A Combined “Featured Luthier & Player” 3-Part Series
Many years ago, I received an order for harp guitar sub-bass strings from a new customer. This was in a period when new builders and players were still rare – a time when I Googled each and every customer to see if I could learn something about them before replying. (Sadly, no longer practical these days, with the hundreds of new customers each year.)
The email of this particular customer intrigued me: info@thefretboardexplorer. Who, what, and where was the Fretboard Explorer?
Visiting his intriguing web site, I couldn’t seem to find his name, and indeed, he is a most humble individual. But over the years, I got to know Rich Eberlen better – as a clever and extremely practical inventor, as a builder of his many inventions and experimental instruments, and finally, as a very talented and wonderfully versatile player and composer. I’ll be discussing both his luthier creations and his music further in an additional three PDF articles, as there is so much to cover!
A resident of Waxahachie, Texas, Rich works in IT for a marketing research company during the day and gives guitar lessons at his local Guitar Center in the evenings. In-between, he dreams up invention after invention, designing and building prototypes, then putting them into production.
But those are just the normal ones he offers for sale. When he really finds some extra spare time, he goes crazy, imagining and building additional incredible instruments for his own enjoyment and musical experiments. He loves these one-off creations and custom jobs, so I would guess that if you could dream something up, Rich could figure out a way to affordably build it for you!
I asked him about his music experiences and credits, and here’s what he had to say:
“I’ve been playing guitar for more than 35 years. During that time, I served in the United States Air Force, playing guitar in the band program for over 10 years beginning in 1990. With the Air Force, I played in a variety of ensembles including their Rock, Country and Jazz bands which toured the Southwest. I studied Classical guitar under Gerald Klickstein and Jazz guitar under Matt Dunne at the University of Texas at San Antonio in the early 1990s. I hold 5 design patents for inventions geared toward guitarists and also teach guitar.”
When I heard about his patents (link below), I did a search and found his “Solene” from 1994, along with his first four “guitar modification” inventions from 2013-2018. Congratulations on these, Rich!
It was the 2013 series of “string supports and attachments” that also saw the start of his web and trade show business, the Fretboard Explorer. So, let me give that a serious plug, for no other reason than that I see an incredible potential service and value – and option – for anyone currently among, or wishing to join, the ever-growing world of harp guitar players.
Inexplicably, we still don’t see too many players using his inventions, and – having now experienced one firsthand – I think it’s time to make more players aware. I am especially hoping to reach six-string players.
Before you waste your money on one of those Amazon K-tone harp guitars, which even if you can get it to intonate, will still be problematic if it stays in tune and won’t sound very good…why not make a functioning harp guitar out of your very own favorite high end 6-string guitar?!
I’m not kidding. For half the price of a K-tone, you can add sub-basses to your currently existing steel-string or classical guitar. When it arrives (shipped for free), you can install it in less than a minute.
If you want to try super-trebles, you can add those as well (Rich’s unit is less than, and completely different from, the Brunner Muriel Trebles).
Did I mention that Rich loves doing custom creations for players?
I’d like to continue my exploration into Rich’s world now with three separate PDF articles, complete with how-to photos, videos, and lots of music.
Part 1: The Harp Rail and Other Fascinating Inventions of Rich Eberlen, the Fretboard Explorer!
Part 2: The World’s First Modern Baritone Harp Guitar
Part 3: The Amazing Modern Stoessel-Lute Inventions of Rich Eberlen
