The 9-string Fanned Fret Harp Guitar:

Some Archived Alternative Plan Drawings (unbuilt)

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This rough draught (unused) for the new 2016 9-string Fanned Fret Harp Guitar has only a 10-centimeter fan, and the high A4 string measures 62 centimeters, instead of 60 centimeters as will actually be built. Otherwise this is very similar to the drawing Jack took to Paracho for Castillo (the luthier) to review and revise in January 2016.

There are some missing details, such as the necessary reinforcing bars between the soundhole and the neck.
This 8 string would have been a variation on the Brahms Guitar, with a somewhat wider fan. It is very similar to what the actual 2013 Prototype became after I removed the low F#1 string and converted the prototype to an 8-string in late 2015.
This 9 string had a longer fan, too wide to be manageable in my estimation. Note the extreme angle of the frets in first position.

I made quite a number of drawings of designs in this general class, but one nihilistic day I used them for paint protectors and they are no longer presentable.
Don't worry, this one is not a serious proposal. The idea of using curved frets was suggested by a guitarist posting on the ERG forum at sevenstring.org, who actually had an electric guitar like this built. I drew my own version of it just to think about it.

The curves I drew are not very accurate, as I connected the fret points on each string freehand. Also, the string length increments are based on the linear series 8 - 10 - 12 - 14 - 16 - 18 - 20 - 22 in millimeters, my rough carpenter's approximation to a parabola. 		Surfing With The Alien:



To build these curved elements would possibly require the use of computer-controlled 3D laser-cutting equipment, and even to draw the curves accurately stretches my drafting skills. It remains an interesting unexplored possibility, among many others, but the difficulty of constructing it makes it appear too risky until some unknown future time, perhaps after the aliens have landed and want to buy some guitars.
This eleven string design was not completed. I was thinking about working with the Alto Guitar tuning:

A1 B1 C2 D2 E2 A2 D3 G3 B3 E4 A4

I abandoned this line of thought.
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