"mandolin harp"

[Ranald]

Does anyone know anything about the "mandolin harp"? I'm not shopping for this item. I just came across it, so I'm curious.


https://www.kijiji.ca/v-art-collecti...vh-cgdQ2Bq4p20

[MikeEdgerton]

They were part of the entire genre manufactured and sold by the Oscar Schmidt Company of Jersey City, NJ door to door all over the country. They were selling the whole package, lessons and all. Honestly there wasn't anything mandolin about them. They are on eBay weekly in one form or another.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...+harp&_sacat=0

Basically it was a similar instrument with a different label.

[Dave Hanson]

looks like a zither to me !

Dave H

[MikeEdgerton]

They are called "Fretless Zithers"

[Ranald]

They were part of the entire genre manufactured and sold by the Oscar Schmidt Company of Jersey City, NJ door to door all over the country. They were selling the whole package, lessons and all. Honestly there wasn't anything mandolin about them.

Thanks, guys. Sounds like the mandolin harp is a relative of the autoharp, about the same age, even with the same sales campaign. According to the Wikipedia article on autoharps: "Although the word autoharp was originally a trademark of the Oscar Schmidt company, the term has colloquially come to be used for any hand-held, chorded zither, regardless of manufacturer."

[MikeEdgerton]

That is true. The OS Company built on the same product platform for years. The autoharp is the last of the line still being manufactured.

[David L]

These types of "chord zithers" came in all kinds of configurations and names. They usually consist of a few sets of chord strings and some kind of melody string/strings. The melody strings could be like a zither, a psaltry, a single string with a slide, etc. The names never have anything to do with the actual instrument. I have one called a "pianoette".

[tonydxn]

I'm not an authority on these, but I think mandolin harps are zithers where the melody strings are in pairs, like a mandolin. They are only similar to autoharps in shape - the stringing is quite different. They have one set of strings arranged for the left hand to play chords (with finger picks). The melody is played with a plectrum held in the right hand. They were very popular in Germany and are still played there.

Here is a YouTube video of some beautiful playing on a zither with double melody strings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyHd4rDUd5g
At 1:50 there is a close-up of the label, which clearly says 'Mandolin'.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'm sure that Schmidt did make changes on each instrument but I can tell you the changes were very small. They were pretty much a marketing company looking for a new market based on what instruments were popular that day or week. Even the unholy Ukelin had (and still has) its followers.