Category Archives: harp

Let’s Catch Up with Steve Klein

2023
AL#148 p.16               
Paul Schmidt   Steve Klein                                                                                       

▪ Steve Klein started his lutherie endeavors fifty-five years ago as a teenager in his parents’ house. Today he’s collaborating with Steve Kauffman on dazzlingly decorative acoustic guitars, and continuing to make innovative ergonomic solidbodies in his own shop. Mentions Fibonacci, Carl Margolis, Frank Pollaro, Leonardo DaVinci Steve Kauffman, Larry Robinson, Bob Hergert, Joe Walsh.

A Larson Bros. Harp Guitar Restoration

2020
AL#140 p.34               
Kerry Char                                                                                           

▪ This ornate contraption had seen a lot of use and abuse in almost a dozen decades of service. Long-ago modifications plus the pull of sixteen strings left it in a sorry state. It had to be taken in hand rather decisively to be brought back into playing condition. Two necks, the back, the enormous bridge, and a lot of bracing came off. Content warning: contains lutherie gore.

Delving into the Vagaries and Mysteries of Early Gibson Guitar Strings By Way of the Harp Guitar

2019
AL#137 p.32               
Gregg Miner                                                                                           

▪ Ready for an Americana-infused, vintage-lutherie, history-detective-style nerdfest? Yes, that old joker Orville Gibson is still full of surprises, even now, a century after his death. We have a lot to learn about string material, tension, intention, and nomenclature. Not to mention marketing and musical snobbery.

Case Study of a 1935 Guitar by Cremonese Luthier Luigi Digiuni

2019
AL#136 p.42               
Massimo Maddaloni   Lizabeth Jane Hella   Giacomo Parimbelli                                                                                   

▪ From the time that the violin was invented, Cremona was the world center for the highest quality string instrument making, until it gradually became known for lower-quality mass production of fiddles. After its dark age, Cremona has more recently seen a renaissance of its lutherie heritage. This article looks at an unusual guitar made by a Cremonese luthier in the 1930s and sees echoes of the old masters in its design. Mentions Stradivari, Panormo, Fibonacci spiral, Archimedean spiral, golden ratio.

Removing Top and Back Guitar Plates

2018
AL#135 p.30               
Kerry Char                                                                                           

▪ Kerry Char sawed the top off an old Gibson flattop in front of a group of several dozen luthiers at the 2017 GAL Convention. And within the same hour he pried the back off a Knutsen harp guitar. Step by step photos.

Meet the Maker: Bernhard Kresse

2017
AL#131 p.6               
Federico Sheppard   Bernhard Kresse                                                                                       

▪ Bernhard Kresse lives and works in his hometown of Cologne, Germany. He’s one of those guitar-making self-starters who was lured away from college by the siren song of lutherie. He has come to specialize in restoration and new construction of Romantic-era guitars, and also makes a “modern” classical guitar based on their advanced features.

Meet the Maker: Gregg Miner

2010
AL#102 p.38      ALA6 p.88         
Kathy Wingert   Gregg Miner                                                                                       

▪ Gregg Miner is dedicated to collecting instruments and restoring them to playing condition and through his research has acquired a wide network of historians, repairmen, and luthiers.

Total Flame Out, Retopping a Harp Guitar

2009
AL#100 p.38               
Harry Fleishman                                                                                           

▪ Replacing the top on a complicated instrument with as little refinishing and other stress as possible.

Developing the Modern 20-String Concert Harp Guitar

2009
AL#99 p.30      ALA6 p.78         
Jeffrey R. Elliott                                                                                           

▪ Even if you don’t care much about harp guitars you’ll enjoy the thought processes that went into the string of instruments documented in this article. If you are into harp guitars this is must reading. The initial harp guitar developed by John Sullivan, John Doan, and Jeffrey Elliott owed little to similar instruments of the past other than a basic shape, and the harp guitars that came after the first one have refined the new ideas. With 15 photos of complete and instruments progress, a string gauge and tuning chart, and a mini-plan of 1986 guitar that started the series. Full-size plans are available as GAL Plan #61.

Meet the Maker: Michael Dunn

2009
AL#97 p.18      ALA4 p.42         
Jonathon Peterson   Michael Dunn                                                                                       

▪ Canadian Dunn studied guitar making in Spain but ended up specializing in Maccaferri-style guitars. He uses an internal soundbox similar to the original design. His use of wood inlay and marquetry, as well as his choice of body woods is original, playful, and stunning. He is also a lutherie teacher of note. Read this and have fun. Mentions Bill Lewis, George Bowden, Jose Orti, jose Pepe Ferrer, Shelley Park, Chuck Shifflet, Bill Rivere, Patrick Olmstead, Sonny Black, Ray Nurse, ted Turner, Tim Hobrough, Bob Brozman.

Meet the Maker: Kathy Wingert

2008
AL#96 p.18      ALA1 p.60         
Cyndy Burton   Kathy Wingert                                                                                       

▪ Wingert has as extensive a lutherie background as anyone, and even does Chladni glitter tests on her guitars (which, by the way, look exquisite). Her daughter Jimmi has a growing reputation as an inlay artist. How rare is a mother/daughter team in lutherie? Mentions Bob Mattingly, Larry Robinson and Harvey Leach. With 12 photos.

Harp Guitars: Past, Present, and Future

2008
AL#93 p.20      ALA6 p.64         
Mike Doolin   Kerry Char   Gary Southwell   Fred Carlson                                                                               

▪ Harp guitars have undergone a renaissance of sorts, in construction alternatives as well as the music that is being invented for them. Players want banks of super treble strings as well as an extended bass range. Luthiers have responded with new designs and different string configurations that make newer harp guitars more user friendly, more graceful, and musically more pertinent. The four members of this panel discussion are among the leading small builders of these interesting mega-guitars. With 53 photos and 2 sketches.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Meet the Maker: Stephen Sedgwick

2007
AL#92 p.40      ALA6 p.50         
Jonathon Peterson   Stephen Sedgwick                                                                                       

▪ Harp guitars fascinate a lot more people than actually play them, so it takes a brave luthier to jump into the field. Sedgwick comes off as a delightfully modest man who is determined to make harp guitars or bust. His guitars are smallish and choice. This is yet another interview that makes it clear that life is different in other countries (England, in this case), and understanding that is one of the best reasons to travel. A wonderful interview, with 9 photos. Mentions London College of Furniture, London Guildhall University, London Metropolitan University.

Meet the Maker: Benoit Meulle-Stef

2006
AL#88 p.34      ALA6 p.56         
Jonathon Peterson   Benoit Meulle-Stef                                                                                       

▪ Meulle-Stef is a French harp guitar luthier who lives and works in Belgium. The harp guitar has deep roots in Europe and he is familiar with all of them. His own instruments have a grace that harp guitars often lack (and check out his fan-braced steel-string top!) This is another sign that lutherie has always been a global industry, even though American guitarmakers tend to forget or ignore it. With 22 photos and a drawing.

The Imperator

2006
AL#88 p.16               read this article
Alain Bieber                                                                                           

▪ The lyre guitar goes back centuries. Lyre instruments in general go back millennia. The author couldn’t resist resurrecting the harp guitar, bringing it up to current standards. His research covers a wide look at art history as well a guitar history. Fascinating! With 14 photos and 2 drawings.

Meet the Maker: Tom Shinness

2006
AL#87 p.34      ALA6 p.46         
Jonathon Peterson   Tom Shinness                                                                                       

▪ Shinness is a harp guitarist who builds his guitars by cutting and pasting—using real instruments! Cool guy! With 4 photos.

DVD Review: In Search of the Harp Guitar, It’s History, Players, and Makers, hosted by John Doan

2006
AL#85 p.64               read this article
Cyndy Burton                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer enjoyed this DVD, though she seems hesitant to recommend it to anyone seeking solid information about building a harp guitar. It’s a tour of the contemporary harp guitar scene important to anyone who wishes to be part of that society in any guise.

Meet the Maker: Del Langejans

2005
AL#84 p.18   BRB7 p.402            
Mark Swanson   Del Langejans                                                                                       

▪ Langejans is a resourceful guitar maker with a big-time clientele. Many of his designs are unique, as is his finishing material and some of the wood he uses. He has strong opinions about how to get started and survive in the business, which have apparently worked for him very well. With 9 photos.

Quick Cuts: The 13-string Chiavi-Miolin Guitar

2005
AL#83 p.42               read this article
Johannes Labusch   Ermanno Chiavi                                                                                       

▪ Few harp guitars are nylon strung. Fewer still have frets under all the strings. The Chiavi-Miolin is unique, weird, and strangely beautiful. Its goal is to play piano and lute literature without leaving out notes. With 4 photos.

Teaching the Dream to Sing

2005
AL#82 p.6   BRB7 p.320            
Fred Carlson                                                                                           

▪ Carlson makes some of the world’s coolest, most graceful, and weirdest stringed instruments. Focusing on a harp guitar he calls the Flying Dream he discusses at length how he designs and builds his creations. There is lots of detailed info here that will help you build the instruments you see in your mind, as opposed to the ones for which you can already buy a blueprint. Truly inspirational. With 42 photos and 10 drawings.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.

Structuring Acoustics with Carbon Fiber

2005
AL#81 p.8   BRB7 p.274            
Steve Kauffman                                                                                           

▪ Kauffman and friend Steve Klein have used carbon fiber (graphite/epoxy) in as many guitar applications as anyone, stopping short (I think) of an entirely graphite instrument. If you’ve only dabbled with graphite truss rods and such you have no idea how hotly some others are pursuing synthetic materials to make wood guitars sound better and last longer. “All natural materials” has been a battle cry for decades, but perhaps the time is ripe for making natural materials better than nature had in mind. You be the judge. With 36 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Meet the Maker: Kerry Char

2002
AL#69 p.28   BRB6 p.316            
Jonathon Peterson   Kerry Char                                                                                       

▪ Char is a guitar maker who also specializes in the restoration of old and odd instruments, particularly harp guitars by Knutsen and others. With 16 photos of vintage instruments.

Review: From Harp Guitars to the New Hawaiian Family: Chris J. Knutsen, History and Development of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar by George T. Noe and Daniel L. Most

2000
AL#62 p.62   BRB6 p.531            read this article
Jonathon Peterson                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer recommends this book that traces the history of harp and Hawaiian guitars, focusing sharply of the life and work of Knutsen.

Expanding Steel String Design

1999
AL#60 p.6   BRB5 p.422            
Fred Carlson   Harry Fleishman   William Eaton   Saul Koll                                                                               

▪ The market for flattop guitars probably isn’t evolving away from tried and true designs at all, but individual luthiers are working on instruments that would baffle (and hopefully intrigue) Orville and old C.F. These four groundbreaking guitarmakers got together to discuss their work in front of an audience at the 1998 GAL convention, and if their work and philosophies don’t show you anything you must be hopelessly lost in the nostalgic past. This article is a condensed version of that discussion. With 24 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.

Meet the Maker: Gary Southwell

1999
AL#58 p.38   BRB5 p.366            
Cyndy Burton   Gary Southwell                                                                                       

▪ Southwell makes gut-strung guitars that may be strange or more-or-less conventional, but always elegant, and he makes them for some high-profile patrons. His specialty is pre-classical or “salon” guitars. He’s an eloquent Englishman whom you’ll be happy to meet. With 6 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Of Sympitars and Suzalynes

1997
AL#51 p.38   BRB5 p.100            
Fred Carlson                                                                                           

▪ Inspired by his fiddle-building partner, Suzy Norris, Carlson has created a guitar that utilizes a large number of sympathetic strings. The obstacles that had to be overcome were significant, but “angel voices” never come easy to us Earth folks. With 10 photos and a pair of drawings of how things work.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Meet the Maker: Fred Carlson

1997
AL#49 p.28   BRB5 p.18            
Tim Olsen   Fred Carlson                                                                                       

▪ Carlson grew up on a New England commune and never outgrew the philosophy of sharing. He would rather let his uniqueness bloom than give in to commercial considerations. You’ll be glad you met him here. With 16 photos.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

The Ukrainian Bandura: A Distant Relative of the Harp Guitar

1994
AL#38 p.34   BRB4 p.42            
Francis Kosheleff                                                                                           

▪ A typical bandura looks like a melted acoustic guitar with about a hundred extra strings spread across the body. OK, not that many. A lot, though. Kosheleff knows these Russians well.

Meet the Maker: Michael Sanden

1993
AL#34 p.20   BRB3 p.330   ALA6 p.24         
Jonathon Peterson   Michael Sanden                                                                                       

▪ A Swedish guitar maker comes to America for a round of twenty-questions. When non-Americans step out on Lutherie Road the trip isn’t necessarily the one we imagine. Sanden shares a lot of information about his mentor, Georg Bolin.

A New Look at Harp Guitars

1993
AL#34 p.24   BRB3 p.334   ALA6 p.30         
Jonathon Peterson                                                                                           

▪ In AL#29 Peterson looked back at the harp guitar. This time he takes a forward look. A number of luthiers find fascination and a new potential in the big beast, and this is the best look at their results to date. With 28 photos and 8 detailed drawings. Also available is GAL full-scale Plan #34, the Klein solidbody electric harp guitar.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Brazilian Guitar Makers

1993
AL#33 p.12   BRB3 p.278            read this article
Roberto Gomes                                                                                           

▪ Gomes offers a list and short description of some current Brazilian builders.

Torres Guitar Restoration

1993
AL#33 p.14   BRB3 p.280            
R.E. Brune                                                                                           

▪ Brune describes a rare 11-string Torres guitar and the manner in which he restored it. With 11 photos and a half-page of drawings. Mentions Romanillos.

Travels in French Lutherie

1992
AL#30 p.6   BRB3 p.196   ALA4 p.20         
Paul Hostetter                                                                                           

▪ AL is one of the few available resources that examines the foreign instrument scene in any detail. Hostetter’s chief interest lies in the Selmer Django guitars designed by Maccaferri, but he peeks into every nook that offers a glimpse of strange instruments. Along the way he meets Francois Charle and Maurice Dupont. With 5 photos of Selmers.

Harp Guitar: That Extra-String Thing

1992
AL#29 p.20   BRB3 p.178   ALA6 p.10         
Jonathon Peterson                                                                                           

▪ Most people who even knew what one was thought of the harp guitar as a less-than-useless dinosaur. Then came Michael Hedges. Peterson looks back at a strange instrument whose best music might just lie in the future. With 49 photos and a number of good drawings. Mentions Torres, Hauser I, Scherzer, Staufer, Mozzani, Gibson, Knutsen, Martin, and so on.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s fifty best articles published before 2010.

GAL Instrument Plan #32: Dyer Harp Guitar

1992
AL#29 p.34   BRB3 p.192   ALA6 p.27         
Todd Brotherton                                                                                           

▪ This is the guitar into which Michael Hedges breathed new life. A full-scale instrument plan. See the GAL website for a low-rez preview.

The Mandolin Orchestra in America, Part Three

1990
AL#21 p.44   BRB2 p.262            
Joseph R. Johnson                                                                                           

▪ A number of non-mandolins were considered to be intrinsic parts of the mandolin orchestras. This installment of the series looks at all the boys in the band (and some girls, too). With 16 photos and a few drawings.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

The Mandolin Orchestra in America, Part One

1989
AL#19 p.34   BRB2 p.262            
Joseph R. Johnson                                                                                           

▪ Mandolin mania in America was a social phenomenon that was inflated to the max by the Gibson Company advertising propaganda. This portion of the series details the rise of the mandolin orchestras and mandolin clubs. With 9 photos and a Gibson cartoon. Part Two and Part Three follow in AL#20 and AL#21.

This article has been nominated as one of the Guild’s best articles published before 2010.

Review: Guitars and Mandolins in America by Robert Hartman

1988
AL#15 p.69   BRB2 p.492            
Joseph R. Johnson                                                                                           

▪ The reviewer is enthusiastic about the research potential of this updated book, and believes it will be of use to the repairman who may face Larson instruments on his bench.

Review: Guitars and Mandolins in America Featuring the Larsons’ Creations by Robert Hartman

1985
AL#2 p.51   BRB1 p.487            read this article
John Bromka   Ron Lira                                                                                       

▪ Positive reviews praise the text, photos, and ad reproductions in this book about the Larson brothers, who made instruments from the 1880s to 1944.

Restoring a Martin Harp Guitar

1984
DS#279   LW p.62   ALA6 p.2         
Ted Davis                                                                                           

▪ This rare Martin required the creation of a new harp neck as well as the repair of many top and side cracks. The plans included are also available as GAL full-scale blueprint #7. Includes 5 photos.