1979 Oscar Schmidt 21-Key Autoharp

This 21-key Oscar Schmidt (US-made) is a customer's instrument and has been in the shop for quite a long time as an "as-is" instrument. I finally got around to replacing missing strings and ordering a tuning wrench for it and now it's ready to go. After 20 minutes of tuning, it's also (for the moment), essentially in tune. Don't mind the dust, however -- it's awfully hard to clean these fellas when they've got their strings on.

Said strings are mostly old (and probably original) but still have a good chime -- it is piano wire, afterall. The advantage of an autoharp this late in the game is that it's stiff, made of heavy-duty ply, sounds decent, and wears very well. Except for a little chip-out to the top layer of ply around a few of the tuning posts, it's in good shape save for the obvious signs of use -- minor scratches and whatnot throughout.

21 chords gets you a lot of music -- but mostly in piano-friendly keys.

The retainer bar/tailpiece for the strings suits ball-ends best, but loop-end strings can be finagled onto them with a little effort.

Here's that brand-new tuning wrench that comes with it.