It was only a matter of time!
South Africa’s Mervyn Davis, who some of you may have seen at Healdsburg or the GAL conventions (or elsewhere) has been building innovative instruments for almost 40 years. He has two distinct websites – Mervyn Davis for his “normal” work (all highly individual and fascinating) and Smoothtalker for his most recognizable creation, guitars like nothing else.
They seem to be growing in popularity – perhaps harp versions will also?
I’d heard something about him eventually trying this – Benoit just sent me this link to Mervyn’s Facebook photos. It appears to be in 13-string lute (5+8) tuning, with nylon strings for Baroque music (or other) guitarists.
I’ve just added Mervyn to the Luthier page and will put this first instrument into the Form 1a Gallery.
Fascinating – hope I get a chance to play one someday!