I really want to build a harp guitar

[John Parchem]

I saw this guitar a few years ago and talked to Mike Doolin. I especially like the half step tuners.

[Hans Mattes]

I built a couple of harp guitars last year. The first turned out to be a "learning experience" -- not much harp guitar sound and hard to play. The second, shown below, was a distinct improvement on both counts.

The carbon fiber tube that forms the neck for the sympathetic strings continues through the guitar, epoxied at the headpiece, the headblock, and the tailblock. It's responsible for the rigidity of the guitar, relieving the soundboard of structural duties and allowing very light bracing. The conventional neck supports an elevated fretboard and has an externally adjustable neck angle.

As I play (fingerstyle) mostly in the key of A, I tuned the sympathetic strings to D, F#, A, B, C#, and E. I'm not skillful enough to strike any of the sympathetic strings directly, but they resonate significantly when the traditional strings are played.

All said, the harp guitar has a rather limited application as its sustain is overwhelming on any music with a rapid note sequence. On appropriate music, e.g., slow ballads or medieval music, it provides a full and rich sound.

Harp Guitar.png (621.52 KiB) Viewed 1087 times

[John Parchem]

That is a very interesting guitar. I could see the bass notes ringing for a long time. When I play my harp ukulele, I do play mostly ballads and only strike a bass note when I am happy to have it ring through a measure. I wonder if the carbon fiber support through the guitar contributes to long sustain of the harp strings. The carbon fiber stiffness and very high Q would help to sustain the notes.