 Shifter Autoharps |
  |
| 
| Shifter AutoharpsFew folks know that one of Zimmerman's earliest designs could play in F, C, G, and D, as well as several minor keys. Though most of the line was discontinued before 1900, one model, the Model 6 was manufactured by the Phonoharp Company (then owners of the Autoharp brand) until about 1918.This line used "shifters" as well as push-buttons to add more chords. It had to be played in the lap because you would squeeze little levers that would force leather pads against the strings horizontally, not vertically. At a time when the most popular autoharps were 5-chorders, the Model 6 shifter autoharp could play 16 chords. Once they were discontinued, that feat was not possible for several decades. Of course, autoharp design went a different direction, and these are mostly curiousities. But when I heard them referred to in an historical context, I was curious, and eventually tracked one down.
They are mentioned in Becky Blackley's The Autoharp Book The Model 6 was exactly as Blackley had described. It would play up to 16 different chords. Each chord bar is equipped, not only with traditional felt blocks but also with little egg-shaped pieces of sheepskin or buckskin that are activated by the shifters. When you push down on a chord bar and push one of the shifters, the little "eggs" move sideways. Some move away from strings that are needed for the next chord. Some move up against strings that aren't needed for the next chord. Some do both. As far as I can determine by Zimmerman's convoluted labeling system (shown below right), the Model 6 played 16 chords: C, F, Bb, G, D, A, G7, C7, D7, A7, Am, Gm, Dm, Em, Bm, and C#dim7. Which would make it the ONLY Autoharp I've ever had my hands on that played a diminished chord from the factory. (Although a few early 15-chorders had diminished chords as well).
Mechanism In late 2025, I put a ridiculously low bid on another Model 6 shifter autoharp so I could remember the link and tell other harpers about it. I won it and it arrived in pieces, but showing no other signs of wear or damage to speak of.
The chord bars, once exposed, show a clever arrangement by which pushing or squeezing the metal tabs caused a stiff wire to move horizontally. This in turn moved little leather pads against or away from strings, allowing one chord bar to play up to three different chords. A tiny spring at one end of the wire forced it back into its original position when pressure on the tab was released. Please click on the photo to see the details better. Why was this Model 6 abandoned after little or no use? Because one of the springs came loose and would not return the wire and leather tabs to their original position. I may be able to fix it. Other than that, this is in far better condition than my first Model 6. String Band ApplicationsAccording to Blackley, the first shifter autoharp was Model 3; it was introduced by 1893 and discontinued around 1898. Models 4, 5, and 6, were all introduced by 1889. The number of chords played by each went up with the model number.
Not Sarah Carter's Autoharp - One reason I started researching shifter autoharps is that I was told by someone I usually trust that Sarah Carter played one for a while. Squinting at old photos had led the person to believe that Sarah once played a Model 6 or something akin, because you can often only see six white buttons on her autoharp. But squinting at the same photos, I can find no definitive proof that Sarah ever owned a shifter autoharp. In fact, I deduced, and late learned for sure, that Sarah Carter was playing an 8-chord Model 72 7/8 with the outside buttons missing from the chord bars. (In fact many Model 72 7/8s that have survived to this day are missing the same two buttons).
If the same product was available today, some Bluegrass players might consider it useful, because it plays most of the commonly used string-band-friendly keys. You couldn't play three-chord songs in Bb, A, or E. but it still offered much more flexibility than any of the push-button-only models. Better yet, by offering Gm, Dm, Am, Em, and Bm, it gave you the option of playing in several minor keys, and playing many 4-and 5-chord songs in F, C, and G. And, yes, quite a few Bluegrass songs today use those other chords. In other words, if you had one of these in working condition today, you could get quite a bit of use out of it in any typical Bluegrass, Mountain, Folk, or Country set. On the other hand, these are all but impossible to play in the modern "upright" position. Not only is it it hard to push and pull the shifters with your left hand, the Model 6 is wider than standard autoharps - it's even hard for most people to reach and push the chord buttons. There's a reason players are always shown with theirs in her lap or on a stand. The Shifters Go Away, Along with the Key of DLike many other overengineered projects, the shifter-equipped autoharps required more maintenance than was practical for an instrument being dragged out of the case night after night. In fact, models 3, 4, and 5, were never revived after the Autoharp brand changed hands in 1898/1899. The Model 6, which the Phonoharp Company revived about 1910, was discontinued about 1918.When the Oscar Schmidt company revived the Model 73 in 1932, the "shifter" autoharps had been discontinued for about 14 years. Consequently, the Model 73 had the honor of having more chords than any other autoharp in production at that time. It retained the Model 6's ability to play 3-chord songs in G, but it lost Em, Bm, and the ability to play 3-chord songs in D. In fact, after the Model 6 went away, you couldn't get a commercially-built autoharp that could play 3-chord songs in the key of D for several decades.. If the Oscar Schmidt company had paid more attention to what autoharps were actually being used for after the Carter Family and their contemporaries put string bands on the radio, they might have sold a lot more instruments. ConclusionNow that I have two Model 6s, I should be able to borrow the working bits from my first one, which is splitting, to the second one and have a working Model 6 in virtually new condition (pretty good for a century-old autoharp). Too many other things ahead of it on the workbench, though . . . .In the meantime, please contact us with any questions at all - reader questions are the main thing that drivers our research, so we're always happy to hear from you. Best of luck!
And please stay in touch! - Paul Race
>
|
|
All material, illustrations, and content of this web site is copyrighted ? 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
Note: Creek Don't Rise (tm) is Paul Race's name for his resources supporting the history and music of the North American Heartland as well as additional kinds of acoustic and traditional music. For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. about this page or this site, please contact us.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
. But the whole thing seemed a bit abstract until I acquired a "Model 6" cheap in an online auction because nobody knew what it was - plus it was obviously coming unglued in the back.
