What a gem !!! Obviously an instrument that you won’t want to let go of, since the sound is so amazing!!! Here is an unusual, beautiful and spectacular guitar. This Tony Karol Belair guitar-harp was built in 2008 and was owned by Randall Sprinkle, an excellent American acoustic guitarist. Combining Lutz spruce for the top and Makore, a wood from Central Africa that occasionally exhibits beautiful veins and pronounced flames, for the back & sides, this Harp Guitar Belair, the second built by Tony Karol, is an exceptional instrument, both for the quality of manufacture than by the amazing sound it delivers.

Harp guitars date back to the early years of the 18th century, with the first true harp guitar having appeared in Paris in 1773, built by Naderman. Popular in the 1900s, Harp Guitars had a resurgence in visibility in the 80s thanks to Michael Hedges in particular. For several years now, real monsters such as Antoine Dufour, Andy McKee or even Muriel Anderson have given these still too little known instruments the place they deserve. Tony Karol has been making very, very high-end guitars since 1999 in his workshop in Mississauga, Ontario, just west of Toronto. Tony visited Leadmusic a few years ago with his wife, the world is quite small after all.

This Karol Belair features a Lutz spruce top, with superb tight grain and a beautiful look and color. The sides and the back are figured Makore, and the veins are splendid, wide and deep. The body blocks and neck are made from South American mahogany, while the fingerboard, bridge and endpins are made from ebony. The two rosettes are spalted maple with bindings in black/green/black finish. The headstock, the Laskin armrest and the binding are made of African ebony. Inlays are Abalone. The tuners are Gotoh 510 models, very smooth with a high ratio. Nuts and nut are bone. A visible feature is obviously the fingerboard, which has a fan fret. The fingerboard uses a multi-scale fan-fret arrangement ranging from 25″ to 25.5″ (635mm to 647.7mm), which provides super note and chord sustain across the entire fretboard range, and does not obviously in no way hinders the game and comfort, on the contrary.

In terms of the beauty’s timbre, it’s magic, really. The second soundhole on the edge is at the level of the musician’s left ear and this provides an absolutely unique feeling of stereo and fullness of sound. moreover, thanks to the harp arm of the guitar, and the sympathetic resonance of the harp strings, there is an absolutely insane reverb and natural ambiance. We want to play this guitar and let the strings resonate, as the sustain is crazy. It’s an incredible feeling to play a good harp guitar, and Tony Karol, who has since specialized in these instruments (and who made me a second of them), built in my opinion the best Harp Guitars in the world.

The harp strings are tuned, from low to high, GABCDG. The string gauges for this section are, again, low to high, .070, .066, .062, .060, .054, .042, but this is completely variable and can be tuned, to the compositions and obviously to the desires of the moment. The guitar is equipped with a K&K electro system and was played for a few years by Randall Sprinkle, a talented American guitarist who specialized in Harp Guitar and Celtic music. This guitar has therefore made the scene and has small scratches, scattered knocks and small surface damage, without any cracks or major damage, and obviously no repairs. The frets are perfect, the neck action is perfect and the comfort is fabulous.

This Karol Belair is a spectacular piece with enormous potential, and the quality of manufacture, the bracing, the gluing, the woods, are very high-end. This instrument comes with its original Anvil flight case.