The latest Historical Discoveries from: | |
Indexed by Newest
> Oldest below (NOTE: Dyer and Knutsen and Gibson each have their own separate blog indices) |
Date | Topic | Title | |
May 3rd, 2021 |
Not a true harp guitar, but a great story nonetheless |
The Lyric Harp Guitar, or The Flying Beehees and Other Stories |
|
April 18th, 2021 |
With a new acquisition in hand, I re-explore the terminology |
Name That Harp Guitar! |
|
March 8th, 2021 |
An 8-part series depicting a hundred historical (and modern) female players |
Women in Harp Guitar History |
|
February 5th, 2021 |
The title says it all - an inspiring story of a forgotten African American group |
The Invincible Four |
|
December 5th, 2020 |
I present all known candidates for the "first harp guitar" |
The Earliest Harp Guitars |
|
November 13th, 2020 |
A 3-part series on the Hawaiian musical family and friends includes dozens of harp-guitar sightings |
The James Shaw Family: A Hawaiian Musical Dynasty |
|
September 18th, 2020 |
A new newspaper search discovers new harp guitar images |
Harp Guitar Finds Via New Newspaper Navigation |
|
September 13th, 2020 |
A second rare clip of Eddie playing his Gibson harp guitar |
||
June 5th, 2020 |
My 2017 Exhibit catalog is now digital |
“Floating Strings” Free Online! |
|
May 29th, 2020 |
I collate another group of Russian instruments |
From Russia with Love, Part 2: Museum Treasures |
|
March 27th, 2020 |
Story of a forgotten collection |
Stanford White’s Musical Instrument Treasures |
|
November 1st, 2019 |
I collate the story to date of one of the most recognizable unusual guitars of all time |
The Paul Gardie/Harmony Orchestral Harp Guitar |
|
July 5th, 2019 |
The story of Richard Konter's Favilla harp guitar that (almost!) made it to the pole with Admiral Byrd |
First Harp Guitar to the South Pole Wins |
|
June 28th, 2019 |
A double feature on Emilio Calamara, his wife and his harp guitars |
Bohmania! |
|
February 1st, 2019 |
A former collection of rare instruments |
The Musical Instrument Collection of Walter Erdmann |
|
January 5th, 2019 |
An early (1981) article on vintage harp guitars |
Mugwumps Harp Guitar Time Capsule |
|
July 20th, 2018 |
Double Feature on Tony Biehl and one of his harp guitars |
Historical Luthier and Featured Harp Guitar of the Month |
|
June 10th, 2018 |
A visit to the Martin Museum with Dick Boak |
AMIS Moravian Adventure |
|
May 11th, 2018 |
The original owner of my own Bohmann harp guitar discovered |
Linscott’s Bohmann |
|
May 6th, 2018 |
A walk through our harp guitar exhibit at the Museum of Making Music |
Floating Strings in Carlsbad |
|
March 9th, 2018 |
A trove of Russian harp guitar players and instruments |
Russian Harp Guitar Catchup |
|
January 12th, 2018 |
Profile of an obscure Italian harp guitar builder |
Milanese Master Luthier Luigi Galimberti |
|
November 20th, 2017 |
New book releases with information on harp guitars or similar instruments, builders and players |
Plucked String Books of 2017 |
|
March 24th, 2017 | Steampunk Stace writes about his c.1909 Stahl harp guitar |
Steampunk Stahl |
|
January 28th, 2017 | Thomas Nielsen writes an article for us on Soffren Degen |
Danish Harp Guitar Discoveries |
|
December 25th, 2016 | The discovery of the incredible mechanical guitar of Demain Wood |
Some Assembly Required |
|
August 19th, 2016 | New discoveries and a count |
Bohmann’s Contra Bass Harp Guitars |
|
July 16th, 2016 | Rare harp guitars and more in the fabled collection |
Harp Guitars in the Stearns Collection |
|
July 1st, 2016 | The fascinating career and inventions of the little-known Hollywood character |
Herman the Hermit |
|
June 19th, 2016 |
The complete history (so far) on Harwood instruments and the Jenkins Company |
Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Harwood Harp Guitars But Were Afraid To Ask |
|
June 3rd, 2016 |
AMIS activities at the museum and conference |
AMIS at the National Music Museum |
|
May 29th, 2016 |
I visit the instrument collection |
The National Music Museum |
|
May 14th, 2016 |
Other harp guitars and related instruments in the Brussels museum |
Harp Guitars in the Brussels Musical Instrument Museum, Part 2 |
|
May 6th, 2016 |
8 years after the fact, I present my investigation into the remarkable Brussels #1550 |
Harp Guitars in the Brussels Musical Instrument Museum, Part 1 |
|
February 27th, 2016 |
An amazing Martin harp guitar discovery |
100 Years Later, the Martin Improved Reproduction Schenk Harp Guitar! |
|
February 12th, 2016 |
A c.1900 baritone-scale harp guitar |
Walton’s c.1900 Baritone Harp Guitar |
|
July 19th, 2015 |
Demonstrating the Boston MFA's harp guitars |
Harp Guitar Working Vacation: Boston Part 3 |
|
July 12th, 2015 |
Examining the Boston MFA's harp guitars |
Harp Guitar Working Vacation: Boston Part 1 |
|
April 10th, 2015 |
The amazing instruments of the Australia's Cera brothers |
The Land of Harp Guitars That Time Forgot |
|
March 1st, 2015 |
"Harp-guitar" finally has a sanctioned entry in the Grove dictionary |
Harp-guitar – It’s Official! |
|
January 16th, 2015 |
An unusual new instrument discovery |
The Harwood Lyre-Thingy |
|
November 28th, 2014 |
A new Shutt discovery |
Harp Guitar David vs. Goliath |
|
September 1st, 2014 |
Comparing a historical image of a rare G. A. Carlson to a surviving specimen |
Separated at Birth |
|
August 1st, 2014 |
...in which I receive a special harp guitar treasure |
Harp Guitar Special Delivery |
|
July 25th, 2014 | More Italian harp guitar discoveries from Franco Ghisalberti |
Further Franco Finds |
|
July 18th, 2014 | Looking for harp guitar material at the IGRA |
The Vahdah Olcott-Bickford Collection |
|
July 1st, 2014 | Rare vintage slides of unusual instruments |
Harp Guitar Magic |
|
June 24th, 2014 | Part-time Boise vaudevillian builds his own Gibsonesque harp guitar |
Joe Campton Builds His Fantasy Gibson |
|
June 17th, 2014 |
Carlo Roggero of Arenzano builds Taraffo-inspired harp guitars for his fellow jazz musicians to play |
Taraffo’s Infinite Influence |
|
May 22nd, 2014 | Pester the Hermit's steel guitars, including Knutsen and Weissenborn |
Knutsen Nature Boy, Part 2 |
|
May 9th, 2014 |
Knutsen steel guitar player William Pester, the Hermit of Palm Springs |
Knutsen Nature Boy, Part 1 |
|
April 13th, 2014 |
Harp guitars are sometimes more zither than guitar |
Zither-Guitars |
|
February 1st, 2014 |
New images of black harp guitar players |
African-American Harp Guitarists, Revisited |
|
January 25th, 2014 |
An unknown player with an unusual pedigree |
J. Hopkins Flinn: America’s First Harp Guitarist? |
|
January 12th, 2014 |
New Harwood specimens and historical photos |
Harwood Harp Guitar Updates |
|
January 5th, 2014 |
Perott's original instrument examined |
The Harp Guitar of Boris Perott |
|
December 8th, 2013 |
Not a harp guitar, but a genuine guitar d'amore |
Guitar D’Amore |
|
October 27th, 2013 |
I present the first-ever history of the harp guitar's open treble strings |
HGG11: Sir Gregory on Super-Trebles |
|
September 15th, 2013 |
A Weymann double tree of life! |
What’s More Outrageous than a Harp Guitar with a Tree-of-Life Fingerboard? |
|
August 17th, 2013 |
Well known American recording artist played a Regal |
Roy Butin, Revealed at Last |
|
July 28th, 2013 |
A previously un-catalogued Mozzani model discovered in the unlikeliest of places |
Mod Mozzani |
|
July 20th, 2013 |
All the information on this obscure maker, finally archived in one place |
Collected Coulter |
|
July 8th, 2013 |
All the images and harp guitar specimens/brands associated with Lester Payne's groups archived in one place |
Payne Management |
|
June 29th, 2013 |
New dating for the Bruno 12-on-the-neck harp guitar, and its possible relationship with the American 12-string |
12-String Guitar, Meet the 1901 Harp Guitar |
|
June 16th, 2013 |
Rare historical instruments at the shop of the French dealer |
A Visit with Jean Michel Renard |
|
June 14th, 2013 |
Rare historical guitars at the workshop of the French dealers |
A Visit with Sinier de Ridder |
|
May 31st, 2013 |
The first serious analysis of the mystery instrument |
The Elusive Petzval-Scherzer Guitharfe |
|
May 21st, 2013 |
Rare historical instruments at Paris' famous music museum |
Musee de la Musique |
|
May 5th, 2013 |
Super-trebles, psaltery strings, or both? |
Psaltery Guitars |
|
April 22nd, 2013 |
A new Lacote specimen and page update |
Lacote Update |
|
April 14th, 2013 |
An iconic fantasy instrument discovered |
Carmelo Catania: From Iconography to Reality |
|
April 4th, 2013 |
Some clarification on definitions |
What a Harp Guitar Isn’t |
|
February 28th, 2013 |
A study of the harp guitars used in his orchestra which resulted in his full biography |
Black History Month, Part 2: James Reese Europe and the Clef Club Orchestra |
|
February 21st, 2013 |
Large harp mandolins from Italy |
The Mandolone Basso a Mezza-Lira |
|
February 10th, 2013 |
A glimpse at John's Scherzer and other European harp guitars |
A Visit with John Schneiderman |
|
February 1st, 2013 |
A look at the various harp guitars played by early black harp guitarists |
Black History Month, Part 1: African-American Harp Guitarists |
|
January 18th, 2013 |
A partial update to the makers encyclopedia |
Encyclopedia Expansion |
|
January 13th, 2013 |
Two instruments just discovered by the obscure maker |
Antonio Grauso |
|
January 8th, 2013 |
Interesting use of historical Schrammelgitarres |
Harp Guitar Music You Can Dance To |
|
December 20th, 2012 |
A rant about the latest guitar book getting everything wrong |
The Guitar & Amp Jokebook |
|
October 27th, 2012 |
A look at the multi-X bracing of a c.1900 Bohmann harp guitar |
Triple X Bohmann |
|
September 28th, 2012 |
Not quite a harp guitar, but extremely cool |
Francisco Pistoresi’s Diamenophone |
|
September 23rd, 2012 |
Latest discoveries on the Portland maker |
Coulter, Continued |
|
July 29th, 2012 |
A brand-new, laypersons' guide to how and why the name was chosen |
Harp Guitar: What’s in a Name |
|
July 22nd, 2012 |
A mis-named lyre guitar with some interesting history |
The Behee Lyric Harp Guitar |
|
July 18th, 2012 |
Another guitar book rife with misinformation and confusion |
And More Guitar Books |
|
July 12th, 2012 |
Instruments mistaken for harp guitars |
More Non-Harp Harp-Guitars |
|
July 1st, 2012 |
All the Regal specimens now catalogued and compared in one place |
Regal Archives |
|
June 24th, 2012 |
New Harwood discoveries |
Misplaced Harwoods |
|
June 21st, 2012 |
A rare Canadian historical instrument |
Canadian Harp Guitars, Past, Present and Future |
|
June 13th, 2012 |
New maker discovered |
Carlson Harp Guitar |
|
June 2nd, 2012 |
Vintage instruments at Retrofret |
New York, Part 3 |
|
May 30th, 2012 |
Instruments at the Met |
New York, Part 2 |
|
May 24th, 2012 |
An outrageous Stahl patent harp guitar with internal second body |
The One That Almost Got Away |
|
May 17th, 2012 |
Visiting instrument restorer Antonello Saccu |
Genoa, Part 4: Luthier Friends |
|
May 3rd, 2012 |
Spectacular Monzino and similar instruments |
The Musical Instrument Collection at Milan’s Castle Sforza |
|
April 19th, 2012 |
A new Genovese harp guitar maker discovered |
Another Genoese Feast, with a Side Dish of Milan, Part 1 |
|
April 1st, 2012 |
Oval Stauffers - you mean they're authentic?! |
Don’t Put All Your Stauffer Eggs in One Basket |
|
March 28th, 2012 |
New book with a trove of new information on Viennese makers and harp guitars |
Stauffer & Co. |
|
March 14th, 2012 |
Not quite harp guitars, but fascinating inventions |
The Mysterious, Magical Combolins |
|
March 11th, 2012 |
Combining harp guitar and lyre guitar |
Ledhuy’s Organized-Lyre |
|
February 16th, 2012 |
Outrageous harp guitar with 18 double courses discovered to be the instrument of the obscure American recording artist |
George Dudley and His 36-string Harp Guitar |
|
February 7th, 2012 |
Rare instruments in the Yale collection |
VIP Yale Collection Tour |
|
February 4th, 2012 |
A rare Yale instrument instigates an update on my "hybrid" instrument page. |
Updates on Harp Guitar Relatives |
|
January 26th, 2012 |
An obviously "modified" Harwood turns out to be 100% authentic |
A Happy Harwood Ending |
|
November 25th, 2011 |
Some light finally gets shed on Jenkins & Sons Harwood brand |
Harwood a Mystery No Longer |
|
November 21st, 2011 |
A Schenk harp guitar hiding in plain site at the Martin museum |
Martin’s Dubetz Harp Guitar |
|
November 19th, 2011 |
At the Martin museum |
Visiting Martin with the Morgans |
|
October 13th, 2011 |
X-raying vintage harp guitars! |
Harp Guitar X-rays are Front Page News |
|
September 23rd, 2011 |
A mysterious player and instrument |
Spanish Super-Trebles |
|
September 20th, 2011 |
An outlandish Italian harp guitar |
Michele Piromalli and the Titan-Guitar |
|
September 18th, 2011 |
Our 12-string may stem significantly from an instrument called a "harp-guitar"? |
The Birth of the American 12-String Guitar |
|
September 17th, 2011 |
Taraffo's personal instrument finally gets a public display |
Taraffo Display at the Conservatorio |
|
August 25th, 2011 |
Italian/Australian builder |
Giovanni Cera, Italian Harp-Mandolinist from Down Under |
|
August 18th, 2011 |
Terrific new lute book offers new information on a variety of plucked strings |
New Book on Lutes and Plucked Stringed Instruments |
|
July 1st, 2011 |
The Coulter discoveries continue |
Third Coulter’s a Charm |
|
June 19th, 2011 |
Another rare pre-Epi harp guitar |
House of Stathopoulo Harp Guitar No. 2! |
|
June 9th, 2011 |
Chronicling America offers new research opportunities |
New Online Research Archive |
|
May 29th, 2011 |
The Phoenix MIM collection |
Guitars and Other Strings at the MIM (AMIS Convention, Day 1 continued) |
|
May 15th, 2011 |
An obscure builder from Portland comes to light |
Portland’s Premier Harp Guitar Builder |
|
April 30th, 2011 |
Rare an unusual harfenlautes |
Of Umlauts and Other Aggravating Letter Symbols, with a Little Nomenclature Confusion Thrown in While I’m at it |
|
April 13th, 2011 |
An announcement for Michael Holmes' new index of American fretted instrument patents and the Stauffer & Co. book |
Important New Guitar History Books |
|
April 5th, 2011 |
The iconic instrument is discovered in a Spain guitar shop |
The GUITARPA LIVES! |
|
April 4th, 2011 |
More info on the preceding blog below |
It’s Raining Chitarpas |
|
April 3rd, 2011 |
An important 6-string "harp guitar" |
The Chitarpa of Gian Battista Noceti |
|
April 2nd, 2011 |
News of the (now offline) website that offered rare guitar catalogs |
Musica Viva |
|
April 1st, 2011 |
French sheet music with an unsual French or Italian harp guitar |
…While Historical French Harp Guitarists Continue to Surprise |
|
March 25th, 2011 |
New photos of the rare 6-bass Dahlman |
The Dahlman Plot Thickens |
|
March 23rd, 2011 |
Our first image of harp guitar inventor/player Henry Dahlman, and his possible surviving instrument |
Meet Henry Dahlman |
|
March 22nd, 2011 |
Another wild new Bohmann discovery! |
A Custom Bohmann Harp Guitar |
|
March 15th, 2011 |
Just like the title says |
One-of-a-Kind Favilla Bros Harp Guitar |
|
March 14th, 2011 |
The unresolved Howard brand |
Eugene Howard or Howard Eugene |
|
March 7th, 2011 |
An unusual harp and guitar hybrid |
The Harpitar |
|
March 5th, 2011 |
Stutzman's guitar store has a nice collection of harp guitars |
Stutzman’s Harp Guitars |
|
February 27th, 2011 |
Our exhibit of harp guitars which concluded my first trip to Genoa |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 13: Genoa’s First Harp Guitar Exhibit |
|
February 21st, 2011 |
A temporary exhibit contained a few harp guitars |
New Guitar Exhibit at the Met |
|
February 13th, 2011 |
Continuing my visit with Giovanni Accornero |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 11: Guitars fit for a Queen (and a couple of guitar virtuosos) |
|
February 9th, 2011 |
Not a Mozzani, but a new Italian copycat (plus a Gazzo copycat), but seen in French bands |
Hawaiian Guitar by way of French Musicians from Italy |
|
February 7th, 2011 |
Title says it all |
Monsieur Platini: Crazy Instruments, Crazier Shirt |
|
February 6th, 2011 |
The incredible guitar collection of Giovanni Accornero |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 10: A Visit with a Guitar Collector’s Guitar Collector |
|
January 27th, 2011 |
The well-known Regal may have been copied from the rarer Harwood |
A Regal by Any Other Name is Still a Royal Pain |
|
January 26th, 2011 |
Everything I (then) knew about Regal (they now have their own web page as well) |
Regal Find, or Royal Mess? |
|
January 23rd, 2011 |
Some interesting instruments at a private guitar collector's home |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 8: Marco, the Guitar Collector |
|
January 18th, 2011 |
Gone and forgotten, but not on this site |
The Incredible Harp-Violins of Arthur Ferris |
|
January 17th, 2011 |
Follow-up to the preceding blog below |
More on Bending, or Arching, or whatever…Guitars |
|
January 12th, 2011 |
Originally called Bogenguitarres, I've yet to find consensus on what the name really means |
Bent Guitars |
|
January 9th, 2011 |
My first visit with builder/restorer Antonello Saccu |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 6: Antonello Saccu |
|
January 8th, 2011 |
New information on the outrageous Harmony instruments |
More Harp Guitar Harmony |
|
January 5th, 2011 |
Patent for a "create-your-own" harp guitar |
Harp Guitar-on-a-Stick |
|
January 2nd, 2011 |
I visit the holy grail |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 5: Taraffo’s Harp Guitar |
|
December 30th, 2010 |
An important new CD of Russian guitar music |
Russian Harp Guitars |
|
December 28th, 2010 |
A couple of odd harp guitar "relatives" |
Dyphones and Other Monsters |
|
December 26th, 2010 |
My first visit with builder/restorer Alberto Giordano |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 4: A Visit to Pio Montanari & Alberto Giordano |
|
December 17th, 2010 |
Some incredible non-harp guitars from Rainer Krause |
Is it Possible To Have TOO Many Strings on a Guitar? |
|
December 11th, 2010 |
Franco Ghisalberti's growing harp guitar collection |
In Search of Genoese Harp Guitars, Part 2: Franco’s Surprise |
|
November 10th, 2010 |
Follow-up to the preceding blog below |
Postcards from the Edge |
|
November 3rd, 2010 |
Again, the title says it all...you figure it out! |
Attack of the Mysterious Gourd-Bodied Snail-Dragon Harp Guitar Thingys |
|
November 1st, 2010 |
Two different designs of the Stahl/Maurer "Goiter Guitar" |
Dumb and Dumber |
|
October 31st, 2010 |
Another incredible harp guitar patent |
Sub-bass Pitch Changing: It’s all in the Feet |
|
October 25th, 2010 |
And another... |
Harp Guitar Funk |
|
October 24th, 2010 |
My first presentation on these bizarre instruments |
Three-part Harmony |
|
October 22nd, 2010 |
Still another unusual patent |
Change the pitch of your sub-bass strings? A plethora of 100-year-old inventions can show you how! |
|
October 9th, 2010 |
New instrument finds from collector Rainer Krause |
More from Rainer |
|
September 28th, 2010 |
The generous collector finds and shares a lot of harp guitar specimens with us |
Collector Rainer Krause |
|
September 24th, 2010 |
Nice to see these still pop up from time to time! |
Two new museum-worthy Lacôtes discovered in as many weeks! |
|
September 21st, 2010 |
A new hollow-arm mandolin maker (Laurenti) is discovered. |
New Find/Historical Maker/Museum Acquisition |
If you enjoyed this article, or found it
useful for research, please consider making a donation to The
Harp Guitar Foundation, |
|
All Site Contents Copyright © Gregg Miner,2004-2020. All Rights Reserved. Copyright and Fair Use of material and use of images: See Copyright and Fair Use policy. |