Alan Perlman steel-string Arch Harp Guitar
with detachable super trebles
James Kline's personal instrument!
SOLD

Here is a very rare opportunity! James Kline (below) - master and co-creator of the Arch Harp Guitar is offering for sale his most recent instrument.  This is his third arch guitar, which is strung entirely with steel, and built by master San Francisco luthier, Alan Perlman.  Jim has decided to concentrate solely on his nylon string instrument, leaving this one in the possession of Alan in the States.

It is nearly identical to the nylon-string, which Kline fans know was the instrument Alan built as a variation on Jim's original Gary Southwell arch guitar, to which Alan later added the separate super treble soundbox.  It is quite ingenious!  I was fortunate to have met Jim and examine that instrument to see how they did it.  It starts with an 11-string arch guitar, itself a modern miracle.  Not just a small Baroque-style harp guitar, it has a more lute-like sound, rich with a color quite different from a classical guitar.  The extra bass strings - in this case, floating, unlike most other fully-fretted Arch Guitars (a unique 1980s collaboration/invention of performer Peter Blanchette and luthier Walter Stanul) - are tuned by Jim to in a re-entrant tuning from the neck's E string: B-D-A-G-F#.

When Jim came up with the desire for treble strings, rather than build a completely new instrument, Alan figured out a way to add them as a separate soundbox attachment - leaving the original perfected instrument intact and enabling Jim to continue to travel at will without worrying about fitting the instrument into the overhead compartments (the guitar is in a padded bag, the treble box in a small attaché case).  It fits snuggly to the side of the main body with simple straps holding it securely to the two strap buttons.  Tuning is B to B, and all have sharping levers.

I'm still describing the original nylon instrument that I saw, heard and played.  I recall it being extremely light, and soft but sweet in tone.  On Jim's recordings, volume is of course relative, and it sings with a complex, robust palette (those of you who own "Beyond Six Strings" have heard this).  In live settings, Jim relies on the pickups.

This steel-string instrument similarly has pickups - a Highlander system in the guitar, and a Baggs I-Beam on the harp box.  I have not heard the instrument in person, but expect it is similar to the one I saw.  You can hear how wonderful it is on Jim's Bardou duo recording "A Feather Upon the Shore" - a complete song  of which is presented on Alan's site here.  You simply must listen - it is Jim's only recorded solo on this instrument.

You're back?  Wasn't that incredible?  Now all you need is Jim's ridiculous amount of talent.  He is often just left-hand tapping all the fretted parts while he plays full Celtic melodies on his 8 super-trebles.  The new owner is of course welcome to change tuning to suit their tastes (for instance, the basses could be strung to descend diatonically from the 6th E string, the trebles tuned to a different scale).  Alan would be best to advise on gauges and limitations.

Back to the instrument, which Alan describes thus:

"The guitar's back and sides are Indian rosewood; the neck is Honduras mahogany.  Both guitar and harp are the same woods; the different finish colors were an aesthetic decision.  Fretboard and bridges are Gabon ebony as is the peghead overlay. The Tuners are Stew-Mac 5 Stars.  We wanted this guitar to still have some of the qualities of a baroque guitar and lute. I chose to use a European Spruce soundboard with a hybrid bracing design, utilizing an X-brace with full fan bracing. This necessitated using a pinless bridge design - bridge pins would have penetrated the fan braces. This also worked well for Jim - he was accustomed to the pinless classical guitar bridge and bridge pins would have been a nuisance. The guitar and harp are equipped with Highlander pickups.  The harp is tuned from B (7th fret, 1st string) to an octave above."

It comes with a custom Cedar Creek case for the guitar and a snug attaché case for the treble section.  Condition is like new, other than a few dings and one scratch below the bridge.

Your chance to own a true piece of harp guitar history!

- Gregg Miner, the "harp guitar pope"  

Specifications:

• Top: European Spruce
• Back & Sides: Indian rosewood
• Neck: Honduras mahogany
• Peghead overlay, fretboard & bridges: Gabon ebony
• 24-7/8" scale
• Stew-Mac 5-Star 4:1 tuning machines
• Dimensions: 11-5/8" lower bout, depth 3 1/8” to 3 7/16” , 37 ¼” total length
• Custom Cedar Creek case for guitar, attaché case for treble box
• Price: $PRIVATE SOLD 

CDs & DVDs by Stephen Bennett, John Doan, Muriel Anderson, Andy McKee, Stacy Hobbs, Tom Shinness, Dan LaVoie, James Kline, Larry Berwald, Bill Dutcher, Gregg Miner, Pasquale Taraffo
To learn more about harp guitars, please visit Harpguitars.net
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