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Harp guitar progress (pics)
http://w-ww.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=12944
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Author:  Dave White [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:43 am ]
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It's got two necks



The main neck is bolted on and now just needs fretting and finishing. This has my version of Mike Doolin's adjustable neck joint. The cocobolo bridge is rough shaped and the bottom is being shaped to match the top. The bridge is way too big at present and will be "steamlined" after I have drilled the 12 bridgepin holes. The back and sides have deen Z-poxied and I start spraying tomorrow:


Another view:



Thanks for looking.

Author:  old man [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 7:53 am ]
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Wow, way to go Dave!! That's going to be great. Those things are really strange looking to a poor boy from Arkansas.

Ron

Author:  Colin S [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:17 am ]
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Dave, can't wait to hear it, you never fail to come up with something different, a breath of fresh air to us old flat-earthers.

Now you've just got to make a case!

Colin

Author:  Sam Price [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:18 am ]
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Fantastic, Dave; I am really looking forward to hearing this instrument!!!

Author:  Dave White [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:30 am ]
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Thanks Ron, sometimes they look scary to me too

Colin - At the moment I think I need to make a boat rather than a case, or a guitar I can use as a boat - maybe the side soundport wasn't such a good idea I wish the earth was flat then we could tilt it a little and get rid of some of this water

Sam - mee too

Author:  Bruce Dickey [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:35 am ]
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[QUOTE=old man] Wow, way to go Dave!! That's going to be great. Those things are really strange looking to a boy from Arkansas.

Ron[/QUOTE]

Ditto, Bruce

Dave, I do think yours looks far less strange than a Dyer style. Yours is really really cool. I like it a lot.

Author:  WaddyThomson [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:36 am ]
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That is a great looking instrument.  I don't relish your task of making a case for it.  A harp guitar is something else I never heard of until this forum.  I don't get out much.  Ball & Chain, you know.

Boy I hope you guys get a break in the weather.  It looks really bad from the news shots we get over here.   Looks like you are sharing weather with parts of Texas.


Author:  Shane Neifer [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:37 am ]
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Man, that is looking awesome Dave!! I have a top and some Walnut I can use for a back set aside for the "one day" I can start one! I love your shape on this one.

Shane

Author:  Billy T [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:03 pm ]
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I can hardly wait o see this one finished.

Author:  Kim [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:27 pm ]
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Wonderful! Dave as always your work is inspiring.

Perhaps you realy should make a boat from your harp guitar. You could called it "The Beagle" and sail off to Madagascar. Navigation will be easy no matter where you are, because I once heard from a friend that the flares in the night sky from the self-igniting giant tortoises can be seen from hundreds of miles away

Cheers mate and keep it all coming

Kim

Author:  Dave White [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:38 pm ]
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Bruce - thanks. I like the Dyer shape but wanted to do something slightly different. I like the shape so far but playability and sound will be the final judges.

Waddy - "Ball & Chain" - is that your local pub? So far we are dry here, but the people in Tewkesbury that will have no running water for two weeks are really bearing the brunt.

Shane - or is that NATHANE Good to see you back. The High Mountain packing grade top has some gorgeous silking!!

Billy - thanks. Me too.

[QUOTE=larkim] Perhaps you realy should make a boat from your harp guitar. You could called it "The Beagle" and sail off to Madagascar. Navigation will be easy no matter where you are, because I once heard from a friend that the flares in the night sky from the self-igniting giant tortoises can be seen from hundreds of miles away [/QUOTE]

Kom,

That's so very true So you think I should call it Snoopy? Hmm . . . I always liked Woddstock better

Author:  Dave White [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:44 pm ]
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Ooops - edit alert edit alert

Thanks Todd. I liked your Weissenborn name. I could use KISS as the "nomencluture" of my harp-boat fleet (like SS or HMS) and call this one "My Asp" after the Martin Simpson song "The Turtle and the Asp" to keep Kim's theme going

Author:  peter cree [ Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:57 pm ]
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David , or Daithiiiiiiiiiiiiii (you people don't know thats his real name..........)

That is soooooooooooo cool.   I love Harp guitars. we Celtic players need as much boom echo as we can get to play our dazzling riffs against.

Anyway, why are you building it in the shower?


Author:  Dave White [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:11 am ]
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[QUOTE=peter cree] Anyway, why are you building it in the shower?
[/QUOTE]

Peter,

That way I get humidity equilibrium between inside and outside the house

Author:  Pwoolson [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:37 am ]
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[QUOTE=Dave White] Ooops - edit alert edit alert

Thanks Todd. I liked your Weissenborn name. I could use KISS as the "nomencluture" of my harp-boat fleet (like SS or HMS) and call this one "My Asp" after the Martin Simpson song "The Turtle and the Asp" to keep Kim's theme going [/QUOTE]
So this one would be called KISS My Asp. It's got a nice ring to it.
Do you know how to play that thing? I've always had something like this on my "someday" list but I wouldn't have the foggiest as to what to do with it.
Your Asp looks great!

Author:  John K [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:05 am ]
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That is very cool Dave.

I am interested in those two bars showing through the sound hole. I am assuming they are permanent braces of some sort to hold the upper bout in place against string pressure. Do you do that on your regular guitars as well?

My poor brother is visiting Yorkshire right now. I hope he can find some dry ground for hiking.

Author:  Dave White [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:27 am ]
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Hesh - thanks.

Paul - I think you play it by plucking the strings I don't know how yet but I'll have fun learning.

[QUOTE=John K] That is very cool Dave.

I am interested in those two bars showing through the sound hole. I am assuming they are permanent braces of some sort to hold the upper bout in place against string pressure. Do you do that on your regular guitars as well?

My poor brother is visiting Yorkshire right now. I hope he can find some dry ground for hiking.
[/QUOTE]

John,

Steve should be OK, Yorkshire is pretty dry. My wife and daughters just got back today from a trip to Leeds and apparently the sun was shining

Those are cf flying buttress braces to stabilise the neck block and allow me to float my necks free of the soundboard, and I use them in all of my instruments. I learnt the ideas from the building of Mike Doolin, Rick turner and Howard Klepper. I explain why here on my website. The harp guitar looks like this inside:


Author:  John K [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 5:53 am ]
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Thanks for that view!
Is your neck adjustable? If so does the heel recess into that top block?


Author:  Dave White [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:09 am ]
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[QUOTE=John K] Thanks for that view!
Is your neck adjustable? If so does the heel recess into that top block?

[/QUOTE]

John,

Yes and yes.

Author:  BobK [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:22 am ]
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Wild. That's going to be incredible. I wonder what the guys who built them 100+yrs ago would think if they could look inside that beauty?


Author:  KiwiCraig [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:29 am ]
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Way way too cool Dave ! It looks more manageable than most other harp guitars I,ve seen .

I notice you have installed four fibre rods. I've seen others use only two,fixed at the top of the headblock angled down and fixed to the lower part of the waist area . What's the story ?

A great looking instrument Dave .

Author:  Dave White [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:46 pm ]
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[QUOTE=KiwiCraig]
Way way too cool Dave ! It looks more manageable than most other harp guitars I,ve seen .

I notice you have installed four fibre rods. I've seen others use only two,fixed at the top of the headblock angled down and fixed to the lower part of the waist area . What's the story ?

A great looking instrument Dave . [/QUOTE]

Bob,

Thanks. I bet the old builders would have used whatever technology they had to do what they wanted.

Craig,

I use two pairs as there are two different forces on the neck blok from the string pull. The top of the neck block is being pushed in and the bottom pulled out. So the top cf rods are in compression and the bottom ones in tension. I don't know the physics well enough but think that cf rods going from the top of the neck block to the bottom of the sides will not fully deal with the pull on the bottom of the neck block.

I've read Rick Turner post that he now uses pairs rather than single cf rods.

Author:  KiwiCraig [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:28 pm ]
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Thanks Dave , the penny has dropped .
Could you also tell me why the C.F. rods are orientated the way they are ? i.e. wide side of rod parallel with the sides.
Thanks mate.

Cheers Craig

Author:  Dave White [ Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:15 pm ]
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[QUOTE=KiwiCraig]
Thanks Dave , the penny has dropped .
Could you also tell me why the C.F. rods are orientated the way they are ? i.e. wide side of rod parallel with the sides.
Thanks mate.

Cheers Craig[/QUOTE]

Craig,

Because that's how I have them in the necks I build. I think of them like top and back braces - tall and thin for greater strengh. Plus the side braces that hold the ends would have to be a lot bigger and more weight/bulk. This could be all wrong so I'll wait for those with the "big brains" to chime in

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