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So, last spring I decided to start the building of a small 26 string harp. Mostly out of curiosity and also because harps are beautifull and have this spiritual feel about the at least for me that is. The building came to an end in June when it started getting to hot, but I have now started up again with the firm idea to finish the project very soon. I dont like having projects lying around. I need to finish stuff.
So here is hor it all started: The plan I bought from Sligoharps in the US. Its a small 26 string harp. The size that are sometimes called a therapy harp. Not that I´m going to heal anyone, but I thought maybe I could heal myself a bit. Besides, its been ages since I started a thread here and maybe this one can make me visit this site more often than I´ve done lately.
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I´m amazed about how much sound these things can give, even though appearing like just stringed frames.
And harp players´ technique to me seems like useful example for arpeggio. I always like watching them and hear the vibe.
Naturally, angels were going with the latest gadget of their times, but if Torres had his shop 6000 years ago, I am wondering whether they could be flying around with guitars now.
Harps are wonderful instruments, Anders. I lived in Santiago, Chile for three years in the late 1980s, and it is common there to see a duo, a guitar and a Paraguayan harp, perform and accompany Chilean folk songs. The Paraguayan harp is a beautiful instrument to accompany the guitar. Played together, the music is mesmerizing.
Bill
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And the end of the fight is a tombstone white, With the name of the late deceased, And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here, Who tried to hustle the East."
German Spruce for the soundboard, Red Beech for the neck, head and bindings and Birch plywood for the sides and back of the box. It would maybe be better to use some kind of solid wood for the back, but the sides doesnt matter. They have to take an enormous tension form all the strings, so they have to be strong. The harp that Kiko posted is a Camac Melousine. A friend has one and I dont like it one second. Its totally alien to me. Its 100% plywood including soundboard, neck and head, lacquered with plastic laquer of some kind and totally factory.
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Looking forward to seeing the instrument being built, I've always been fascinated by the harp (and it's variants).
It's an instrument for it's players I have a lot of respect for. As much as I despise restringing and tuning guitars (and the amount I spend on strings) I imagine for a harp it's a whole new world of complexity!
So it’s an Irish harp you’re making? A while ago I read an excellent book about that instrument and it's history. It had many good photos of different harps. Maybe it would be of interest?
Thanks Paul. I will have a look at that book. The harp is an irish Harp (Or better said Celtic harp). It could also be called a 26 string diatonic lever harp. In many ways that is the best name, because then it doesnt give the picture that you can only play Irish or Celtic music on it. Just as you can use flamenco guitars for many things besides flamenco.
The harp in the video that elKiko attached above is a 38 string Celtic harp made by Camac. But its not exactly Celtic music being played on it.
So, the first thing i did was to assemble the soundboard. This is some sets I had for years. To much striping to be used on a guitar that is meant to be sold. Very few people likes striped guitar soundboards. But the acoustic qualities are top. This is A grade visually and AAAA acoustically. And since the stripes will go across the board, I think it will look VERY good. Included an improvised creative glue setup.
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I might be alone in having an unashamed love for stripy soundboards. For my eyes anyway, the stripier/more imperfect for line spacing the better for visual aesthetics which might be down to some of the best sounding guitars have been ones with some of the less 'perfect' visual aesthetics.
Shame other people don't share my love (you aside it seems)
Here the soundboard is having its "bridge" being glued. It has another word in english that I cant remember. It funcions as a bridge. Its where you attach thye strings and its a reinforcement of the top as well. Harps with their many strings have very high tension in the soundboard.
Below on the floor is the back and sides of the instrument assembled.
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If you like it old style, you may note An Triskell. With turntable broken, I havn´t listened to theirs since years, but there is something to it. In a way swinging yet contemplating in the same time. Zooms you back to ancient times.
Ruphus
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So here´s a quick view into the workshop. It was in May, I think. Lot of things going on. On the table, the neck and the head, still raw-cut are lying there. I didnt do more with them. Beech is heavy and hard to work, it was getting hot and I wasn´t really in the mood. In the back of the picture, the box is having bindings glued. And, well, yes, 3 guitars being finished as well.
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That looks great Anders! I have a friend who plays (a cheap factory) harp, and I really love the sound of it. He plays like eastern/asian music on it. Looking forward to see the proces of you building it. I´m sure the final result will be great. You are a true artesano!!!
Thanks Koenie I tried a rather expensive 38 string Camac Factory harp (model Melousine) not long ago and I didnt like it it one second. I cant play the harp, but stringed instruments are normally something that I can relate to. But this one was really alien to me. Very stiff and hard. little volume. It was 100% make in plywood. The soundboard was Birch plywood and even the neck and head was plywood. Totally factory
This build is special for me because its the first time I make an instrument that I cant play and that I really dont know much about. Its kind of weird and it really makes me realize how much value it is to have a decent playing level on the instruments you build.
Depends on the strings. This one will have nylon strings and doesnt need nails. Steel strung Celtic harps are nomally played with the nails, but very few play them.
Very nice project Anders! I can't wait to see and hear it when finished. I love all stringed instruments, but have never paid much attention to the harp.
A perhaps silly question: How do you secure the strings to the soundboard? Do you thread them from inside the box through the sound holes in the back? Do you make a knot or do the strings have a ball end? Does the bridge have ferrules?
Mike You´re on track. The bridge has ferules, you feed the strings from the holes in the back through the soundboard. Some of the thicker strings may have a ball heads depending on brand and if not, you use a little round stick and secure with a knot. No big deal. There´s just a lot of them.
So continuing the building. The neck and head has been shaped and glued together.
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So here´s the raw finished harp. The neck still hasnt been attached to the body, its just "hanging" there. The edges of the neck/head needs to be shaped and everything is going to be cleaned up and sanded before assembly and French Polishing. But for the first time it looks like a harp even though all stringed instruments look kind of strange without strings. Its the strings that make the thing look right.
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Anders, it looks very nice. What kind of joinery are you using for the neck and to attach it to the soundbox? It looks like the strings are going to be closer together as they go towards one end. Is that usual? Oh, I guess that's just at the top; where they go over a "nut" they will be evenly spaced (?)
I dont know the english word for the assembly of the neck and the head. Its a standard furniture joint glued with thickened epoxy. Its deep and took a while to make. The joint at the top (where the head meets the box), I cant explain. Its not glued. String tension will keep things together. The botoom joint is an 8mm bolt going through the soundboard and bridge.
The string spacing is NOT even and that is standard.
Remember that I know little about harps, I just follow a plan. (me know nothing, I´m from Barcelona)
Very interesting to follow your posts Anders ... multi talent..wow A good friend of mine, also a guitar luthier, used to build harps as well. Now he just restore some old harps sometimes. Yesterday in his workshop was a harp wich is about 200 years old. He played a little bit.... just magic.. what a wonderful instrument
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