Three years ago I needed a new autoharp. I saw some cool autoharps on Amazon.com. The one I picked out was an Electric Autoharp 45C with 4 Band EQ and fine tuners. It was shipped to me, and I fell in love. It sounded great both acoustic and electric. I found only one slight problem...

I'm a bit picky with my autoharps. In general, I find that the older autoharps sound better. But I wanted one that had a pickup. I also wanted to try out an autoharp with fine tuners.

Fine tuners are a brilliant devices for autoharps. Without them, autoharps are tuned with a wrench on the tuning pins. The trouble with that is that too much tuning and you strip the wood. Then you're in trouble. I have an autoharp like that right now. It has an empty spot where my F7 string once lay. The wood is stripped, and I haven't taken it into the shop to be repaired. It's such a hassle.

Fine tuners are solve this problem by reducing the wear on the wood. You tune mostly through the pins and then "fine tune" it at the base of the autoharp. That means the pins are turned less, and the wood strips less as well.

Most professional autoharpers Love fine tuners. Sadly, I am not one of them. The reason is, I am notorious for playing my autoharps in fierce conditions. Sometimes I play them all day outside in the heat or cold. Plus, I still play my autoharps like I am in a rock band. While I do my best to take care of my instruments, playing the autoharp in this manner makes me break a lot of strings. With non-fine tuner autoharps, I can replace a string in five minutes. But fine tuners slow me down a lot.

In fact, I broke a string nearly two years ago. I finally replaced it yesterday. Consequently, the instrument has barely been played.

Despite the fine tuner issue, I really don't want to sell this autoharp. Nevertheless, I need to buy a new autoharp that I can regularly take to gigs. Because of that reason, I have decided to sell this gem.

If you are interested in purchasing it, check my merchandise store to buy the autoharp now. Want autoharp music tips?

(Cat not for sale:)

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Originally published at Marc Gunn .com. Read. Interact. Breathe. It's easy; it's free.