The Humanitar

The Humanitar, a 40-string "Harp-sympitar" built by Fred Carlson, Beyond the Trees, Santa Cruz 2014

Soundboards: German spruce
Neck: Engelmann spruce
Internal support frame: maple laminate
Back: recycled paper shopping bags and aliphatic resin glue
Additional woods--ebony, black acacia, big leaf maple burl, Sitka spruce
Finish: acrylic paint, french polished shellac

"The Humanitar is, in a way, a culmination of ideas I've been exploring for some years; functionally a baritone harp-guitar with sympathetic resonating strings. Creatively, I'm playing around with anthropomorphizing the guitar, which we do all the time, but not to this ridiculous extent. Structurally, I'm breaking many rules here: paper mache back and arms, lots of paint and silliness. But still, ultimately, I'm trying to make something that will be an inspiring musical tool, as well as a source of sonic and visual delight." --Fred Carlson

We needed an outing today after spending way too much time on computer problems (which aren't solved yet, by a long shot). There was a show of work by local luthiers, and off we went, expecting the gallery to be open on Sunday. Turns out they weren't open at all, but serendipitously we got there just as this man arrived--he is instrument builder Fred Carlson, and he was there to tune his wonderful creation, The Humanitar. So they let us in, we got to see the exhibit, and we watched him work with this fascinating instrument. He even offered to show off his matching polka-dot boxer shorts!

And we bought tickets for an upcoming concert featuring this one of a kind piece. All in all a very wonderful break from our technology issues.