The black plastic thing on the back is a resonator. There is a sound hole in the back and the resonator is meant to deflect the sound to the front. If you are a melody player, you have a greater range on a regular Autoharp.
I figured it was something like that. Thanks for the additional information. Currently I use autoharp as a stand in for rhythm guitar, so the limited range doesn’t bother me, and I think the Guitaro/Chromalin body makes for more comfortable playing. But even with my limited skills, I do like the sparkle of the last octave on a 36-string. (I even add 9s to my major chords for extra sparkle, but that would be much too muddy in the midrange of a Guitaro)
It is not an "earlier" model the Oscar Schmidt company built it to be a strumming instrument. And the chord bars were made to accommodate guitar players. The bars are standars among all guitaros. Its the ugly step child of the Zither and Autoharp. The bar placement is also in the center of the strings where rge harmonics are so it makes a more over tones than normal. New felts may not and most likely won't do anything to help the overtones and harmonics.
The black plastic thing on the back is a resonator. There is a sound hole in the back and the resonator is meant to deflect the sound to the front.
If you are a melody player, you have a greater range on a regular Autoharp.
I figured it was something like that. Thanks for the additional information.
Currently I use autoharp as a stand in for rhythm guitar, so the limited range doesn’t bother me, and I think the Guitaro/Chromalin body makes for more comfortable playing.
But even with my limited skills, I do like the sparkle of the last octave on a 36-string. (I even add 9s to my major chords for extra sparkle, but that would be much too muddy in the midrange of a Guitaro)
Interesting stuff. Good video. Enjoyed it.
It is not an "earlier" model the Oscar Schmidt company built it to be a strumming instrument. And the chord bars were made to accommodate guitar players. The bars are standars among all guitaros. Its the ugly step child of the Zither and Autoharp. The bar placement is also in the center of the strings where rge harmonics are so it makes a more over tones than normal. New felts may not and most likely won't do anything to help the overtones and harmonics.