Woods
There are two kinds of wood that I use to build my harps: The soundboard Tonewoods, and the structural Hardwoods. The soundboard is made from a coniferous softwood like cedar or spruce, which gives an excellent tonal response. 80% of the tone that is coming out of my harps is coming from the soundboard. The neck, pillar and harp body are made from deciduous hardwoods and supply the structure to support the 900 pounds of tension that the strings exert on the instrument. The hardwoods used in the construction of my harps have virtually no effect on the final tone of the instrument.
Tone Woods
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Western Red Cedar (Thuja plicata) Pacific Northwest coast of Canada and the United States. Western red cedar has long been used as a soundboard wood by classical guitar makers for its volume, warmth, wealth of harmonics and clarity of tone. What is most characteristic of cedar is that it takes only a short time for the voice to mature, and can even sound 'played-in' when new. I am now able to offer the very finest master grade cedar soundboards, made from hand-selected timber that comes directly from old growth forests near Campbell River, British Columbia. Master Grade is characterized by closely-spaced vertical grain (quarter sawn), even colour, stiffness (to reduce soundboard 'bellying') and excellent tone. |
Hardwoods
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Cherry
(Black Cherry)
- Grows in Eastern North America. Most of the cherry I use comes from
Pennsylvania. The wood in the picture is 'new' cherry, and will darken
with age. The standard wood on my harps Click here to see a harp made of this I can also stain this wood....please see my 'Finishes' page |
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Curly Cherry
(Black Cherry) - Grows
in Eastern North America. Has gentle waviness to the grain. Is a bit
harder and heavier than regular cherry. The wood in the picture has aged
a while and gotten somewhat darker.
Click here to see a harp made of this I can also stain this wood.....please see my 'Finishes' page |
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Curly Walnut (Eastern Black Walnut) - Grows in Eastern North America. A naturally dark, open grain wood, which is treated with a dark grain filler/stain before applying the top coats of finish. Is about the same weight & hardness as curly black cherry. |
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Curly 'Claro' Walnut - Grows in Oregon. Has orange & black streaks due to presence of iron and other minerals in the soil. Beautiful curl, open grain wood. Requires grain filler prior to top coats of finish. Similar to in hardness & strength to curly cherry and black walnut. |
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Red Oak-The oak that I use comes from Pennsylvania and Kentucky. Oak is a stronger and heavier wood popularly used in furniture and architectural woodwork. Due to it's open grain, requires a grain filler to level the finish. |
Soundbox woods
Because the round-back body on my harp is composed of several layers of wood laminated together with a vacuum-forming process, the tone produced from the body itself is consistent from one harp to the next. A thin (.040") veneer is applied to the outside of the harp body to match the hardwood of the neck & pillar. This veneer is inconsequential to the tone of the instrument.
The woods used in the laminated bending ply are birch and luan. Luan is made from Southeast Asian hardwoods in the "Shorea" family of trees. Manufacturers create veneer from these trees and along with a facing veneer , are glued together in layers to make the laminated ply soundbox 'shell'.
Left: Curly cherry veneer with 'bending plys' being assembled prior to gluing up on the special form to create the curved, round back of the harp.