17-string Jazz Harp Guitar

I built this archtop harp guitar for myself. After attending the first three annual Harp Guitar Gatherings as a luthier, I wanted to attend the fourth as a player! Since I've played electric archtops all my life and love solo jazz guitar, I decided that what I really wanted was a "Jazz Harp Guitar": an archtop electric guitar with sub-basses covering every note in the chromatic scale. This would allow me to play jazz standards in the original keys ("Round Midnight" in Eb minor for instance) and generally handle the shifting key centers of jazz harmony.

The low E of the neck covers E, then the sub-basses are tuned from Eb down to F. I painted the sharp and flat strings black, so the sub string bank looks like a piano keyboard layout, which helps me keep my place among 17 strings. A passive humbucking picks up the neck strings, while an active piezo film pickup in the harp headstock picks up the subs. The pickup signals go out separately so I can add effects and mix to taste.

See pictures from the Third Annual Harp Guitar Gathering