Official Luthiers Forum!

In March 2007 I bought a Lutz harp guitar top from Shane Neifer (one of the first he had cut and sold) and I’ve finally got round to making a “proper” harp guitar with it (apologies to Alan C - it's not a harp guitar in the "true" sense and I'm following your MIMF build with great interest). The first harp guitar I made used some of Shane’s “packaging grade Lutz” and I sold that one a year ago. This one has been a year in the making and I’m glad to have one back. I had been waiting for the right b/s wood to go with Shane’s magnificent top and early last year it arrived when I was given a wrecked old mahogany Edwardian Bureau. Most of it was veneer over pine but the sides and writing table were solid. The sides were Cuban mahogany but the writing table was very light (both weight and colour wise) and could be Honduras or Cuban. Joel Thompson kindly cut the wood into sets for me and the writing table set was perfect for my harp guitar:




My design is based on my Grand Concert model Samhain and is called “Samhain Fada Lámh “ (Samhain Long Arm). I liked the way multi-scale works for these instruments and had used it on my Taropatch Harp Ukulele – the bridge naturally gives the increasing length for the sub-bass strings and activates more of the middle area of the top. Also as it is meant for dropped tunings the fretted neck gives sweet trebles and string bass notes.

Main specs are:

Grand Concert sized with 630-660mm fretted scale lengths (24.8-26”)
Six sub-bass strings on a hollow arm with scale lengths 730-845mm (28¾ - 33¼”)
Lutz spruce top
Reclaimed mahogany b/s
Mahogany neck and hollow arm peghead
Claro walnut binding with bwb purflings
Old Brazilian Rosewood bridge, headstock and peghead veneers, end graft and heel cap
Old Brazilain Rosewood and rope purfling rosettes and side sound port
Indian Rosewood/mahogany laminated fingerboard bound with Claro walnut
Gotoh tuners with hand made wooden buttons (Old Brazilian Rosewood on the fretted neck and Indian Ebony on the hollow neck)
Hand rubbed pre-catalysed lacquer finish (over Z-poxy pore fill on b/s) and Tru-oil on the neck

Current tuning is FGABbCDADGAD and stringauges are 70,66,59,52,52,56,42,32,24,18,14. This gives just under 300lb string tension.

Some pictures:






The top rosettes:




And the side sound porthole:



Some features came out by Serendipity – the sub-bass strings are lower than the fretted ones were they are played. This actually suits my playing style very well and gives me a good view of both the sub-bass and fretted strings. If I need the sub-bass strings higher then I can fit some string posts on the peghead at a later date. Some features are by design: this is quite small by harp guitar standards and the hollow arm is narrower and not as deep – I am very much influenced here by the British maker Stephen Sedgwick. Mult-scale harp guitars aren’t that common but they do exist – French maker Cédric Verglas makes them for example.

Here’s the top bracing and the back/rimset:





I’m very pleased with the sound already (strings went on on Friday) and as the Lutz opens up it will mellow more. I recorded a piece of mine called “Winter Sun” this afternoon using my usual set up of a single AKG1000S mixed down with flat EQ and no added effects.

Thanks for looking and listening.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Looks and sounds fantastic
great work Dave....well done getting it so in tune/intonated

Great job David, I have a desire to do a harp myself but it will be a couple years before I get to it.

Fred

_________________
Fred Tellier
http://www.fetellierguitars.com
Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/FE-Tellier-Guitars/163451547003866

Chapeau!!

_________________
It's not what you don't know that hurts you, it's what you do know that's wrong.

Dave, your work and your playing always amazes me! Beautiful, on both accounts.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

That looks and sounds beautiful. I had always imagined there would be quite a bit more structural support on the inside of a harp guitar. I was surprised to see so little is needed. Good job !

Dave -

Great looking harp guitar - what a fascinating project.

As an aside, did you find anything interesting in the compartment of the top of that old desk? I can see in the picture that it looks like it has a secret compartment behind the gallery - you should be able to remove a locking pin, and slde the whole thing out.

You've probably disassembled the whole thing by this point, but if it's intact - take a look. No telling what someone's great grandmother had hidden in there.

Regards,

Yes, hats off to you!!

_________________
"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Beautiful work. I've always wanted to build one as well, but each time I hear one of your recordings I remember that I barely know what to do with the 6 stings I currently have. Another 6 might push me over the edge...

Congrats again on another great build.

Bob

Your are welcome to play that for us anytime. Tasty!

_________________
Kent

Facebook Page

Steve's/Fred/Terence/Waddy/Kent - Thanks

Todd - Cool sounds good to me

Bob - Thanks. Go for it and make one I say - when you go over the edge you discover that the Earth is roundish

Corky - Yes there was a secret compartment but the Tone Faeries got there before me and it was empty !! Maybe I should have built one into the harp guitar.

Lactose - Sometimes less is more, time will tell.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet

Another Great White guitar. Your guitars are instantly recognisable, both in appearance and sound, that could be nothing other than a De Faoite instrument.

What's next Dave?

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I continue to be dumbfounded by those instruments. The sound is amazing. I must find some video of one being played to see what is going on.

Thanks,

_________________
http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

Dave, very nice instrument and very nice playing too. You do justice to lineage of the harp guitar which I believe has less to do with the harp and more to do with theorboed guitars and theorboed lutes of the seventeenth century. I used to play theorbo and the music you played and the sound of your instrument made me nostalgic for those old days. You have inspired me to try my hand at making a harp guitar.

_________________
Kevin Mason
Mason Guitars and Ukuleles on Facebook
http://masonguitars.net

Sounds and looks great! Every time I see and hear one of these things I start getting an itch to have one for myself.

_________________
Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Great looking guitar Dave. I envy your adventuresome spirit, and appreciate you showing the top bracing and the internal structure.

John

FANTASTIC!!

_________________
Ken

Dave, That's really nice. Sounds great too!
I've also been thinking about building one someday.

_________________
Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Michael, Stephen and Ken - Thank you.

Colin - Thanks. Next it's sort out the workshop But then there's a Baritone acoustic lap slide (perhaps with extra bass and treble strings), a "true" parlour harp guitar (12" or less lower bout and 24" or so scale length - although it may be multiscale and expand a little into the bass) and then maybe we can keep each other company making a Hurdy Gurdy - Debbie wants one

Kevin - Go for it - the more harp guitars there are makes the world a happier place. I think you are right, "harp" is more to do with unfretted and sound rather than how it makes the sound, and those theorboes and arch lutes look to be the ancestors. Winter Sun does have that influence but I've been playing lute and classical guitar this year so there was probably some osmosis. Check out Alan Carruth's thread here on the MIMF where he is experimenting with mating a guitar and harp for a "proper" harp guitar

Steve and Jim - thanks and as I said to Kevin, go for it!!

John - Thanks. It doesn't feel adventuresome to me just normal and interesting, but I could very well be wierd As for bracing I'm always happy to share what I do as that's how I've learned and developed my own style. I don't understand single builders that hide their bracing as "secret" - discerning buyers are buying the whole magic of the makers results and just beacause another builder copies it that won't produce the magic sound and feel of the originator. I always acknowledege my influences and where like a magpie I have acquired and adapted - I know there are some that don't and I believe that the Tone Faeiry will ultimately "reward" them appropriately (hence the Groucho Marx quote in my signature. Hey - I told you I was weird

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

An amazing instrument indeed, Dave!!! Great looking and it sounds fantastic! Thanks for sharing.

_________________
JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Dave, that's wonderful in every way.
What a sound you get from small boxes... me hat's off to ya mate.

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com