2012 MONSTER Contest Entry

Inspired by the Giant Octopus in "20,000 leagues Under The Sea"

A Harp Fiddle designed with treasure chest style cigar box body and a tentacle rising from black waters and lashed to the side as its harp. The instrument is designed to be bowed and plucked as the player sees fit. It rests comfortably from shoulder to elbow when held.

The Harp Tentacle:

A hand carved mahogany arm with 20 poplar suckers. The color comes from applied mahogany oil stain and it's finished with nitrocellulose lacquer that was applied very thick to create layers of bubbly "slime", wet look slick spots, and dimensional drips across the piece. The strings are mounted with Zither pins and attach into a hand carved rosewood bridge on the fiddle body side with ebony pins. The 6 harp strings are tuned (F#, B, C, F, D#, B).

The Fiddle:

A LaSirena King Poseidon Cigar Box shaped like a treasure chest with holes in it the size of the tentacle suckers. It has a rosewood pinned tailpiece, ebony bridge pins, maple bridge, sapele neck, ebony fingerboard, and matched ebony head plate. There are Abalone inlays on the neck, a bone nut, and zither pin tuners. The bow is hand carved from rosewood and strung with natural horsehair. It is notched at the tip and secures with an ebony bridge pin in the handle. The 4 violin strings are tuned (G, D, A, E).

The only wood pieces not hand made on the instrument are the maple bridge and the ebony bridge pins. The whole piece sits on top of a hand carved mahogany base that has black oil stain for the finish.