From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: ryon@dslnorthwest.net   
   Subject: Re: A Question For Hardcore Trekkies--   
      
      
      
   Steven L. wrote:   
   > Ron wrote:   
   > >   
   > > Steven L. wrote:   
   > >> Ron wrote:   
   > >>> I'm a bit curious about something--   
   > >>>   
   > >>> The existing plans for a vulcan harp/lyrette are badly flawed; pretty   
   > >>> pathetic at best. But it took me a while because basically I'm rather   
   > >>> stupid, to realize that there are [at least] three designs for the   
   > >>> Ka'athyra: the harp Uhura has in Conscience of the King has a wider   
   > >>> body and a shorter neck, the one Spock has in The Way to Eden has a   
   > >>> narower body and a long neck (about 25"), and the harp designer Wah   
   > >>> Chang made for his wife (seen in the Star Trek Sketchbook) has a very   
   > >>> wide body with a somewhat long neck.   
   > >>>   
   > >>> The wide-body harp has been the one most often made, probably because   
   > >>> that, more or less, has plans and is in the Star Trek Tech Manual.   
   > >>> Also back in the day, Paramount had two dozen of those made by a   
   > >>> commercial guitar company; if you can find any of those rarities, they   
   > >>> are worth a couple of grand these days.   
   > >>>   
   > >>>   
   > >>> I never really did like the COTK version of the harp, but after  a   
   > >>> *lot* of hard work and design effort, I finally got the Way To Eden   
   > >>> version all sussed out. Made mostly out of wallnut and with   
   > >>> electronics to provide sustain and distortion effects, it cost me at   
   > >>> least six hundred dollars to make; a decade or so ago, it wouldn't   
   > >>> have even been half that much but as the song says, those days are   
   > >>> gone forever-- over a long time ago.   
   > >>>   
   > >>> Having done all the work, I might make and sell one or two some time.   
   > >>> Would a Trekkie interested in music be willing to pay from six to   
   > >>> eight hundred for a harp that's as close to the Way To Eden version--   
   > >>> even including the small speaker on the back-- as one can possibly   
   > >>> be?  :-)   
   > >> Here's one way to find out:   
   > >>   
   > >> Try selling some on EBay.   
   > >   
   > > If nothing, I learned a gereat lesson from Star Fortress: they   
   > > advertise Vulcan harps but don't tell you that they don't have any off-   
   > > the-shelf harps made-- they are a custom item. One could wait up to   
   > > nine months to get an order...   
   > >   
   > > Now, if I was gonna sell one or two on ebay, I want to have one or two   
   > > already made-- just good business practices. But conversely, I'm not   
   > > going to spend over a grand to make two harps on the chance that they   
   > > will sell for more than what it costs me to make them. In the past,   
   > > the Paramount-made harps have gone for over $2,000 but those were   
   > > numbered, specialties, that will never be seen again; collectors   
   > > items.   
   >   
   > You're not seriously suggesting that someone should pay you *in advance*   
   >   to construct one of these things?   
   >   
   > No offense, but how would one know if you really intend to build it, or   
   > if this is just some kind of Internet scam in which you'll take the   
   > person's money and run?   
      
   Oy! I take it you don't understand some of the basics of marketing   
   101...  No, I don't offer to sell things I don't have-- but, before I   
   spend time and money (lots of money) making a "product" that may or   
   may not sell, I test the waters so to speak to see if there is a   
   potential market, then if so, make a couple of other harps and sell   
   them. Simple honest business.   
      
   Even with a viral campaign (word of mouth) it wouldn't be too hard to   
   drum up some interest since at least two Vulcan harps have sold on   
   ebay for over $2,000 each.  But most luthiers-- instrument makers--   
   who have made various versions of the harp (and there are many)   
   usually make just one for themselves since making the harps is a time   
   intensive activity and the cost of wood these days is-- no pun   
   intended-- just about astronomical. Twenty or thirty years ago when   
   the original instruments were made, it wouldn't have cost as much as a   
   fifth of what wood costs today. You'd think it was being shipped all   
   the way from Vulcan....  ;-)   
      
   Ron   
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