I commissioned this from them because I wanted a smaller and lighter machine than my 21 bar Ashbury electroharp to take with me on my travels. It's the 'Sparrowharp', designed by Evo Bluestein, with slightly closer spaced strings than usual, and 18 chord bars which I specified, slightly modified from Pete Daigle's recommendation.
If you're not familiar with the 'harp, it's a truly wonderful instrument and very easy to play. Dylan used to tour with one (and I imagine some of his songs were composed on the 'harp - see the Barry Feinstein picture of him at http://www.nme.com/photos/bob-dylan---photography-by-barry-feinstein/122129/6/1); and P J Harvey uses it for composing and performing.
If you are familiar with the instrument, my chord bars are arranged like this:
Top row: Bb, C7, G7, D7, A7, E7
Middle row: F, C, G, D, A, E
Bottom row: Dm, Am, Em, Bm, F#m, B
Added July 2015:
Here is the analysis I made of chords before ordering my 'harp:
I'm attaching the analysis I made of chords before I ordered my harp. I've arranged them on the 'circle of fifths'. I highlighted in yellow the 18 chords I thought I would use the most, and you'll see that, unsurprisingly I guess, there are more majors than sevenths or minors (8 majors, 5 sevenths, 5 minors). I know this compromises the idea that, on a harp, you can transpose freely, but as I play mostly in the keys of C, G, D, and A, I didn't think that would be a problem.
In laying out my buttons I had to transfer the extreme major chords - Bb on the left, and B on the right - onto the other rows - so Bb went up onto the sevenths, and B went down onto the minors.
It was a gamble, but it really paid off. I have never missed B7 or F7, or Gm or Fsharpminor - but in the end it depends on the music you're playing!
By the way, if you're buying a sparrowharp like mine, I really recommend it. Very stable and a delight to play.
Thom, why the B instead of B7??? I am ordering my harp setup and need to know. Thanks, Missy@freemissy.com.
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