Harp Guitar Makers and Restorers

Major Update: 8/7/08

Last Update: 8/24/08

This page features alphabetical listings of professional and amateur luthiers who have built at least one professional quality harp guitar. Historical (pre-1970) luthiers are listed on the Makers page. Modern builders are separated into these loose and broadly defined categories - they are not separated by type or style of instrument, as some build a variety of instruments, while others' designs are difficult to describe!

Dedicated Harp Guitar Luthiers Includes professional and up-and-coming builders who have established a reputation for harp guitars (or beginning to) and/or are serious about offering harp guitar models or commissions. Most have built several instruments.

Occasional, First-Time or Retired Harp Guitar Luthiers Includes newcomers to hobbyists to the finest luthiers in the world. This group has dabbled in the harp guitar world, making one or two instruments. Perhaps some of these will become established repeat builders like those above. Some instruments may now be ancient history, others are brand new (some may still be available). The list includes a few well known harp guitar builders who have since disappeared or retired.

Personal Instrument Harp Guitar Luthiers Includes innovative builders ranging from highly skilled professionals to part time amateurs. They have created instruments for their own use and may or may not build for other clients.

LUTHIERS - please help me keep this page current! Contact me with:

Your latest build
Your web site "Making Of" articles (now listed under each entry; should be fairly detailed, not just a few build process photos)
Your image (if I don't have one, or update it if you've had a makeover)
Updated or improved photos for the Galleries/Luthier page
Updates regarding your status and activities for this page

Featured Harp Guitar Lutherie Article

by Brad Hoyt, August 2008

Featured Harp Guitar Lutherie Article Archives

	Allan Beardsell (Canada) Original design
	Mike Brittain (North Fort Myers, Florida) Dyer copies
	Fred Carlson (Santa Cruz, CA) Harp-Sympitars and one-of-a-kind designs
Fred Carlson: *Making Sound Look Good* by Wade Vonasek Fred Carlson: The New Dream: 39-string acoustic Harp-Sympitar with MIDI-capability (2006) Fred Carlson: *Big Red: A 38-string custom Harp-Sympitar* (2005) Fred Carlson: *The Flying Dream: 39-string acoustic Harp-Sympitar with MIDI capability* (2003) Fred Carlson: *The Harpouditar: A 26-String Guitar/Oud/Zither* (2002) Fred Carlson: *Design and Construction of Oracle, 24-string Harp-Sympitar* (2002) Fred Carlson: *Kali: 12-String Guitar with 2 Added Sub-basses* (2000)
	Davide Castellaro (Italy) Acoustic and electric harp guitars for Paolo Giordano and others
	Kerry Char (Portland, OR) Left-handed Dyer copy and vast experience in restoring harp guitars
	Mike Doolin (Portland, OR) Original designs for Muriel Anderson and others
Mike Doolin: Muriel Anderson's Harp Requinto Mike Doolin: 20-string Harp Guitar Mike Doolin: 17-string Jazz Harp Guitar Mike Doolin: *22-string Double Neck Harp Guitar*
	Michael Dunn (New Westminster, BC Canada) Builds various Knutsen-inspired instruments
	Harry Eibert (Syracuse, NY) Dyer/Knutsen inspired harp guitar, ukes and mando
	Jeffrey Elliott (Portland, OR) Designed John Doan's original 20-string harp guitar, and nylon string harp guitar
	Harry Fleischman (Sebastopol, CA) Original designs
	Fritz Harich (Austria) Schrammel guitars: 2 models
	Jim Hewett (Panorama Village, TX) Dyer variants and originals
	Charles Hoffman (Minneapolis, MN) Dyer copies
Charles Hoffman: Harp Guitar
	Steve Klein (Linden, CA) Electric harp guitars for Michael Hedges and others
	Bernhard Kresse (Cologne, Germany) Restoration and reproductions of Early Romantic era harp guitars
	Pierre Lamour (France) Original harp guitar designs
Pierre Lamour: *Eclose: 17 String Extended Guitar, Cyclopea: 12 String Harp Guitar*
	Lance McCollum (Colfax, CA) Dyer inspired designs
	Merrill & Co. (Williamsburg, VA) Stephen Bennett model and other Dyer copies
	Roland Metzer (Warngau, Germany) Replica of wappen-shaped 1907 Hans Raab
	Benoît Meulle-Stef (Belgium) Builds original harp guitar designs and restores kontragitarres
	Orville and Bob Milburn (Sweet Home, OR) Variants of the Sullivan-Elliott harp guitar
	Morgan Guitars (Everitt, OK) Glen Morgan & daughter Alisa:
	David Newton (Beaumont, TX) Harp mandolins
	Duane Noble (Richland, WA) Contemporary Knutsen/Dyer-inspired harp guitars
	Alan Perlman (San Francisco, CA) "Arch guitars" for James Kline, and similar harp guitars
Alan Perlman: Arch Harp Guitar
	Anthony Powell (Idaho) Knutsen-inspired instruments
	Otto Schneider (Germany) Schrammel guitars
	Stephen Sedgwick (England)Numerous harp guitar designs, modern, reproductions, and in-between. Stephen is also a scholar of the harp guitar's history

Stephen Sedgwick: *Making Harp Guitars* Stephen Sedgwick: *Torres 11 String Copy*
	Seraph Harp Guitars (England) Designer Tony Seeger and luthier Nathan Sheppard created this new design
	Leo Sprenger (Germany) Schrammel guitars: 2 models in different sizes
	Ron Steiger (Ventura, CA) Dyer/Knutsen inspired designs
	Michael Thames (Taos, NM) The "Dresden" - a 13-course theorboed classical guitar
	Mitsuhiro Uchida (Japan) Original designs inspired by John Doan's Sullivan-Elliott
4947-27 Fujisawa Takato-cho, Kamiina-gun, Nagano, JAPAN Post Code: 396-0301 Telephone: 0265-96-2145 Mr. Uchida does not have a PC. His client Morihiko Yasuda has kindly created the above web page for him
	Edgar Vila (Naples, FL) Dyer design for Andy Wahlberg
	Kathy Wingert (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) Harp guitars for Frank Doucette, Stephen Bennett and others
	Steve Wishnevsky (Winston Salem, NC) Highly unusual, simply- constructed designs
	Jim Worland (Rockford, IL) William Eaton lyraharp guitar variations and original designs
Jim Worland: *The Lyraharp Guitar, a 24 string harp guitar* Jim Worland: *A 32 string harp guitar with sympathetic strings*
	Jeffrey Yong (Malaysia) Dyer/Knutsen inspired design for Don Alder and others

Occasional, First-Time or Retired Harp Guitar Luthiers

From newcomers to hobbyists to the finest luthiers in the world, this group has dabbled in the harp guitar world, making one or two instruments. Perhaps some of these will become established repeat builders like those above. Some instruments may now be ancient history, others are brand new (some may still be available). The list includes a few well known harp guitar builders who have since disappeared or retired.

	Arul (India) Composite harp sympathetic guitar
	Alberto Bonafini (Ceneselli, Italy) Original design
	Des Anthony (Australia) Dyer/Knutsen inspired design
	Peter Biffin (NSW, Australia) Modern theorboed guitar
	Julius Borges (Littleton, Mass) "Mini-Harp" Guitar for Emmylou Harris
	Ralph Bown (England) Dyer copy
	R.E. Brune (Chicago, IL) Scherzer restorations and copy for Brian Torosian

	Douglas Ching (Chester, VA) Dyer inspired design
	Cloe Guitars (Italy) Daniele Cardoni and Luca Cesaroni: electric harp guitar
	J. Thomas Davis (Columbus, OH) Dyer copy for Bill Dutcher
	Mark Deering (St. Paul, MN) Original design

Philippe Dubreuille (Bonnatrait, France)

Electric for Ben Harper with 4 short floating basses and sympathetics within the back. Sympathetic guitars for others
Email

	Ellie Erickson Electric harp guitars
	Dave Evans (Brussels, Belgium) Harp guitar for Pierre Bensusan Email
Dave Evans: Pierre Bensusan's 23-String Harp Guitar
	Luciano Faria (São Paulo, Brazil) Reproductions of c.1760 theorboed guitar

Steven Ganz (Bellingham, WA)

11-string classical guitar

	Erik Pierre Hofmann (France) Modern theorboed guitar
	Mark Kaiser Harp guitar for Eric Loy

	Del Langejans (Holland, MI) Dyer/Knutsen inspired design for Muriel Anderson
	Linda Manzer 42-string Pikasso guitars for Pat Metheny and Scott Chinery
	Michihiro (Michi) Matsuda (Oakland, CA) Original design for Michael Simmons
	Joseph Mayes 7th floating D string, a la Lacôte

	Peter McGilton "exotic" electric guitars
	Chris McKenna McKenna Flutes, Inc. 8 Raymond Road Deerfield, NH 03037 Phone 1-603-463-4185 Fax 1-603-463-7230 Email
	Michael Menkevich (Elkins Park, PA) 33-string harp guitar for Fred Vandenberg
	Rich Mermer (Sebastian, FL) Original design

Ralph Novak (San Leandro, CA)

Built Phil DeGruy's electric "Guitarp"

Oakwood Instruments (Leeds, England)

Martyn Banks & Gordon Hewson built this copy of a William Eaton design [with 2 banks of strings on the body] for Indian guitarist Rajan Spolia

Patrick Podpadec (Madison, OH)

"Dreamcaster" for Brian Henke

	Steve Rolig (Santa Fe, NM) Dyer/Knutsen inspired design
	Antonello Saccu (Italy) Built two Gazzo reproduction Italian instruments for Beppe Gambetta
	Michael Sandén (Sweden)
	Jack Sanders (Los Angeles, CA) Lacote decacorde reproduction
	Sandpiper Instruments/John Westling (Coquille, OR)

	Federico Sheppard (Green Bay, WI) 12-course Spanish guitar [3 floating basses] for Peter Lang Email
	Charles Shifflett (Alberta, Canada) Email
	Takahiro Shimo (Tokyo, Japan) Original dual-arm design
	Jeff Sigurdson (British Columbia) Dyer copy
	Ervin Somogyi (Oakland, CA) Original design
	Gary Southwell (Nottingham, U.K.) Scherzer restoration and copy and James Kline's first "archguitar"
	Ron Spillers (Richmond, VA) Dyer harp guitar variants, played by Andy McKee, Dan LaVoie and others 8342 Greenock drive Richmond VA 23235 Phone: (804) 327-3864

	Walter Stanul (Boston, MA)Creator of the arch-guitar for Peter Blancette and others, two of these instruments were in harp guitar form
	John Sullivan (Portland, OR) John Doan's original 20-string harp guitar *John passed away on April 21, 2007. We all will deeply miss him.*
	Dan'l Terry (Austin, TX) Dyer/Knutsen inspired design
	Todd Whaley (St. Louis, MO) Dyer variant (unfinished)
	David White: De Faoite Stringed Instruments (Bucks, England) Original ladder-braced design
David White (De Faoite Stringed Instruments): Making a Harp Guitar
	Glenn Wilson (Australia) Has an instrument based on a design concept by Fred Carlson - with Doolin-like double-cutaways

Steve Wise (Texas)

Dyer-inspired harp guitar and harp-uke

512-282-6418
Email

Personal Instrument Harp Guitar Luthiers

These makers include innovative builders ranging from highly skilled professionals to part time amateurs. They have created instruments for their own use and may or may not build for other clients.

	Bart Applewhite (Phoenix, AZ) Financial manager of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery: electric harp bass
	Tim Donahue (Japan) Built his own electric fretless and fretted harp guitars
	William Eaton (Phoenix, AZ) Director of the Roberto-Venn School of Luthiery, numerous unique harp guitar and related designs
	Mickey Fischer (somewhere in California) Creates his own hybrid harp guitar instruments
	Bart Lawrence (Wenham, MA) Architect and furniture maker who also built a harp guitar
	Doug Whittier