fourth string added to each three-string unison, passed through an agraffe fixed in the soundboard, and tuned to vibrate sympathetically with the main strings, increasing power and sustain. The American Art Journal (May 2, 1885) noted the harmonic principle had long been used by grand makers but was thought impracticable for uprights until Mehlin adapted it successfully, giving the upright a sympathetic, singing tone. He also invented a touch regulator, a simple device for adjusting the position of the key-frame independent of keyboard sinkage, sparing tuners the usual time-consuming expedients for correcting touch. His firm held numerous patents dated 1881 through 1889, including a grand plate and scale for uprights (patented May 25, 1889) and a hammer scale (patented January 27, 1885). Paul Mehlin and Charles H. Mehlin, joined him in the business.

Highlights

• Named by Dolge in the foreword among contemporaries whose current work fell outside the book's historical scope.
• Described as 'earnestly engaged in improving the heritage left us by the masters of the past.'
• Joined the firm in 1881 when it was renamed Behr Brothers and Company and began manufacturing pianos
• Designed the scales for the Behr Brothers piano
• Partnership with Henry Behr dissolved in 1886
• Founded Paul G. Mehlin and Son (later Paul G. Mehlin and Sons) in 1889 after a partnership with Behr Brothers
• Served as a bugler in the 20th N.Y. Volunteers (New York Turner Regiment) at Antietam and Gettysburg, discharged as first lieutenant in 1863
• Invented apparatus for measuring string tension/vibration and bridge pressure to design pianos with equalized scale tension; patented a cylinder top, metallic action frame, fall-board and touch-regulating device
• Patented a Piano Case (No. 397,121), New York, February 1889
• Later patented a Piano Plate (No. 403,583), New York, May 1889
• Served as a first lieutenant with the Twentieth New York Infantry ("Turner Regiment") in the Civil War
• Held numerous piano patents from 1872 to 1889, including a harmonic scale and touch regulator
• Founded P. G. Mehlin & Sons with his eldest son around 1888
• Invented a 'harmonic scale' with an auxiliary fourth string per unison, damped separately, that vibrated in sympathy with the regular strings to boost tone and sustain
• Adapted the harmonic-scale principle, previously thought impracticable for uprights, into a practical upright design
• Invented a touch regulator allowing correct positioning of the key-frame independent of keyboard sinkage, patented February 1, 1887

Sources

Alfred Dolge, Pianos and Their Makers, Vol. I (1911); Vol. II (1913), pp. 41, 155, 156, 157, 158.

Daniel Spillane, History of the American Pianoforte (1890), pp. 292, 293, 294, 295, 296.

Public domain.