An Autoharp In the Key of Sea

Posted on May 19, 2022 by fretnot42

Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us autoharps tea and rum…..

As a landlocked luthier here in Ohio, I truly miss the ocean. Marsha and I have lived in a coastal town on the Great Barrier Reef. We have wandered beaches in Florida, Cape Cod, Oregon, Nova Scotia, Iceland, and Ireland. We even spent two months at sea working on a container ship that crossed both Tropics and the Equator. With only some photos and a smattering of shells to sustain our fading memories, I sometimes regret leaving those experiences behind for life in the flatlands.

Nothing pulls me out of the doldrums like a new, creative, and whimsical project. Something that swims against the tide. An idea that has been drifting around in the fog sounding the siren’s call……. seas the day! weigh anchor! come about!

Then the wave hit me, an autoharp in the key of sea. To be more Pacific, a diatomaceous, er, diatonic autoharp in the single key of “C”.

This thirty-seven string instrument has twelve chord bars shaped like waves. The three rows of buttons resemble white caps. Bridges, chord bar holders, tail cover, and side trim are made of curly maple dyed bright blue to show an iridescent, wave like grain.

A laser cut rosette adorns the sound hole and bare footprints cross the sandy colored solid spruce soundboard.

The laminated back has been painted bright blue using netting as a stencil. Captured in this fish net is a colorful jellyfish soundhole.

Curly Cherry and Maple Chromatic

Posted on November 19, 2021 by fretnot42

Here is a new custom thirty-seven string chromatic autoharp that I built for a beginning autoharp musician here in Ohio. She plans to play worship and folk music to accompany herself and other vocalists. Because she resides within easy driving distance to Darke County, she and her husband could visit, view the many features and options available, and order the special instrument that is to be a birthday gift from her family.

I always try to make each of my instruments unique so that my clients have a special instrument unlike any other. Of course there are constraints like scale, setup, and structure, but I like to give folks choices. This musician chose a western red cedar soundboard, maple chord bars, and curly cherry for the bridges, bar holders, buttons, and side trim.

A weeping heart was chosen for the sound hole. I made this by inlaying a 1/8″ thick cherry heart shape into the 1/4″ thick soundboard and then removing the inner heart shape leaving a 1/8″ wide cherry border.

The tailpiece is carved from curly cherry. It covers the anchor end, the exposed ball ends of the strings, and the mounting plate of the fine tuner assembly. The gentle curves on the end corner make the instrument more comfortable to rest in the lap while playing.

The fifteen maple chord bars feature cherry buttons with the lateral dishing (rather than longitudinal dishing) preferred by the player. They move on #6 steel pins set into Delrin bases. The chord felt is yet uncut pending the player’s preferences.

Structurally, this A style autoharp is built with a one piece laminated pinblock frame and a 1/4″ thick laminated birch back. Lately, I have been routing away unnecessary areas inside the frame to increase the interior volume. This, along with some tuned bracing, improves tone and volume.

The custom thirty-seven string set was made by Greg Schreiber and is tuned in standard chromatic order from F2 to D6. Daigle fine tuners anchor the strings at the tail end. These well designed fine tuners have only one moving part per string, a hex screw that permits the fine pitch adjustment that is difficult to attain with the tuning wrench.

A New Diatonic

Posted on September 26, 2021 by fretnot42

I recently completed is this thirty-seven string diatonic autoharp in the single key of A. I built it for ourselves because Marsha and I are trying to sing along with our instruments more and find that the key of A is a comfortable range for our voices. Being a single key diatonic, it has paired string courses in the middle octave and only the notes needed for chords in the key of A. This produces a very rich and full tone that works nicely for strumming accompaniment and playing melody.

The tuning schedule begins with the lowest string, D2, and ends with the highest string, D6.

Fifteen chords are arranged in a “Bowers” type setup with major chords in the center row, sevenths in the top row, and minors in the bottom row. This familiar arrangement is in place on all of Marsha’s instruments and permits a sort of “motor memory” to kick in when she changes from one autoharp to another, even if in different keys. Seven of the chords are “color chords” for enhanced arrangements.

The instrument has a 1/4 inch thick solid spruce soundboard. The one piece frame is laminated maple pinblock with a laminated maple back. The side veneer, end cover, and chord bar covers are made of curly maple. Chord bars are maple with alternate bars painted black. Black tuning pins, bridges, Schreiber fine tuners, and purfling complete the black/white motif.

A New Custom Chromatic

Posted on January 23, 2021 by fretnot42

My most recent instrument is this custom chromatic autoharp commissioned by a musician here in Ohio.

This twenty-one chord, thirty-seven string chromatic differs from my other autoharps in several ways. My original frame design was ideal for diatonic tunings that required fewer chord bars but not optimal for twenty-one bar chord sets. This newer design with its angled and curved bridges favors the extra chord bars with more playing space in the treble area as well as fewer harmonics.

For strength and stability the frame is cut as a single piece of laminated pin block with no joints (my usual method). This frame has areas routed away inside to increase the internal volume of the box. That, with tuned X-bracing renders improved tone and volume.

The twenty-one maple chord bars are capped with walnut buttons and are mounted upon combs made of #6 bridge pins and Delrin bases. Just to be different, I kinda hybridized the chord bar covers by making a shell out of walnut and very thin birch plywood. Its top surface is veneered with sequence-matched walnut burl. There is no distinct advantage for making it this way but the larger areas of felt damping on the underside seem to make the chord bars quieter.

The side trim and bridges are walnut.

A larger laser cut rosette surrounds a smaller sound hole.

The soundboard is western red cedar.

A custom thirty-seven string Schreiber string set is anchored by Daigle fine tuners.

New Child ‘Harps (for sale)

Posted on November 30, 2020 by fretnot42

I have recently completed three of my 3/4-size autoharps that are for sale and will soon be ready for delivery.

About two years ago I began building these smaller sized autoharps aimed at younger learners beginning their autoharp journey. I saw a need for a serious alternative to the painted “toys” produced by manufacturers in the past. With twenty-three strings and seven chords, my Child ‘Harps are lighter and easier to tune and play than their larger siblings.

They measure eighteen inches long, ten inches wide, and weigh under five pounds. Due to their smaller size and handmade quality, Child ‘Harps have also become attractive to adults who find them less stressful and fatiguing than playing larger, heavier autoharps. Having standard string and chord button spacing, they are ideal for the adult player adapting to a smaller instrument or the young learner who will eventually grow into a big autoharp.

The design and construction is fundamentally the same as my full sized instruments. For structural integrity and tuning stability I build with one- piece laminated frames, and solid wood soundboards and components. They have a rich full voice for their size and are built to last.

Chords in the keys of G and D.

Child ‘Harps come in two different two-key diatonic setups, each with seven chords. Being diatonic means that the string array doesn’t include all the notes in the chromatic scale but only the notes needed in the two keys. The G/D ‘harp plays in the keys of G and D and has four major chords (C, G, D, and A) and three minor chords (Em, Bm, and F#m). The F/C ‘harp plays in the keys of F and C and has four major chords (Bb, F, C, and G) and three minor chords (Dm, Am, and Em). The scale is similar to the mid and treble range found in standard autoharp tuning with the lowest note in the 3rd octave and the highest in the 6th octave. Unlike standard diatonic autoharps, these do not have doubled string courses.

Chords in the keys of F and C.

SOLD SOLD SOLD Child ‘Harp with walnut trim and solid poplar soundboard. Complete and ready for stringing and setup in buyer’s choice of either keys of F/C or G/D.

I try to make each of my instruments unique in some way so these three new ones are built using different wood combinations and tuning setups. Each is for sale and include a quilted “cozy” and a star tipped T-wrench for tuning.