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My
Harp Guitar was designed and built at the request of a good friend and customer, Frank Doucette, who dragged me kicking and screaming into this whole affair. I found them to be every bit as challenging as expected, but the rewards exceeded my expectations. I found community and friendship with the avid players, musical satisfaction in doing something I had never tried, and a stretching of my design and engineering muscles.
There are three main models, but no two have been exactly the same. The fist consideration from the player's point of view is where the strings and harmonics land. Since most players come to more expensive instruments after wearing out a Dyer copy, the string geometry is very important. These things are hard enough to learn, no one needs an added layer of difficulty.
My HG 1 is fashioned after a Dyer, but I just can't help myself, I like slender waists. And I don't care for whale flukes, except on whales.
HG 2 is a harp requinto, or harp guitar mini. Scale length is maleable depending on your desire. I find that even with a super short scale length, there is so much tension on a harp guitar, that you can tune "down" to standard and it's perfect. For the short amount of time that I had a MINI to play, I found it was magnitudes more comfortable.
HG 3 is an implement of torture. A 17 inch lower bout makes it not only handful because it's a harp guitar, but like trying to wrap your arms around a linebacker. Why is it worth it? Ask Roger B. He designed the body to his desires and it's a monster for tone and volume.
And don't get me started on the Resonator Harp Guitar... or do. No one else has done anything like this with cones for the guitar and harp strings and Dyer geometry.
Pete Bradshaw has recorded all but the great big HG 3. You can find some stunning recordings
HERE on Pete's Youtube page. Don't forget to show him some love and subscribe.
More difficult than building a harp guitar is sourcing cases. I've tried a lot of options, but I'm happiest padding out a good keyboard case myself. The guitars are perfectly protected, and I can usually manage to put some good storage in them. It also adds a lot of time, and therefore cost to the endeavor. I am comfortable using your choice of case if you are. Some options are a keyboard case and simple foam blocks, or a keyboard case as a hard shell for a soft gigbag type case. We lost the best supplier for soft cases, but I might know some strings (heart strings) to pull.
My relationship with
Stephen Bennett, is one I treasure. Widely regarded as one of the world's finest harp guitarists, Stephen Bennett has developed a highly melodic style that manifests itself in his original compositions and his arrangements of jazz, pop, and traditional tunes. And he's just a cool guy.
"My Kathy Wingert harp guitar is an instrument exquisite to behold and an absolute delight to play, both in terms of how it feels to play it and the sound that flows forth. The tone is fat and rich and round and full and sweet and strong all at the same time. Those qualities are consistent from the lowest sub-bass (tuned as low as an E one octave below the standard 6th string) all the way to the highest frets of the first string (which - thanks to the elegant cutaway - I can easily reach)!
I love this harp guitar and simply can’t stop playing it."
Stephen Bennett
