The Sympathetic Harp is a removable attachment for guitar, which transforms the sound of any type of acoustic guitar by adding a rich natural reverb - similar to a sitar.

Godden Music can provides fully set up Sympathetic Harp Guitars, or we can add a Sympathetic Harp to your own guitar without any structural alteration. (It is fully removable.)

A sympathetic harp is an attachment  in the form of a harp that can be fitted to any acoustic guitar giving the instrument sympathetic string response. When fitted and strung the guitar becomes a sympathetic guitar (sound sample) The sound of the sympathetic response given  by the harp is similar to the sound of a sitar. The guitar can  than be  easily turned into any one of the following instruments by simply retuning, changing string configuration, or changing string action height

The Sympathetic Harp is constructed from select musically resonant hard woods, carbon graphite reinforced polymers. and they come with a studio quality pickup, stainless steel fittings, and tuners of your choice. The Harp is relatively easy to install, requires no structural alteration of the host guitar and is easily removed, leaving the instrument in it's original  unaltered condition. Once installed The Sympathetic Harp is easily be adapted to one these basic instruments types: the standard fretted style, the modal fretted style, the standard slide style. and the modal fretted slide style.

The Sympathetic Harp utilizes the principle of sympathetic resonance to activate the sympathetic strings. When the player plays a note on the main playing strings of the host guitar, the resonating string vibrate the face of the guitar which transfers energy to the sympathetic strings. Our Jawari bridge reacts to the slightest energy in the sympathetic strings. This vibration is fed back acoustically into the face of the guitar, as the same time the jawari bridge converts this energy into an electrical signal which can be amplified.

How much does it cost?

Option One: you send us a guitar and we install a harp to it.
We install a sympathetic Harp to your regularly fretted guitar. The harp cost on your guitar: $1150. The installation is done by Amber Godden, and Kalyan Godden. You ship us your guitar, we fit the sympathetic harp to it and send it back to you (Installation takes 2 weeks). We can  also pick up a guitar of your choosing from local or internet retailers and fit a Sympathetic Harp to it. To have (rhythm strings) Chicaris, Chicari posts, an extra jawari bridge, or  custom made raised nut and saddle, will cost extra.

We would strongly advise against having anyone other than Amber and Kalyan Godden doing the installation, as the harp must be fitted and the Jawari bridge tweaked by a Jawari expert. If the installation is not done correctly, the harp will not work properly.    

Option Two: We offer the harp workshop installed on any Blueridge guitar
We are a distributor of Blueridge Guitars, You can buy the Sympathetic harp shop fitted to a Blueridge guitar: $1795. plus shipping and packing.
 
We have one BR-60CE cut away acoustic/electric guitar  with a Sympathetic harp shop fitted and ready to deliver for $1795 - plus shipping and packing.  This includes all the fittings, a pickup for the sympathetic strings, and Gotoh mini tuners on the harp.

The BR-60CE is a Very Good Guitar. Some of its  features include a  solid spruce top, rosewood back and sides, very clean construction a deep cutaway body an on board Fishman T4 pickup, pre amp, EQ  and volume control factory installed for the main playing strings. This guitar lists in for $850  The link below will bring you to the whole sale distributor's web site so you can view the specs of this guitar in greater detail.
View Br-60-CE

Configurations

A fretted Sympathetic Harp Guitar
 Is a regular fretted guitar on which a sympathetic harp has been installed and the fourteen sympathetic strings are tuned to the equal temperament 12 note octave(ET).  ET is ideal for both chords and melody and any kind of music utilizing equal temperament such as: jazz, rock, pop, classical, bluegrass, to name a few.  With a few minor set-up adjustments the fretted Sympathetic Harp Guitar can  become a sitar guitar/raga  instrument played with a slide - Vina  style.

Modal configuration
Modal guitar sometimes called a Sitar guitar or raga guitar. A regular fretted guitar on which a sympathetic harp has been installed and strung and strung strings tuned in 12 tone equal temperament. This is a normally fretted guitar with the sympathetic strings tuned to the Equal Temperament.  Several of these sympathetics can be  set up to become Chickari or rhythm strings. the result is a guitar that sounds a lot like a sitar or Vina . This set up can be used with tonic modulations and chord sequences as well as fixed tonic modal music , Indian music, and western music experimental music

Hindustani slide configuration or Vina

Vina guitar is a regular steel string acoustic guitar on which a sympathetic harp has been installed, and the strings tuned using the raga scales of Indian music called - the Thats.  The main playing strings are raised with  a higher nut to allow the instrument to be played with a slide. The main playing strings are open tuned and the sympathetic strings are tuned to non tempered intervals ( sometimes referred to as the un tempered scale) or raga intervals. This results in a guitar that sounds a lot like a sitar ,sarod, or Vina, which is ideal for Indian music performance, or any model music form which uses non tempered intervals. The Vina style are often fitted ith Chiakri strings. these are an additional set of three rhythm strings. Unlike sympathetic strings, Chicari strings are struck with a plectrum or by the fingers as and they are usually tuned to the tonal center, the fifth, or the third of the rag being played.

Features

- relatively easily installed, requires no structural alteration of the guitar.

- easily removed, leaving the instrument in its original un altered condition.

- many instruments in one, easily reconfigured to become one of many different instruments.

The Sympathetic Harp comes with a studio quality pickup  pickup and stainless steel fittings.

A basic introduction to the octave.

The musical octave can be divided in to an infinite number of fractional intervals.  However there are only 66 usable musical notes. From these come the 22 main notes called the Just Intonation Scale. Also from these 66 intervals come the 22 Pure Tuning notes (Shrutis) used in classical Indian  music. The divisions that make up the 22 tones of just intonation are simple mathematical fractions:  2/1 = the octave, 3/2 = the fifth, 4/3 = the fourth, 5/4 = the third etc. From these come the fraction sets producing the just Intonation 12 note chromatic octave. From these notes come the seven Greek 8 note modes and the 5 note pentatonic scales.

Below are the 12 note fractions which make up harmonic partials that are common to the Chromatic Just Intonation Scale of C as well as the 12 note Pure Tuning Octave.

All the 22 main tones of the Just intonation Scale are the simplest fractions or harmonic relations to the tonic. These 22 intervals are not exactly the same as the 22 notes used in the 10 Thats of Indian Classical music. The Indian Classical music 22 note octave (called the Pure Tuning Octave) contains several complex fractional notes not found in the Just Intonation scale, and the just intonation scale has intervals not used in the 22 notes of the 10 Thats of India. More information on the10 Thats of India can be found at:  www.perfectthird.com

The Equal Temperament 12 note octave has none of the 22 pure tuning notes, however some are very close - within 2 cents. Others are as much as 14 cents sharp.

The chart below compares an octave of 12 tone Equal temperament with the closest simple set of
12 notes of Pure Tuning

Note	Equal Temperament note names and formulas	12 tone (ET) Equal Temper Ratios	ET Cents	Pure Tuning Shruti Name	Pure Tuning Ratios & Fractions 12 of 22  tones  (Closest to ET)	Pure Tuning Cents of 12 closest tones
C	Tonic	1.00000	0000	SA	1.0000	0000
Db	Minor Second  1	1.05946	100	re	1.0666 = 16/15	111.308
D	Major Second 2	1.12246	200	RE	1.125   = 9/8	203.910
Eb	Minor Third     3	1.18921	300	ga	1.2      = 6/5	315.641
E	Major Third     4	1.25992	400	GA	1.25     = 5/4	386.314
F	Fourth             5	1.33483	500	ma	1.333    = 4/3	498.043
F#	Aug. fourth      6	1.41421	600	MA	1.406  =  45/32	590.224
G	Fifth                7	1.49831	700	PA	1.5       = 3/2	701.995
Ab	Minor Sixth     8	1.58740	800	dha	1.6       = 8/5	813.686
A	Major Sixth     9	1.68179	900	DHA	1.666    = 5/3	884.357
Bb	Minor Seventh 10	1.78180	1000	ni	1.8       = 9/5	1017.596
B	Major Seventh 11	1.88975	1100	NI	1.875    = 15/8	1088.269
C	Octave             12	2.00000	1200	SA	2.0000	1200

North Indian Classical Music - Raga

For information contact us via email:
ambergodden@yahoo.com

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