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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

NGD - Angel Wing Harp Guitar

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GTCGTC Frets: 241
in Acoustics
Somewhat belatedly, here's an NGD (of 6 weeks ago) for my beautiful 22-string Angel Wing Harp Guitar (Left-Handed) made for me by Glastonbury luthier extraordinaire, Alan Miller.

Below is a OneDrive link to a photo of me playing it on collection (or, at least, trying too) - followed by a copy of a brief review I did for Alan's website.

Note: I used to have no problem in embedding OneDrive photos - but I can't seem to do that now.

Photo link: https://1drv.ms/u/s!ArtIPixHCt8yl2F3Cwb-afmwtJDa?e=HJPBLQ

Review:

Having heard about the model Alan made for the somerset musician Jon Pickard, I really wanted to try a harp guitar. But I’m left -handed - so I asked Alan to make one for me.

Despite some words of caution from Alan and Jon, I went for a fully featured version with eight super-trebles (high harp strings) and eight sub-basses (low harp strings) – each arranged over an A to A octave with 1:4 ratio banjo tuners and some clever little levers to raise the tone of each individually up a semitone if required – each bank of eight supported by a pair of nicely shaped utile (mahogany) “angel wings”.

Sandwiched in between is a standard classical guitar.

What a fine instrument it is – well up with Alan’s usual high standard of craftmanship and thought - with a spruce top, rosewood back and sides and ebony fretboard, and top-quality Schaller Hauser guitar tuning machines.

The sound of the guitar section is magical – with the harp strings resonating in sympathy to provide a sound like no other classical guitar I’ve played before. I’m still getting to grips with the harp strings, not having fully appreciated the difference in thinking and technique that would be required. However, with Jon’s excellent introductory publication “How to Tame Your Harp Guitar” I am slowly making progress.

I’m looking forward to exploring a new world of music making with this wonderful instrument.

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Comments

  • Winny_PoohWinny_Pooh Frets: 7202
    Wonderful, you must be thrilled :)
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  • MellishMellish Frets: 945
    Looks very nice.

    The strings either side of the fretboard are obviously drones.

    :) 
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  • Tall_martinTall_martin Frets: 158
    Sweet guitar!

    What sort of music is it for? I'm guessing- not metal :)
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  • GTCGTC Frets: 241
    edited November 2022
    Mellish said:
    Looks very nice.

    The strings either side of the fretboard are obviously drones.

     
    The bass harp strings (sub-basses) are indeed generally used as drones. The high harp strings (super-trebles) can be used for melody or high chordal accompaniment, picked out.

    Here is a link to Jon Pickard's website which has a number of videos illustrating the point much better than I could https://www.jonpickard.co.uk/harp-guitar .

    The angel wing design is slightly different to most harp guitars in that the sub-basses are arranged with the lowest string nearer the guitar low E - the model Jon plays in most of his videos have them the other way round. The angel wing design has the advantage of being more compact - and providing a very convenient carrying handle!
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  • GTCGTC Frets: 241
    Tall_martin said:
    Sweet guitar!

    What sort of music is it for? I'm guessing- not metal :)
    Well, I normally play classical guitar - but the sub-basses and super-trebles are metal  :#
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11438
    Does it have fitted pickups?
    If so are they separate outputs for the different sets of strings?
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  • robertyroberty Frets: 10231
    Tall_martin said:
    Sweet guitar!

    What sort of music is it for? I'm guessing- not metal :)
    Symphonic metal =)

    Looks great @GTC, how do you play it? Do the harp strings ring sympathetically or do you pluck them too?
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  • GTCGTC Frets: 241
    ToneControl said:
    Does it have fitted pickups?
    If so are they separate outputs for the different sets of strings?
    No pickups. Alan has previously made a full-size concert harp (not harp guitar) with individual pickups for each string - quite a feat of engineering.
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  • GTCGTC Frets: 241
    roberty said:
    Tall_martin said:
    Sweet guitar!

    What sort of music is it for? I'm guessing- not metal :)
    Symphonic metal =)

    Looks great @GTC, how do you play it? Do the harp strings ring sympathetically or do you pluck them too?
    Yes, you pluck the harp strings. It is worth looking at Jon Pickard's videos on the link previously provided to get an idea of how the strings can work together.

    Having said that, just playing the guitar part, the harp strings do resonate in sympathy - giving a rather pleasing and different reverb effect.

    By pure coincidence, Jon is doing a gig in my village on Sat 12th Nov, which I'm really looking forward to. Promo video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjgLpg69Da0  
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  • UngulateUngulate Frets: 161
    Blimey that's only 6 miles from my place, I'm going!
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  • GTCGTC Frets: 241
    Ungulate said:
    Blimey that's only 6 miles from my place, I'm going!
    ....... see you there! Luthier Alan Miller will be there too.

    The Church is a nice venue and has hosted many internationally famous musicians. 
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  • UngulateUngulate Frets: 161
    @GTC, yeah would be great to meet another fretboarder,
    Have emailed Will Stancer & he's sorting me a ticket.
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  • robertyroberty Frets: 10231
    Ah thanks for that @GTC, I see you already explained this further up. The extended range sounds amazing. It adds a meaningful dimension 
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  • GTCGTC Frets: 241
    Ungulate said:
    @GTC, yeah would be great to meet another fretboarder,
    Have emailed Will Stancer & he's sorting me a ticket.
    Great - look forward to meeting you on Saturday!
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