Harp Guitar

There are several types of harp guitars, with all kinds of odd shapes. The instrument is a hybrid between a theorbo and a guitar. The theorbo was a medieval type of a lute with an additional resonating harp field. This field can be plucked, but also functions as a reverb for the sound of the instrument. The strings of the field resonate along with the played tones. This sound is somewhat similar to the reverb of a cathedral. Beautiful and more natural than any electronic pedal or a spring reverb.

The Coral Sitar is probably the most known version of the instrument among guitar collectors. My Moonlander is not a harp guitar but a sympathetic string guitar, which means, the strings are not meant to be plucked, but hum along in resonance with the played tones. The Burner Guitar however is a harp guitar. That’s the main difference between these two instruments of mine.

I had forgotten about harpguitar.net for a while, but it’s a unbelievable well-done source of information, when it comes to harp guitars. Gregg Miner has spent an huge amount of time and work studying the history of the instrument and composing his site, featuring hundreds of weird variants.

Most of the instruments are acoustic, but also a few electric. I stole a few pics from the site to tease you and visit his one. The second external link goes directly to an overview of all the families. If you press one thumb, you’ll see dozens of beautiful objects.

External links

harpguitars.net

The main picture gallery of harpguitars.net

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