any info on Oscar Schmidt Autoharps

[YerDugliness]

WOW, Tony!

Great info!!!

Thanks for posting all of this...it must have been a daunting undertaking. At least now there will be SOMETHING that ought to index due to an online search for OS Autoharps.

CHEERS to you for all your hard work 

Dugly

[Tony Raven]

Not a big effort -- a couple hours spread over a weekend, usually as I'm waiting for dinner to cook.
__________

Before I forget AGAIN: I was told that on the OS 21-bar 'harps, the buttons are separate from the bars, allowing you to move a bar readily to any of the three rows, no matter whether it's major or minor or seventh. Anyone know about this??

Though I really like the "open" look of the ChromAharP 21 system, being able to more freely arrange my bars seems like a HUGE plus....
__________

Though I love the cachet of Oscar Schmidt autoharps, I managed to talk myself into a ChromAharP -- looks like this one:
https://reverb.com/item/3103726-rhythm-band-inc-28-button-chromaharp-trans-cherry-autoharp
A boatload of skinny aluminum bars, cork dampers, & more buttons than a calculator.
__________

FWIW -- Yer D'ness, here's a half-decent OS 21-bar, a mere $145 delivered:
https://reverb.com/item/2769558-oscar-schmidt-autoharp-maple-wood-body
...only half because it needs a new string set & some re-felting, but felt is cheeeep  -- $2/bar from AutoHarpWorks.com, or AutoharpStore.com has official US Music Corp strips at $2.90/foot. Opinions differ as to whether it's best to use little bits (as factory original) or just lay down a whole strip &  notch it.
__________

A crafter friend tells me there might be a source for suitable pressed felt in all sorts of groovy colors. My older OS has a couple of bad bars (looks like a Pepsi-related accident ) so I maybe oughta field-test the stuff, right?

[Tony Raven]

Another interesting collection of alternate tuning structures for autoharp, even the little five-bar.

http://www.echonyc.com/~jhhl/aharpt.html

The first time I've seen reference to "half-height" felting at some positions -- so that a string (or two) can be allowed to ring if you don't shove the bar all the way down.

Some very interesting comments on equal temperament vs. just temperament... something us fret-jockeys rarely encounter. Also fun brain-hurting bits such as

I have another 21 chord Schmidt that is set up to be tuned in a just intonation based on F ... a 5-limit just scale built on 3/2 (perfect fifth) and 5/4 (major third) and their inversions 4/3 (perfect fourth) and 8/5 (minor third).

Enjoy!!

[Tony Raven]

Here's a side trip to show a two-piece 'harp pickup system. This is a 1967 Cutlass by Summit. But you may also notice the little "®" thingie, so I can only wonder whether they licensed something from OS, or if this is an OS spinoff so as not to upset their Appalachian base with all that hippie electrical stuff.



Each pickup has its own output -- which is kinda cool for someone with a heavy thumb to send the bass for its own mix -- or you can put the switch in the center to run both together. May also be a solid-body, or at least no soundholes. Incidentally, it sold last year for $449.

While it's there, I thought I'd note how the previous owner had the bars laid out --