If you’ve been wondering about this, you’re probably not alone! We didn’t mean to leave you hanging this long with no news whatsoever, but we’ve been so busy trying to keep up with our daily work that we haven’t noticed how quickly time is passing. We were shocked to realize that the last time we’d posted anything about the FH34S was back in July! We feel extra guilty because we teased you all by slowly revealing hints about the new model, then we posted a gorgeous recording of one of the prototypes, then we announced that we were taking pre-orders even though the design and price weren’t finalized yet, and then… crickets. Honestly, we can’t believe how patient you’ve been, especially those of you who are waiting for your pre-ordered harps!
Before you get too excited, we don’t have all the answers today, BUT we are making a commitment that we’ll tell you as much as we can by the end of March. If all goes well, we might be able to reveal the complete details, including the price and when the first new harps will be shipping. If we get thrown any more curve balls, we will at least tell you what we do know at that point, and can hopefully make some educated guesses on the rest.
Though we’ve left you all in the dark these past few months, we have been working hard on this project! We believe in putting in the time during the design, prototyping, and testing process to make sure the end result meets the standards that are expected in a Dusty harp, and it can take many iterations before we’re satisfied. We are constantly amazed by the impact that a minute change can have on the tone and responsiveness of the harp. It’s really a fascinating process, and we just wish it didn’t take so much time to build each new prototype harp from scratch, give it some concentrated playing time, and evaluate the results. We’re finally at the point where we’re narrowing down the changes to very small things, and though we could still be surprised, we’re hoping it means we’re close to the finish line.
One of the other things we’ve been spending time on is building up the infrastructure that will let us hit the ground running as soon as we’re done tweaking the design. We have parts in progress, drawings being distributed, jigs and templates being made, and processes being refined and trained off. Building a one-off prototype is a whole different scenario than integrating a new model into our production processes, so we’re doing a lot of behind-the-scenes work to make sure we’re set up to build these with our trademark consistency and up to our high quality standards.
We very much appreciate your patience, and look forward to sharing all the details we can before the end of this month!
