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Topic: Alkire Eharp |
Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Brad Bechtel
From:
San Francisco, CA
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Posted 29 Jun 2004 8:11 am |
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According to Gruhn's Guide to Vintage Guitars and this web page, this guitar would have been made by Valco in 1959.
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Brad's Page of Steel
A web site devoted to acoustic & electric lap steel guitars
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Ed Naylor
From:
portsmouth.ohio usa, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Jun 2004 4:02 pm
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| I have 2 # T57609 and T18846. They are part of my private collection. Ed Naylor Steel Guitar Works. |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 29 Jun 2004 4:26 pm
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Ed - please tell me more. How are they to play? How do they sound? What tuning(s) do you use? What is their value in your opinion? Did you name yours?
Brad - Thank you so much - you are the man! Your website continues to be an invaluable resource . .
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Rick Alexander
Fender Stringmaster D8, Fender Dual Professional, Fender Champion, Rickenbacker 6 String
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Ed Naylor
From:
portsmouth.ohio usa, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 5:44 am
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| Rick- To be honest with you I haven't ever hooked them up.AS far as a tuning I probably would use my ED Naylor"Accidental" tuning I use for my "Thumbpicking".ED |
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Karl Oberlander
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 1:32 pm
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Rick,
I've been studying the history of Eddie Alkire and the Eharp for a while now as I have what I believe to be the only double 10 Eharp that was made. It was made by Valco in 1954/55. This is dated by the pots. There are no Alkire headstock logos since this was a one off that Eddie had made as an experiment. He never did get the D-10 into production before his demise.
Eddie invented his own tuning for the Eharp and it goes like this:
(high to low or as you would see it from behind the necks in playing position)
E
C#
B
A
G#
G
F#
F
E
C#
As you can see it is nearly a chromatic tuning. Eddie's method required a thumb pick and three finger picks. The tuning was sort of a 6 + 4 setup. That is the high six were used as the melody and the low four were used as bass. I'm still not sure what he was after with the double neck but I imagine it was a shifted tuning to get a bit lower or higher voice. It was not simply an octave difference. The grooves in the nut are the same on both necks so the larger gauges would not work on the second neck.
I've found lots of the original Alkire teaching method sheet music and there are several others around the forum that are experimenting with it. I haven't really learned much of it yet but have the rest of my life I guess.
Check out my website below for pics.
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Gibson D-8 Console Grande - Stringmaster T-8 - Alkire EHarp D-10
Fender Super Reverb
kobe@austin.rr.com
http://home.austin.rr.com/kobeco
[This message was edited by Karl Oberlander on 30 June 2004 at 02:38 PM.] |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 2:43 pm
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Thank you very much Karl - man I could just sit and watch your slide show all night long. Just looking at the D10 gives me chills. What a gorgeous instrument. If my single 10 is half as nice, I'll be happy! 
That double neck Rickenbacker is sweet, too . .
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Rick Alexander
Fender Stringmaster D8, Fender Dual Professional, Fender Champion, Rickenbacker 6 String
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Terry Farmer
From:
Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 2:46 pm
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| Rick, go to the top of the page, right under the "add a reply button", and hit search. Type in Eddie Alkire and you will get a wealth of information on your guitar, tuning, the inventor, etc. Hope this helps. |
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 6:12 pm
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REMOVED
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 28 Feb 2011 7:02 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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chas smith R.I.P.
From:
Encino, CA, USA
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Posted 30 Jun 2004 8:37 pm
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 [This message was edited by chas smith on 30 June 2004 at 09:37 PM.] |
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Karl Oberlander
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 3:11 am
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Michael,
Did the double neck Eharps resemble mine? Or were they more like the Epiphone made model? I've not seen any others myself so I'm curious how many could have been made. Certainly they didn't sell very well. Also there still is the mystery of the second neck stringing. It wouldn't have been the same on both necks though. Why bother with that?
Kobe
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Gibson D-8 Console Grande - Stringmaster T-8 - Alkire EHarp D-10
Fender Super Reverb
kobe@austin.rr.com
http://home.austin.rr.com/kobeco
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Michael Lee Allen
From:
Portage Park / Irving Park, Chicago, Illinois
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 3:41 pm
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REMOVED
Last edited by Michael Lee Allen on 28 Feb 2011 7:05 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Paul Warnik
From:
Illinois,USA
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Posted 1 Jul 2004 6:43 pm
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| Karl O-I too had one of the double neck Alkire E-harps in the "yellow marbloid" "mother of toilet" finish-the second neck came tuned to the Alkire tuning one octave below the standard one |
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Graham Griffith
From:
Tempe, N.S.W., Australia
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Posted 2 Jul 2004 11:37 am
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Rick,
Check your email
Graham |
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 2 Jul 2004 2:20 pm
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Graham - thank you. Those harmonic maps will help a lot - really nice work! And thanks for the great rendition of "Pennies From Heaven" on the Eharp - very impressive!
Well, my Eharp just arrived this morning, and it works great. I tuned it up to the Alkire tuning and tried out some of the charts that Maurie and others have been so kind to send me. I love this instrument!
It didn't come with legs however. It has 5/8" legholes (3 of them), so the standard legs won't fit. If anybody knows where I might find legs for it, please let me know.
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Rick Alexander
Fender Stringmaster D8, Fender Dual Professional, Fender Champion, Rickenbacker 6 String
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Roy Thomson
From:
Wolfville, Nova Scotia,Canada
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Posted 3 Jul 2004 11:21 am
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What is the scale length on these authentic
Eharps? (Measured from where the strings leave the nut and the point where they join the bridge.)
I am interested to know if there may be a difference in this regard depending on the style, manufacturer or model?
Measure up guys and let us know. Just curious!
Roy
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Rick Alexander
From:
Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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