# The Most Amazingest/Stoopidest Guitar Ever **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 25, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985 "2014-04-25T20:14:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/1 "2014-04-25T20:14:44Z")
> **[The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum-Attention John Thomas: here's a harp...](https://umgf.com/attention-john-thomas-here-s-a-harp-guitar-you-hav-t159493.html)** > > Saw this on the Lark Street site… That’s a link to the Vintage Guitar Forum, where someone posted a thread calling for the attention of John Thomas, a guitar scholar and collector of old-time harp guitars - which are what they sound like: a guitar with a bunch of harp-ish strings that extend above and/or below the normal six strings of a guitar. But - that link shows this hilarious monstrosity: a Gibson Explorer harp guitar that he found at Lark St. Music in New Jersey. Someone clearly had too much time on their hands 😉 Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![randompattern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@randompattern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randompattern)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/2 "2014-04-25T20:20:30Z")
The guitar itself is ridiculous, I wonder how long it took just to make the case it’s in. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/3 "2014-04-25T20:25:08Z")
I’m not sure that’s more ridiculous than the [Pikasso](http://www.killuglyradio.com/hot-poop/wp-content/pikasso_guitar.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/4 "2014-04-25T20:37:25Z")
Steroids are not a good substitute for packing peanuts when shipping musical instruments. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/5 "2014-04-25T20:39:57Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > I’m not sure that’s more ridiculous than the [Pikasso](http://www.killuglyradio.com/hot-poop/wp-content/pikasso_guitar.jpg). Neither is LSD. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/6 "2014-04-25T20:44:53Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > [Attention John Thomas: here's a harp guitar you haven't played (yet) - The Unofficial Martin Guitar Forum](http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.yuku.com/topic/159493/Attention-John-Thomas-s-harp-guitar-havent-played) > > That’s a link to the Vintage Guitar Forum, where someone posted a thread calling for the attention of John Thomas, a guitar scholar and collector of old-time harp guitars - which are what they sound like: a guitar with a bunch of harp-ish strings that extend above and/or below the normal six strings of a guitar. > > But - that link shows this hilarious monstrosity: a Gibson Explorer harp guitar that he found at Lark St. Music in New Jersey. Someone clearly had too much time on their hands 😉 > > Enjoy. I don’t see any frets on it, and it looks like it would be tough to finger the notes fretlessly, as it were. Maybe it’s meant to be played like a harp, open strings only, and is tuned accordingly. I’ve heard [this guy](http://jmjego.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/lenti_with_theorbo_s_web.jpg) play, and he’s good. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/7 "2014-04-25T21:11:50Z")
I thought the headless Steinberger was bizarre. But the ones posted in this thread are stranger. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/8 "2014-04-25T21:30:28Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > But - that link shows this hilarious monstrosity: a Gibson Explorer harp guitar that he found at Lark St. Music in New Jersey. Someone clearly had too much time on their hands 😉 > > Enjoy. Didn’t Mr. Spock play one of those? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/9 "2014-04-25T21:42:21Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I don’t see any frets on it, and it looks like it would be tough to finger the notes fretlessly, as it were. Maybe it’s meant to be played like a harp, open strings only, and is tuned accordingly. > > I’ve heard [this guy](http://jmjego.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/lenti_with_theorbo_s_web.jpg) play, and he’s good. OK - give us details. I need to hear this. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/10 "2014-04-25T21:47:25Z")
I sort of have to admire the effort that went into building that sucker, presuming it works. Think about constructing the pickup bobbins and then winding them. Still, the whole thing is anything but a good idea for a playable instrument. It’s only value is that of a curiosity. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/11 "2014-04-25T22:02:26Z")
Imagine the sustain. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/12 "2014-04-25T22:19:46Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > OK - give us details. I need to hear this. I saw him with a quartet called the I-90 Collective that played mostly baroque and early classical. The instrument is called a [theorbo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theorbo). It’s kind of a lute with additional, closely-tuned bass strings that are only played open. I gather it peaked in popularity a few hundred years ago, and is pretty darn rare these days. Here’s a [demo video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmhmKUXxRlE) that I found. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/13 "2014-04-26T05:27:15Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I saw him with a quartet called the I-90 Collective that played mostly baroque and early classical. The instrument is called a [theorbo](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theorbo). It’s kind of a lute with additional, closely-tuned bass strings that are only played open. I gather it peaked in popularity a few hundred years ago, and is pretty darn rare these days. > > Here’s a [demo video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmhmKUXxRlE) that I found. Awesome. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/14 "2014-04-26T11:14:48Z")
I’m pretty sure **Le Ministre** knows someone who plays theorbo and has played one himself. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/15 "2014-04-26T14:01:22Z")
Well, harp guitars have been around for a while. They’re oddities now, but they were established. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/16 "2014-04-26T14:07:44Z")
I met a guy who played theorbo. [Here’s some music](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG4LFlhwSLQ) played on harp guitar. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2014, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-amazingest-stoopidest-guitar-ever/686985/17 "2014-04-27T02:21:40Z")
Don’t forget this monstrosity: :D