Harp Guitar Foundation Matching Gift Commitment a Win-Win
Greetings, all, Here’s some good news as we head into our 16th Harp Guitar Gathering!
Are You an Orville-ite?
2018 is the 100th anniversary year of Orville Gibson’s death (August 19th) and I was recently thrilled to see special attention being paid to our hero by a bunch of fine people. I’m assuming all my readers are familiar with Gibson guitars, mandolins and (obviously) harp guitars. I imagine that you all at least know […]
A Short – Yet Surprisingly Complete – History of the Modern Archguitar
Those of you who attended our 12th Harp Guitar Gathering in Idaho in 2014 will recall that (in honor of one of our featured guests, Jon Mendle) I presented an in-depth look at an instrument called the “archguitar” (or arch guitar). I was always rather proud of my efforts and intended to one day turn […]
Dyer Harp Mandolas: All Present and Accounted For
Yeah, this is probably wishful thinking, but then again, it could be true. We’ll likely never know. Before 2007, not a single specimen of a W. J. Dyer & Bro. harp mandola had yet been discovered by either Bob Hartman or me. Then within just two years, four of them surfaced! They were all up […]
Miner Museum Deaccesions
…which is a fancy word for “I’ve got too much stuff, am completely out of room, don’t have time or energy to play all these, and after much soul-searching and gnashing of teeth I’ve decided to let some painstakingly-acquired things go.” Ten items now offered for sale, on my new page called “Treasures From the […]
Historical Luthier and Featured Harp Guitar of the Month
Now in PDF format! Yes, readers – we’re trying something new. I’ve been investigating this for some time, reading lots of opinions, discussing with knowledgeable friends, and just finished a test drive and collaborative final vote with Thomas Nielsen (who lives in Denmark, and contributes to Harpgutiars.net, most recently in getting the password-protected Members Section […]
Dyer Harp Guitar Vintage Photos
I’ve been amassing a small trove it seems…most of these are discoveries from the last year and a half, a couple are from earlier that I just stumbled across. Unfortunately, some of the sources were lost during a computer crash last September; if you see one you recognize and have more to share, please do! […]
Chris Knutsen, Road Warrior
Most of you know that I’ve been pretty obsessed with Knutsen and his instruments since the 1980s. I’ve spent a lot of time putting his instruments and activities into perspective. One thing that always intrigued me was how he got around. Apparently, often by boat up around Tacoma and Seattle and by train from those […]
AMIS Moravian Adventure
This year, the American Musical Instrument Society (AMIS) held their annual meeting in Bethlehem, PA at the Moravian College and nearby environs. I hadn’t been anywhere in Pennsylvania since a child, so was glad for a chance to explore. My wife Jaci stayed home this trip, so I did less vacationing and more AMISing this […]
Recent Harp Guitar CDs
It seems like it’s been ages since I last did this (February, 2017, now that I look it up). Apologizes if I’ve missed any below. Just remind me (or send) and I’ll add it in if appropriate. As usual, I stop short of giving actual “reviews” (which often becomes politically problematic for me) but have […]
