The Dallas Post Dallas, PA Wednesday, August 5, 1992 3 “By ERIC FOSTER Post Staff ~. If youre into the local folk music scene, you may have seen Paul Mehl before. He's the guy who works the sound board at Chicory House concerts. He also plays banjo with the Back Mountain Reelers, a group that performs for contra dances. But Mehl does more than play musical instruments, he makes them. In the basement of his Shaver- “town home, Mehl builds acoustic ‘guitars, banjo necks, and repairs an assortment of acoustic, and “electric stringed instruments: Mehl's career as an instru- “ment maker began with, of all “things, a bicycle ride. "In the late 70s he and his wife Marylou started bicycling from his hometown of Billings, Mon- Zlana to Washington state. Along & way, they passed through a “small Idaho town, Sandpointe. ~~ “A town of 2,000 people that “had three of four really well known instrument builders,” remembers .-Mehl. “For some reason, this little ' town in Idaho had loads of in- - strument building talent.” Mehl became an apprentice of Nick Kukich, who now sells hand- ‘made guitars to Mandolin Broth- ers in New York under the name _of Franklin Guitars, and worked “in the shop for a time. ~ Mehl and his wife moved to the Back Mountain in the early 1980's. While he works full-time a laboratory scientist at the ww /eterans Administration Hospi- ~ tal, he’s still making guitars. -' Some “Mehl” players include ‘Gary McCoog of Southbound, and “Ray DelPrior, of the Stingray “Blues Band. Mehl begins building a guitar with wooden planks. Mahogany “for the back and sides, rosewood for the fingerboard. For the top of the guitar, the heart of it's sound, ‘a thin piece of solid spruce. A light, but very stiff wood, spruce “doesn't absorb the energy of the guitar strings, but instead reso- LJ. Crafting guitars from the bare boards Unlike many factory-made gui- tars, which have a top made of spruce plywood, hand-made gui- _ tars and the best factory guitars use solid spruce. A solid spruce top gives a guitar both a brighter, and richer tone than a plywood top. And the tone of a solid spruce-topped guitar improves with age, as the top becomes accustomed to resonating. To underscore the importance the top of the guitar plays in a guitar's sound, Mehl tells a story he once read about how spruce logs used to be sent down chutes from Swiss Mountains. Italian dealers would listen to the spruce logs as they rumbled down the chutes. Some logs would make a louder and clearer note than oth- ers. Those would be marked and used to make instruments. The starting point of Mehl's guitars is the Martin OM, the style he learned to build during his apprenticeship. The Martin is renowned for its balanced tone, both across the strings and up and down the neck. Mehl's not afraid to experi- ment, though. He's built guitars with a slightly arched spruce top, and his latest project is a double cutaway guitar with an extra deep body. “It'd probably be better if I tried little changes instead of sweeping changes,” Mehl jokes. But if the guitar sounds un- usual, that sound is what some- one out there is looking for, he said. Working on his off hours, Mehl estimates that he can build a guitar in three months. He's also makes banjo necks, fixes mandolins, and is currently rebuilding a harp for a Kingston man. “I enjoy it. If I didn’t enjoy it, 1 wouldn't do it,” said Mehl. “I like taking on things like that harp. New things, challenges. If I get any time, I'm going to build a harp next.” Though he can pick up and play mandolins, banjos, and guitars, Mehl says that his fam- ily was not particularly involved in music. “I was always interested in it,” GUITAR BUILDER — Paul Mehl with the first guitar he built, at right, and his latest project, a radical double cutaway design with an extra-deep body. (Post Photo/Eric Foster) said Mehl. “WhenIwas 151 used for the guitar. Miers says infra-red device might have caught fugitive: Edward Price remains at large . By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff An infra-red heat-detecting device developed from military technology could have helped Dallas Township police nab Ed- ward Price, who has been at large since he escaped from police Thurs- day, July 2, according to Dallas Township Police Chief Carl Miers. But the Pennsylvania State Police don’t have one. Miers described the infra-red device as a detector mounted on the outside of a helicopter, con- nected to a monitor similiar to a television screen inside the chop- per. The detector scans the search area, displaying warm or hot ob- jects on the monitor's screen. It can differentiate between a person and a large animal by displaying its exact shape on the screen. “These devices are extremely helpful in tracking escaped per- sons through thick foliage or in the dark,” Miers said. “Since our search area was heavily wooded, I feel that this equipment would have helped us in our search.” Miers said that the infra-red detector is not standard equip- ment on Pennsylvania State Police helicopters, although neighboring PRIN 2% H E Price escaped from Patrolme Robert Jolley and Wayman Miers’ mobile home at Valley View Tra: Park on charges of loitering a prowling. Police said that he is alsowanted for failure to appear for weekend’ confinement at the Luzerne County: | Prison after having been convicte of burglary, criminal trespass ant indecent assault in May, 1991. Price eluded more than two dozen searchers from five area. police departments, a tracking dog. and a Pennsylvania State Police, helicopter, as they searched wooded area in Dallas and Fr. klin Townships for several hour Miers said that police are con tinuing to follow up on all leads} supplied to police. Anyone having | any information on Edward Price's whereabouts is requested to call | 5251, or 911. All information wi be kept confidential, Miers said. Police describe Price as a whit male, approximately 20 years old, weighing 130-1401bs., with shoul- | der-length light brown hair. He, | was last seen wearing bluejeans, - striped shirt and sneakers. Polic do not consider Price to be arm to hang out in music stores. I worked in music stores in Bill- ings, Montana.” “I don't really have as good an ear as I'd like,” said Mehl. “A lot of good builders don't play. I enjoy the engineering, the side where you're building and putting it to- gether is really what I enjoy.” In August, Mehl will begin working with an apprentice who wants to learn how to make a classical guitar. “The nice thing about classi- cal guitars is they're finished with varnish instead of spray finishes,” said Mehl. He adds that the clas- sical guitar market is more ex- clusive than the market for steel- string guitars. Mehl also is considering start- ing classes for people interested in learning to build their own acoustic guitar. The course would cost in the area of $500 and would include the materials “The guitar business is com- ing back now,” said Mehl. “Acous- tic music is coming back I think. A lot of rock and rollers are going back to acoustic sound.” Though he builds guitars, Mehl's favorite instrument lately is the banjo. He's not planning to start building his banjos own how- ever. “The thing about banjos is the hardware is so much,” said Mehl. “Bell bronze is what they use. I'd have to start a bronze foundry.” One of the reasons that banjos often have fancy inlays in their necks is because that's where builders can show off their skill, Mehl said. “I'm leaning more towards let- ting the wood speak for itself,” said Mehl. “Finding wood with patterns made by God instead of by me.” states use them. or dangerous. Welcome To The Marten Creek Switch Shoppe | Antiques” B Collectibles x Route 11 Between Nicholson & Hop Bottom Hours: Closed Tues. Open Wed thru Mon. 9- 6 Jan Watkins (717) 942-4105 “s ry CENA ST oS es Fall Fair Committee will meet Aug. 5 Eddie Turchin faces a new health challenge By GRACE R. DOVE Post Staff ' After having successfully beaten cancer and related health prob- lems to become an Eagle Scout and graduate from Lake-Lehman High School, eighteen-year-old Eddie Turchin faces still another Janttle. According to his mother, Bon- nie Turchin, a routine scan has detected an aneurism, a sort of balloon in his carotid artery, a major blood vessel, where it splits intoa“y.” The family will meet with a surgeon at University of Pennsyl- vania Hospital in Philadelphia this week to discuss surgery to correct the life-threatening problem. .* “Eddie didn't show any symp- toms,” Mrs. Turchin said. “He says He feels fine.” + When he was eight years old, doctors found a malignant tumor the size ofa walnut on his pituitary gland. A four-hour operation and § The Luzerne County Fall Fair Committee will meet Wednesday, August 5 at 7:30 p.m. at the fairgrounds. All committee heads and members are urged to attend and report on their progress. Placements and programs will be distributed. Ed Kelly will preside. Lady Toby Rebekah Lodge holds party Mr. and Mrs. Richard Stroud entertained Lady Toby Rebekah Lodge #514 and Osage Lodge including their wives and friends on Thursday, July 16 at their home in Mooretown. Food was served including a variety of covered dishes brought by various people and homemade bread topping the meal supplied by Sister Marion Stroud. Desserts and beverages were included. Enter- tainment was enjoyed by playing cards and games. 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