As I mentioned earlier, I’m in the process of developing a 3-octave psaltery. After crunching the numbers in a spreadsheet, and drawing up the plans in CAD, I was just about ready to go…
Except I’d never gone this low before: that is, I’d never strung a psaltery to be played as low as the instrument that I was proposing. (I’m planning to have the 3-octave model start on G2, a full octave lower than my current model.)
So, I made a test-model. It wasn’t rocket science. I just took a big slab of some Ash (or was it Elm?) that had been collected from my yard, and popped a couple of tuning pins in each side. After adding a basic bridge and a wound string, I was ready to start testing the string lengths, tension, and tone.
The main reason for this sidetrack is that I would imagine it would be a real drag to build, drill, and string an entire 35″ long psaltery, only to have the lowest strings sound bad because I didn’t double check to see if all the stringing “rules” that I’d discovered through trial and error on my smaller psalteries were still valid on a larger scale.
So far, so good.
March 26, 2009 – 12:30 pm
Pictured to the left is another custom bowed psaltery that I’m working on. I’ve just applied the first few sealer coats of shellac, and the figure in the wood comes alive.
And, that’s what I call curly! The top is curly redwood, the binding is curly maple, and the rosette ring is also curly maple. The central rose is Padauk.
Today I finished up on two custom-ordered bowed psalteries, probably the first time ever I’ve finished two in the same day.
The first one finished was the one with the Western Red Cedar top and Figured Cherry back.
The second one has a dragonfly rose, along with Ebony binding and bridge, and ammonite shell halves inlaid into the Chechen sides.
As you can see from the links within this entry, I’ve posted pictures of both psalteries before, but I also like to add a final picture with the strings on to get a better sense of the finished product.
To the left is a picture of the handle of a custom tuning wrench that was made to match the woods of a custom bowed psaltery. The main body of the wrench (and the psaltery as well) is made of figured Myrtle. The wrench has a strip of Mango in the middle, which was taken from the same board as the psaltery’s top. Also, it’s hard to see it in the current picture, but the base cap is made of Cocobolo, which matches the binding/bridge of the psaltery.
Here’s an overall shot of both the wrench and the psaltery. I’ve got to admit that it’s one of the best looking psalteries I’ve seen in a while! (And it sounds great too.)
In this picture you can also see the Cocobolo base cap on the tuning wrench.
I was scraping a centerstrip of herringbone-style banding flush with a Wenge back when I thought it might make a cool picture.
When a card scraper is sharp, and it hits the back just right, it will peel off a nice layer of material. Here, it was peeling off thin layers of the herringbone pattern.
Such a simple, yet versatile too: long live the card scraper!
Here’s another update on the custom bowed psaltery that featured the dragonfly rose posted earlier.
The picture to the left shows the psaltery tipped up on its side to show a clearer shot of both the back and side.
The back/sides are made of Chechen, the binding is Ebony, and the small shell inlay that you see on the corner is actually an extinct mollusk called an Ammonite. I buy these fossils as matching shell halves and offer them as an inlay option.
February 28, 2009 – 6:21 pm
In a previous post, I mentioned a bowed psaltery made of figured cherry and verawood that I was working on as a custom order.
Here’s the top of the psaltery so far. It’s Western Red Cedar with a curly white oak rosette and note markers made of walnut and white oak.
February 23, 2009 – 3:53 pm
Here’s another custom psaltery I’m working on. The top is sitka spruce, with an inlaid chechen ring (the back/sides are also chechen) and a dragonfly rose inside the outer wood ring.
I tried to capture one of the ammonite shells that was inlaid in the side of the psaltery, but alas, the picture came out too dark! 
Hopefully I’ll get another picture in of this one: next time of the back, and I should be able to illuminate the sides a little better too! My shop certainly wasn’t made with photography opportunities in mind.
February 20, 2009 – 12:08 pm
Here’s another custom psaltery that I’m working on. The back is a very handsome figured cherry, with Verawood binding.
Note that the Verawood is still rough-cut and hasn’t been sanded smooth and flush yet. Also, since it’s freshly cut, it’s a bit lighter in color, and should darken a bit with age.
February 16, 2009 – 4:49 pm
Here’s a shot of a bowed psaltery that’s almost ready to have the finish applied.
The back and sides are made of figured Oregon Myrtle. It has a rear soundhole, herringbone centerstrip, and a tripod mount. The binding is Cocobolo with purfling (hard to see in the photo).
February 3, 2009 – 4:36 pm
To the left is a Curly Spalted Hawaiian Mango soundboard for a custom-ordered psaltery.
It has an inlaid 8-lobe Padauk rose, with a Purpleheart rosette ring around the outside.
I love the color that this top will have. (And already does have.) It almost looks edible.
November 26, 2008 – 4:31 pm
Now through January 1st, 2009, I’m running a sale on all regular, in-stock bowed psalteries. All bowed psalteries are on sale for 25% off my regular price. (This excludes custom orders and blemished instruments.)
Now’s your chance to get the bowed psaltery that you’ve always wanted; like this one that I’ve just added:
October 9, 2008 – 3:07 pm
Here’s a few shots of a custom psaltery that I just finished: the whole body of the psaltery is made of curly maple, and this would also include the top. The rosette is laser-cut and made of hard maple, and the ring surrounding it is made from burled walnut. (Much like the ring in this post.) The binding and bridge are made of black walnut.
As you can see, both the top and back are from figured curly maple. All pieces were cut from the same board. This psaltery also has a rear soundhole and a tripod mount insert.
October 1, 2008 – 4:03 pm
While it is true that many of the more interesting and exotic species of lumber grow closer to the equator, in distant locations in Africa and Central/South America, I’m finding that there are also plenty of amazing pieces of wood right here in the United States.
Take this new (still unfinished) bowed psaltery with a curly White Oak back. This wood has some very nice figure, something that I haven’t commonly seen, (or even thought to look for), in Oak.
This figured back is part of a new namesake of psalteries that I’ve tentatively called “Heartland.” I plan to make them strictly from domestic woods. From the quartersawn Douglas Fir soundboard, to the Walnut binding, and even the solid Hard Maple pinblock, every wooden part of these psalteries will be made from domestic woods.
Except I’d never gone this low before: that is, I’d never strung a psaltery to be played as low as the instrument that I was proposing. (I’m planning to have the 3-octave model start on G2, a full octave lower than my current model.)
