Gibson Style U Model Harp Guitar (1916), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 34614, sunburst top, dark cherry stained back and sides finish, birch back and sides, spruce top; magogany neck with rosewood fingerbord, black hard shell case.
Of all the greater glories of Gibson, the Style U harp guitar is one of the most impressive -- visually, at least! For many years this multi-string behemoth topped the company's line, providing sonic underpinning for the mandolin orchestras that were the main outlet for Gibson products. In the 1900s "aught years", the Gibson company was full of new ideas, being the most radical and successful instrument innovator of the time. They offered several styles of harp-guitar from their beginnings in 1903, but soon settled on this one model -- the Style U.
While in 1917 guitars were still less important sales-wise to the company than the mandolin family, they made considerable advertising capital out of the harp guitar, certainly their most impressive looking instrument. It typically got a double-page spread in the centerfold of the catalogs, described as the "elevator to success" and the "piano" of the guitar world, all others being now "harpsichords" and doomed to extinction. In 1916-17 this guitar was offered to Gibson's teacher-agents at a "net" price of $140-150, not counting the case which added another around $15-25.00. "Responsible parties" could obtain one on credit for $10 down and $5 a month; by the time it was paid off presumably the technique for playing it would have been mastered!
For their Style U masterpiece, Gibson used their at-the-time proprietary hand-carved arched top on an 18 1/2" wide asymmetrical oval-hole body with a long solid arm extension above the neck carrying the peg tuners for 10 sub-bass strings on a large curved wooden block. These strings were intended to be tuned chromatically down from G#; a very different practice from most others. This system was credited to Walter A. Boehm, "one of the most competent Harp-guitarists in America" as per the company. The idea was to have a bass note readily available in any key, allowing wider voicings and freeing the player from the typical "guitar-friendly" keys.
Gibson's ads enumerated the advantages of their harp-guitar against "the best of the old construction", i.e. a flat top. "Long sub-basses are retained to give bigness of the foundation tones" offering "An open bass for every chord…eliminates long reaches…the flat keys…as easy as the favorite keys" and concluding with the admonition to "Write for Harp-Guitar treatise", which presumably explained more about how to actually play the instrument.
This Style U dates to 1916 and has typical features for the period, with a single-bound deep reddish-brown sunburst finished carved spruce top on a dark stained birch body. The high maple bridge has an ebony cap. The very elaborate tailpiece has two trapeze sections but a single celluloid pin block to hold the strings. Internally there are stout longitudinal braces running the length of the body. The neck is big and chunky, typical for Gibson in this period with a hard "V" profile and bound ebony fingerboard. The sub-bass strings are tuned with a zither-style wrench, which fortunately is still present in the custom-made hardshell case.
While the Gibson harp-guitars are not generally considered the sonic equals of the Larson-built Dyers that were their primary competitors, the Style U is one of the most visually impressive and imposing fretted instruments ever made, and does have a sound all its own. This one is set up to play (although you'll have to figure out how to use the harp strings yourself!) and is the best sounding example of the mid-teens version of this glorious beast we have had.
Overall length is 46 in. (116.8 cm.), 18 1/2 in. (47 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
Just around its 110th birthday this Style U shows some signs of use but is still relatively well-preserved overall. There are no visible cracks or major repairs, which is unusual for this model where a multi-laminated heel block makes neck heel cracks almost ubiquitous. All hardware appears original and complete except the tortoise celluloid pickguard is not mounted; it is included but missing the forward bracket and its mounting spur, with the rear bracket lost as well but the celluloid arm intact. The metal bearing block for the harp strings appears to have been moved upwards at some point, as there is another set of holes for the spacing pins visible below its bottom edge. The lower edge of the top has a small binding repair.
The original finish is darker and more sedate than some with fine micro-checking overall and generally fairly light wear including scratches, scrapes and dings on most surfaces. There are some light pickmarks on the top and some spots have been discreetly touched up but this is inconspicuous. The headstock has some checking to the veneer but is not crumbling, there is some wear to the back of the neck.
The bone nut appears replaced but the frets look original and in very good shape. Everything works as intended and the ebony bridge had been subtly re-contoured to make the action more friendly to a modern player. This is a very playable guitar with a better sound than many, complete in a custom-made shaped hard shell case that must have cost a small fortune 30 or more years ago! Overall Excellent - Condition.
