Duane Noble Harp Guitar build

[rogthefrog]

Originally Posted by s2y

Gregg Miner seemed to think Duane Noble (and another guy whose name escapes me) are probably the best bang for the buck.

I suppose we're lucky the price tag is where it's at with Antoine Dufour. Perhaps he's just obscure enough at the moment. I'm well aware what famous musicians do to price tags.

The other guy may be the Powell brothers at ToneDevil guitars. They make very affordable all-solid US made HGs in Idaho. Great dudes, very good musicians, and very passionate about building HGs.

[Teleplucker]

Tony Karol builds a great harp guitar, more in the $8k range. But worth it.

[old6strng]

very nice Jay, very nice!

[s2y]

Originally Posted by rogthefrog

The other guy may be the Powell brothers at ToneDevil guitars. They make very affordable all-solid US made HGs in Idaho. Great dudes, very good musicians, and very passionate about building HGs.

I'll have to take a gander.

Originally Posted by Teleplucker

Tony Karol builds a great harp guitar, more in the $8k range. But worth it.

Gregg Miner seemed to think Duane Noble and Tony Karol were probably the best in the sub $10k range, which is still a lot of money, but appropriate given the amount of skill/labor required. There are a "few" guys out there who charge $10k for a bare bones "normal" handmade acoustic.

[jay7347]

Hey Rog, on the tuners I have to beg ignorance, which I know is rather lame on a custom build. They will be his standard tuners I'm sure. My big deal breaker was having a cutaway, which I couldn't seem to get from the Powell Brothers or Holloway but could with Duane. Add to that the double walled sides, fan fret, bevel etc. etc. and I was sold. Oh and that was before the tone aspect which was right up there with the cutaway. Gregg Miner describes Noble's tone as "buttery". All I know is from the other HG's I listened to the only ones I liked better were in the Greenfield/Wingert class... mucho expensive. I really liked the Karol though and came close to going that way.

The Powell Brothers are, imo, a seriously class act and a strong option to consider for anyone desiring a harp guitar. I really hope to meet them and many other harp guitar players someday at the yearly gatherings.

-jay

[rogthefrog]

I look forward to clips of your HG. Sounds like it will be done just before mine, which is about a month away.

[jay7347]

Roger, first off, heck of a cover of Ragamuffin! Nicely done! Who's doing yours?
-jay

[rogthefrog]

Originally Posted by jay7347

Roger, first off, heck of a cover of Ragamuffin! Nicely done! Who's doing yours?
-jay

Thanks! Kathy Wingert is building mine. It's bigger than her usual shape, with fanned frets and bevels. It's at the finisher now.

[jay7347]

I have no doubt that in your hands it will sound outstanding! Play well! :-)
-jay

[s2y]

Originally Posted by jay7347

Hey Rog, on the tuners I have to beg ignorance, which I know is rather lame on a custom build. They will be his standard tuners I'm sure. My big deal breaker was having a cutaway, which I couldn't seem to get from the Powell Brothers or Holloway but could with Duane. Add to that the double walled sides, fan fret, bevel etc. etc. and I was sold. Oh and that was before the tone aspect which was right up there with the cutaway. Gregg Miner describes Noble's tone as "buttery". All I know is from the other HG's I listened to the only ones I liked better were in the Greenfield/Wingert class... mucho expensive. I really liked the Karol though and came close to going that way.

The Powell Brothers are, imo, a seriously class act and a strong option to consider for anyone desiring a harp guitar. I really hope to meet them and many other harp guitar players someday at the yearly gatherings.

-jay

I can see that a cutaway might take a little extra time. Isn't the body of a harp guitar big enough that a cutaway shouldn't hinder things?

[jay7347]

Hi s2y,
Maybe its lack of sleep but I'm not sure what you mean by "big enough that a cutaway shouldn't hinder things?" Sorry. Do you mean lack of a cutaway hindering things? I wanted a cutaway to extend the tonal range the other way from the sub bass strings. My Lowden drives me nuts on this because I keep drifting to the upper registers and run out of real estate since its a non cutaway. To some folks its a non issue, me, I'm so tempted to do the unthinkable and ask Michael Bashkin, (in nearby Fort Collins), to put a scoop cutaway on my Lowden which would then make me keep her as a lifer.

I know, I'm weird, but that's why the cutaway on the harp guitar.
-jay

[s2y]

LOL, I think we're both a little sleep deprived by the sounds of it. I've only been able to A/B Taylors with and without cutaways. With Taylor, I typically don't want a cutaway. My KR 7 string is more than a little different from a Taylor. It has a cutaway and sounds killer. My general rule of thumb has been that cutaways generally sound better with the next bigger body size and the harp guitar adds more than a little size.

[Teleplucker]

I think every guitar should have a cutaway but that's just me.

[IMG][/IMG]

[jay7347]

Originally Posted by s2y

LOL, I think we're both a little sleep deprived by the sounds of it. I've only been able to A/B Taylors with and without cutaways. With Taylor, I typically don't want a cutaway. My KR 7 string is more than a little different from a Taylor. It has a cutaway and sounds killer. My general rule of thumb has been that cutaways generally sound better with the next bigger body size and the harp guitar adds more than a little size.

Gotcha now. :-) Speaking of cutaways, I really like the Karol take on that issue. Randall's example of the above is such a sweet looking HG.

-jay

[jay7347]

I got an email from Duane last night that the guitar is basically finished, just waiting on the strings to settle down for final intonation tweaks. Looks like early next week for delivery... can't wait!
-jay




http://i840.photobucket.com/albums/z...eHarpfinal.jpg