What in the world? Are you telling me that I missed a harp guitar patent for this site?! Actually, no. But for a moment, it sure seemed like I did!
In early 2026, an instrument surfaced in London at the Gardiner-Houlgate auction house and soon made the rounds on a few Facebook Groups. Speculation was typical for this type of thing:
“You don’t see many harp tenor guitars these days.”
“I can only describe as a six-string tenor guitar, or I guess a harp-tenor or extended range tenor?”
“I don’t wholly understand the thought process with this one, as the two ‘extra’ strings are the same scale length as the four main ones, so it doesn’t really seem to offer any advantage over just playing a six-string guitar.”
“Two strings are not frettable so they are drone strings.”
Well, it was none of the above and the truth of it is even stranger! Read my in-depth article on this fascinating invention:
The Len Shevill Patent Combination Guitar
