Tastengitarre

[Chris Pile]

Keyed Guitar 'Tastengitarre' reproduction instrument by Daniel Wheeldon - YouTube

Put THIS on your Christmas Wish List.....

 

[Sirion]

That was awesome! I'm surprised that I ahven't heard of this instrument before, as I have a couple of friends who are organologists specialising in this specific period. I wonder if the SynthAxe people were aware of this?

 

[Chris Pile]

Maybe that's where they got the idea to put the keys?

 

[idsnowdog]

I had a dream when I first started guitar 35 years ago with that concept. I wasn't aware it actually existed?

 

[Sirion]

Maybe that's where they got the idea to put the keys?

Very possible, though it would possibly be even cooler if they came up with the exact same idea separately.

 

[Chris Pile]

Very possible, though it would possibly be even cooler if they came up with the exact same idea separately.

I'm interested in why you think it would be cooler?

Also - humans haven't changed a lot in a long time. Our hands are usually in the same places.

 

[Ashurbanipal]

Very cool, German luthierie in the 19th century was pretty experimental with this kind of stuff, extended range etc. Though instruments with this kind of key/hammer mechanism seem date as far back as the last quarter of the 18th century in England - they're actually citterns, small, mandolin-like things with metal strings which were very popular at the time.

An example of the English pianoforte 'guitar'. Note the adjustable capo as well!

The guy's PhD can be accessed here: https://era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/37837.