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Jeff, What's about the independent left/right-hand technique (Awesome !) that Tim Donahue uses on his HarpGuitar ? Are you able to play melody on the fingerboard whithout right hand picking ? If I say this, it's because it seems so difficult (for me) to do that kind of technic on a fretless neck.
TD Signature Harp Guitar
#31
- Unknown Gaggle
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Posted 03 January 2011 - 01:20 AM
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#32
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Posted 03 January 2011 - 09:43 AM
cchhrriisstt, on 03 January 2011 - 01:20 AM, said:
Jeff, What's about the independent left/right-hand technique (Awesome !) that Tim Donahue uses on his HarpGuitar ? Are you able to play melody on the fingerboard whithout right hand picking ? If I say this, it's because it seems so difficult (for me) to do that kind of technic on a fretless neck.
Well.... The right hand picks away at the harp strings and the left hand plays the fingerboard with hammer-ons, pull-offs (Missus!) and any other tricks you can think of.
The melody can be played with the left hand only (without picking) it just takes a bit of practice.
Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.
#33 Guest_TD_*
Posted 03 January 2011 - 03:23 PM
Jahloon and Unfretted members,
Gee, I like the idea of installing a sustainer on the harp strings!
You could get a very Indian-like drone from the harp and expand
your musical world even further.
Also, a Roland VG-series unit works great with the fretless side of the guitar,
so I'm sure it would work as well on the harp side too. But because the harp string
spacing varies along their length, a GK pickup would need to be positioned at the point
on the body where the pole pieces line up directly under the harp strings.
Not difficult though-
One could measure the spacing on the GK pickup and easily determine where the GK pickup
should be mounted.
Yes Christophe, the fretless side is designed to be played with the left hand only,
and this technique takes practice as Jahloon said. But it's definitely worth it!
Jahloon, since I can't give lessons directly to you, I'll be sending
a lot of unreleased fretless HG tracks that I've done over the years,
and will explain the techniques that were used to make that music.
Record companies could never figure out what to do with those tracks,
so now they serve as good instructional tools.
That said, if I may, I'll spill the beans about the next option
I'd like to make available on my Signature Harp Guitars:
About 20 years ago, I added small brass "frets" to the head of the HG,
one under each harp string. Fingering the string on the fret (with the left hand)
raised the string's pitch a half-step.
Because of the endless combinations of open harp strings and fretted
harp strings, this simple modification opened up a whole new world of melodic
and chordal possibilities, on the harp side alone!
So for a while, I recorded with only the harp side of the guitar,
to see what music could be made. It was so much fun. I'll send this
recording to you Jahloon.
This is the next option I'd like to make available in the future
on my Signature Harp Guitars. It will be a one piece brass bar,
mounted under the harp strings, and will look like the brass bridge
currently used on the head. Since it can be easily screwed under
the harp strings, it will also be available as a retro-fit.
Anyway, thanks for the ideas and feedback!
Happy New Year To All,
Tim Donahue
Gee, I like the idea of installing a sustainer on the harp strings!
You could get a very Indian-like drone from the harp and expand
your musical world even further.
Also, a Roland VG-series unit works great with the fretless side of the guitar,
so I'm sure it would work as well on the harp side too. But because the harp string
spacing varies along their length, a GK pickup would need to be positioned at the point
on the body where the pole pieces line up directly under the harp strings.
Not difficult though-
One could measure the spacing on the GK pickup and easily determine where the GK pickup
should be mounted.
Yes Christophe, the fretless side is designed to be played with the left hand only,
and this technique takes practice as Jahloon said. But it's definitely worth it!
Jahloon, since I can't give lessons directly to you, I'll be sending
a lot of unreleased fretless HG tracks that I've done over the years,
and will explain the techniques that were used to make that music.
Record companies could never figure out what to do with those tracks,
so now they serve as good instructional tools.
That said, if I may, I'll spill the beans about the next option
I'd like to make available on my Signature Harp Guitars:
About 20 years ago, I added small brass "frets" to the head of the HG,
one under each harp string. Fingering the string on the fret (with the left hand)
raised the string's pitch a half-step.
Because of the endless combinations of open harp strings and fretted
harp strings, this simple modification opened up a whole new world of melodic
and chordal possibilities, on the harp side alone!
So for a while, I recorded with only the harp side of the guitar,
to see what music could be made. It was so much fun. I'll send this
recording to you Jahloon.
This is the next option I'd like to make available in the future
on my Signature Harp Guitars. It will be a one piece brass bar,
mounted under the harp strings, and will look like the brass bridge
currently used on the head. Since it can be easily screwed under
the harp strings, it will also be available as a retro-fit.
Anyway, thanks for the ideas and feedback!
Happy New Year To All,
Tim Donahue
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Posted 03 January 2011 - 03:59 PM
TD, on 03 January 2011 - 03:23 PM, said:
Gee, I like the idea of installing a sustainer on the harp strings!
You could get a very Indian-like drone from the harp and expand
your musical world even further.
You could get a very Indian-like drone from the harp and expand
your musical world even further.
Thought about it but don't know how controllable it would be - a sustainer left to its own devices seeems to concentrate on a single string predominently, leaving the others in the background.
TD, on 03 January 2011 - 03:23 PM, said:
Also, a Roland VG-series unit works great with the fretless side of the guitar,
so I'm sure it would work as well on the harp side too. But because the harp string
spacing varies along their length, a GK pickup would need to be positioned at the point
on the body where the pole pieces line up directly under the harp strings.
Not difficult though-
One could measure the spacing on the GK pickup and easily determine where the GK pickup
should be mounted.
so I'm sure it would work as well on the harp side too. But because the harp string
spacing varies along their length, a GK pickup would need to be positioned at the point
on the body where the pole pieces line up directly under the harp strings.
Not difficult though-
One could measure the spacing on the GK pickup and easily determine where the GK pickup
should be mounted.
Thought about this too... the GK pickup needs to be mounted about 3/4 inch away from the bridge, and the harp guitar has not got one, so the option would be to mount six individual pickups 3/4 inch away from each tuner. Alternatively, mount the pickup near the head, but then the strings are too widely spaced, and there is Tim's extra fret coming along.
If you do surmount these probs you open up a world of alternate tunings with a VG-88 or VG-99, even down to pedal operated retuning of individual harp strings as featured somewhere on UNfretted's main site.
TD, on 03 January 2011 - 03:23 PM, said:
Jahloon, since I can't give lessons directly to you, I'll be sending
a lot of unreleased fretless HG tracks that I've done over the years,
and will explain the techniques that were used to make that music.
Record companies could never figure out what to do with those tracks,
so now they serve as good instructional tools.
a lot of unreleased fretless HG tracks that I've done over the years,
and will explain the techniques that were used to make that music.
Record companies could never figure out what to do with those tracks,
so now they serve as good instructional tools.
Look forward to hearing them Tim, could really do with the second chapter on technique!
Best, Jah
Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.
#35 Guest_TD_*
Posted 03 January 2011 - 04:41 PM
Music coming your way Jahloon!
P.S. Yes, it's common to mute strings when using a sustainer pickup,
but if, for example, the harp strings were tuned in unisons/fifths,
the total effect of six harp strings droning could be AWESOME...
P.S. Yes, it's common to mute strings when using a sustainer pickup,
but if, for example, the harp strings were tuned in unisons/fifths,
the total effect of six harp strings droning could be AWESOME...
#36
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Posted 17 January 2011 - 05:45 PM
Well..... there is now a review page for the fretloess harp guitar.
Link at the bottom of every page on Unfretted.
Link at the bottom of every page on Unfretted.
Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.
#37 Guest_TD_*
Posted 18 January 2011 - 03:05 AM
Very nice Jahloon, thank YOU for enjoying the instrument so much.
BTW, for players interested in the new TD harp guitars, I still have a few models in stock-
One in Wine Red finish and a few natural finish models. Next week I'll post detailed
pictures of each guitar on www.timdonahue.com/harpguitars.html
Also, due to the yen/US dollar exchange rate situation, we must announce a price increase
starting from this April. So, if a player is interested in one of the in stock HGs,
the best time to get one would be before then.
Some insider news for my mates at Unfretted.com
Best Always,
TD
BTW, for players interested in the new TD harp guitars, I still have a few models in stock-
One in Wine Red finish and a few natural finish models. Next week I'll post detailed
pictures of each guitar on www.timdonahue.com/harpguitars.html
Also, due to the yen/US dollar exchange rate situation, we must announce a price increase
starting from this April. So, if a player is interested in one of the in stock HGs,
the best time to get one would be before then.
Some insider news for my mates at Unfretted.com
Best Always,
TD
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Posted 24 January 2012 - 11:48 PM
Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.
#39
- Lesser Gaggle
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Posted 25 January 2012 - 05:08 AM
jahloon, on 24 January 2012 - 11:48 PM, said:
My God Almighty you own that? It is the prettiest one of them all.
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Posted 25 January 2012 - 04:00 PM
Newbie Brad, on 25 January 2012 - 05:08 AM, said:
My God Almighty you own that? It is the prettiest one of them all.
'Fraid so Brad, it looks even better in the flesh and sounds amazing...
Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.
#41
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Posted 25 January 2012 - 08:01 PM
I will get mine in few days !! That's true this green harp guitar is so beautiful.
Tim has put some harp guitar fretless songs here, he is an amazing player !! :
Tim has put some harp guitar fretless songs here, he is an amazing player !! :
www.lesmouvements.com
#42
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Posted 09 February 2012 - 12:08 PM
I get mine now for 3 days !!
As Jeff said, it's an amazing instrument with full of possibilities. It needs to work, but I will and I'll try to post a video in few month. A new way to play music !!
As Jeff said, it's an amazing instrument with full of possibilities. It needs to work, but I will and I'll try to post a video in few month. A new way to play music !!
www.lesmouvements.com
#43
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Posted 09 February 2012 - 02:16 PM
Congrats Christ!
Is it green????
Is it green????
Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.
#44
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Posted 09 February 2012 - 09:21 PM
Sorry Jeff, I guess you wont be the only one with a green one 
The difference is mine has got fret markers on the side of the neck like on Surfreter or Godin.
The difference is mine has got fret markers on the side of the neck like on Surfreter or Godin.
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#45
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Posted 09 February 2012 - 09:47 PM
Oh well, its not easy being green
I've been playing around with a GK3 pickup and driving through a VG99 feeding the harp side through one channel and the main through the other.
This is good for quickly changing tunings, but I've yet to find a really good patch for the finger-touch style needed to play two handed.
J
I've been playing around with a GK3 pickup and driving through a VG99 feeding the harp side through one channel and the main through the other.
This is good for quickly changing tunings, but I've yet to find a really good patch for the finger-touch style needed to play two handed.
J
Play the blues guitar with your soul, but play the fretless guitar with your spirit.
