GUITARTECH
Lots of Strings Attached
I love my six strings, I really do. I never
pine for more, not even a seventh. In fact,
most of us are okay with six, but some
people just have to break new boundaries
and head into the unknown. I have joyfully
experienced a number of these musicians
and their seemingly crazy quest to make
music with bunches of strings, although
three seem to separate themselves from
the pack with their unique guitars and
music. The music is certainly worth checking out, but the technical aspects of these
axes will simply blow your mind.
Next is the harp guitar. The definition of
a harp guitar goes something like this, “a
guitar, in any of its accepted forms, with
any number of additional unstopped strings
that can accommodate individual plucking.”
These instruments have a separate and distinct category within the guitar family. In this
case, the word “harp” is now a specific reference to the unstopped open strings; not a
specific reference to the tone, pitch range,
volume, silhouette similarity, construction,
floor-standing ability, or any other harplike qualities. To qualify in this category, an
instrument must have at least one unfretted
Paul McGill classical guitar, though a Del
Langejans steel-string harp guitar has made
its way into her performances and the CDs
Journey Through Time and Harp Guitar
Christmas. More recently, she has added a
Mike Doolin nylon-string harp guitar to her
arsenal. Muriel’s arrangements and compositions cover a wide stylistic range. Her
teachers have included Chet Atkins and
Christopher Parkening.
At the top of
the list is the
Pikasso. Its
name is ostensibly derived
from its likeness
in appearance
to the cubist
works of Pablo
Picasso. The
one pictured
belongs to Pat
Metheny, one
of the most
famous jazz
guitar players
of our time. In
Pat’s hands, this
guitar is not
just for show.
He works the
daylights out of
this thing. The
Pikasso guitar
was built for
him by luthier
Linda Manzer in 1984 and it has 42 strings.
This 42-string beast with three necks has
been popularized by Pat and can be heard
on his song “Into the Dream” and on the
albums Quartet, Imaginary Day, Jim Hall
& Pat Metheny, Trio Live, and Metheny
Mehldau Quartet his 2007 second collaboration with pianist Brad Mehldau. The
guitar can also be seen on the Speaking
of Now Live and Imaginary Day DVDs.
Metheny has also used the guitar in his
guest appearances on other artists’ albums
and on a Jazz TV show, Legends of Jazz,
where he referred to it simply as a 42-
string guitar. I wonder how often those
strings get changed.
Pat Metheny’s 42-string Pikasso guitar
Photo: Brian Pickell
string lying off the main fretboard.
My friend Muriel Anderson was the first
person to really hip me to the harp guitar and she is a true ambassador for the
instrument. Muriel is an artist with a slew
of CDs, videos, and instructional books to
her credit. She’s logged many miles on the
road and one of her CDs has even traveled
as far as outer space, accompanying shuttle astronauts on a mission. She won the
National (USA) Fingerpicking Championship
in 1989 and remains the only woman ever
to hold that title. She founded the Music
for Life Alliance and is host and founder
of Muriel Anderson’s All Star Guitar Night
concert series. Her main instrument is a
Lastly, I couldn’t resist the three neck
anomaly owned and played by Steve Vai.
Just when you thought that the double-neck
used by Jimmy
Page was almost
too much, we find
the triple-neck.
One 12-string
neck, one regular
six-string neck
and a fretless
neck make up
this guitar. It must
hurt just to hold
it. Steve wanted
to use it on the
Sex and Religion
tour, but it was
too much of a
hassle to carry,
mostly because of
its fragility. Triple
neck guitars are
still rare because
they’re huge,
heavy, expen-
sive and gener-
ally pointless, but
Missy Elliot has her
Lamborghini bed and Lil Jon has his jewel
encrusted crunk cup, so hey, why not a
triple neck guitar?
So, if you’re tired of your mundane set of
six strings, check out these voyages into
the final frontier. Listen to the previously
mentioned recordings and try to lay your
hands on one. You’ll be weirder – I mean
better – for it.
Rick Wheeler
Rick Wheeler currently works as Larry Carlton’s guitar
tech and front of house engineer. He is also an accom-
plished jazz guitarist, vocalist, and educator.
You can contact Rick at rickwheeler@hughes.net
