Harp Guitar
Region: Europe · Family: Lute · Date: 18th century CE · Strings: typically 6 fretted + 4–8 open “harp” strings
Overview
The harp guitar is a guitar with one or more additional strings that lie outside the main fingerboard. These extra strings are usually plucked as open bass or treble notes, much like the open strings on a harp, which is why the instrument carries “harp” in its name.
History
Harp guitars first appeared in the late 18th century, particularly in Austria, France, and Italy. Early examples include French experimental guitars from the 1770s–1790s, and 19th-century instruments by makers such as Georg Stauffer, whose designs influenced C. F. Martin. These instruments were popular with salon and parlour musicians who wanted a broader bass range without carrying a second instrument. Gibson had 4 models of harp guitar in their very first catalog.
Through the 19th and early 20th centuries, luthiers experimented wildly: extra necks, hollow arms, floating bass banks, and even multiple sets of extra strings. The form never fully standardized and faded from mainstream use, but was revived in the late 20th century by fingerstyle guitarists exploring extended tunings and lush open-string textures. This particular harp guitar was made in North Carolina by Steve Wishnevsky in the 1990s.
Construction
The heart of the harp guitar is a normal guitar body and neck, usually with six fretted strings. Attached to, or growing out of, this main body is a secondary structure that supports extra open strings:
- Sub-bass strings (most common): extra low strings that extend the bass range.
- Floating treble or mid-range strings: sometimes added above or beside the main neck.
- Support structures: hollow arms, second necks, or harp-like frames that carry extra tuners and anchor points.
American harp guitars often feature a hollow arm or extension on the bass side of the body. European instruments may have double necks or lyre-shaped frames. The extra strings usually run over their own nut and rest on a separate bridge or shared bridge segment on the soundboard.
Terminology Notes
- Unstopped strings: strings that are not pressed down against a fretboard; they are played as open strings only.
- Sub-bass strings: extra low strings below the usual 6th string range.
- Floating strings: strings that do not run along the main neck and are not fretted.
Accuracy Notes / Scholarly Debate
- There is no single “first” harp guitar. Some authors credit a French harp maker named Naderman around 1773; others point to a broader set of experimental instruments in the late 18th century with similar concepts.
- The category “harp guitar” is organological rather than historical: any guitar with extra unstopped strings qualifies, even if the maker never used that term.
- Not all extended-range guitars (e.g. 7- or 8-string guitars with all strings on the same neck) are harp guitars; the extra strings must lie outside the main fingerboard.