Official Luthiers Forum!

Have to admit a deep interest in these instruments...being a novice, thought I would try my hand at a Martin "kit" (000 Auditorium) then try something from scratch (good idea?) then maybe tackle a harp. Saw some archival postings on the subject. Anybody ever build the GAL plan?

Mike

Mike, what a timely post. After seeing Andy McKeel and Michael Hedges play one of these fantastic instruments, I've been very interested in building one also...

So I take it there are plans? GAL? That's good to know...

Oh yeah, ... Bump

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

Mike,
In doing research a while back I ran on to this site:
www.harpguitars.net
The site has a ton of info, including luthiers that are building them. I'm not building one, but, the stuff on this site was real interesting. You might try it for some backround information.

Dave

Thanks for the bump!!

Yes I know the site...plan to rejoin. They had some hacker problems a while ago, so all members had to rejoin under new names. So, I will be doing the same soon.

I love the site, but it is not a builder's site. There is some builder info, but not near as much as in here. GAL is a good plan from what I hear. $25 is not a lot, so I guess I will get it. However, I have yet to run into anyone who has used it!!

Mike

Mike,

I plan to start building a harp guitar in the next few months - I'll do my own design/plans. Stephen Sedgwick has a photo-build of a harp guitar on his website. Go to the Harp Guitars page and the Making Harp Guitars page from there.

There was also a post by the French Harp Guitar maker Pierre Lamour on the MIMF forum recently of 2 harp guitars he made with photos.

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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

Dave...that'll be COOL!! Progress pics PLEASE!!!

I might do one on build #4 after I have studied the bracing systems, etc, etc....

Dave, keep us all informed! I like Stephen's design...its a bit more compact. Do you have the body stencil? But, at some time in the future, gotta try the Dyer design. Charles Hoffman did an awsome hjob with that.

Mike

Sam - will do.

Mike,

No - I'm going to base mine around my Grand Concert sized guitar with 5-6 sub-bass strings on a top arm like Stephen's. I want to design-tune it to be used in open tunings: DADGAD, CGDGCD, CGCFCD, CGCGCD etc etc.

I'm currently broke (what's-new ) so am having to use wood I already have in the workshop. The back and sides will be English walnut which I have in a long piece of wood. It is only 3.5" wide though so the back will be 5 or 6 piece. The top will be European spruce and I will have to do a join for the harp arm piece - chance for some artistic licence with the top binding and purfling I plan to try a side soundport and the main guitar neck will be fully adjustable and at present I plan to do it multi-scale fan-fretted with scale lengths going from 26" bass to 24.9" treble.

Should be fun!! Or could be a complete disaster - but hey.

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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

My best wishes for your success. it is an exceptionally beautiful instrument.

if you are going to make one .. make it a 6 sub .. that way any of these great players can play any of their stuff on it.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] if you are going to make one .. make it a 6 sub .. that way any of these great players can play any of their stuff on it.[/QUOTE]

Hey - what's one string difference matter to a TRULY great player

Tony - As I understand it for the EADGBE tuned normal 6 strings, the 6 sub-bass ones go FGABCD or something like that. In the tunings my guitar will be in, the normal 6th string will already be down to D or C. Taking the 6th sub-bass down to E or below could be "interesting" based on my experiences with baritones. That's why I'm thinking maybe 5 will be enough. I still have to think this one through. This is my guitar and not one I'm going to sell.Dave White39085.5983912037

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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

Hmmm...think I remember Hoffman's was a 5-sub. Is the orignal Dyer 6 a six-sub?

Where did you find a tonewood big enough for the job?

Mike

[QUOTE=slackkeymike] Hmmm...think I remember Hoffman's was a 5-sub. Is the orignal Dyer 6 a six-sub?

Where did you find a tonewood big enough for the job?

Mike[/QUOTE]

Mike,

A few years ago my local wood-turning shop had a stash of English walnut in in various sizes. A couple were just over 4' long by 3.5" square and I bought them. I had in mind binding material at the time. They came in useful as the sides for the Weissenborn I built recently and now hopefully for this harp guitar.

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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

Original Dyers had both - I have a friend who has from around 1911-1912, one of each. Stephen Bennett uses a 6 sub Merrill, built so that he can keep his 1909? Dyer at home - he needs the 6 subs for most of his tunes, and his std tuning is GABCDG subs, guitar is std EADGBE. He also uses FABCDG, and EABCDG as alternate subs tunings. But most of his stuff is in his std setup.

If you dont already have it, his double harp guitar compitation CD will leave you breathless - the tone is simply and utterly stunning (almost as good as seeing him live !!).

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

(hope you all will pardon me for shameless bump of my own thread)...but really, I do have something new to add. I saw over at Harpguitars.net, under the "announce new members" forum, tha t a fellow is doing a great job of building a Dyer (6) Harp. THe plans on the bench top looked familiar, so I went to GAL, and it appears this is where he got them. THough, his build sports a few unknown features... I ordered the same plans today.ed. Yes. I wll build simpler models brfore the Harp...but a guys has to dream, huh?

Mike

I have been watching an interesting harp guitar build over on harpguitars.net. Pretty sure you can read the threads without being a member. Its under the "makers" forum and its the "allspruce" thread. This guy is building the (well almost) entire guitar out of spruce.

The binding section is awsome. It does indeed look to me that he is using the GAL plan set.

Mike

[QUOTE=Dave White] Sam - will do.

Mike,

No - I'm going to base mine around my Grand Concert sized guitar with 5-6 sub-bass strings on a top arm like Stephen's. I want to design-tune it to be used in open tunings: DADGAD, CGDGCD, CGCFCD, CGCGCD etc etc.

I'm currently broke (what's-new ) so am having to use wood I already have in the workshop. The back and sides will be English walnut which I have in a long piece of wood. It is only 3.5" wide though so the back will be 5 or 6 piece. The top will be European spruce and I will have to do a join for the harp arm piece - chance for some artistic licence with the top binding and purfling I plan to try a side soundport and the main guitar neck will be fully adjustable and at present I plan to do it multi-scale fan-fretted with scale lengths going from 26" bass to 24.9" treble.

Should be fun!! Or could be a complete disaster - but hey.[/QUOTE]

That's my boy! You can always rely on Dave for something "interesting". I always look forward to you latest projects Dave, so get on with it!

Colin





Colin

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