Custom Bearclaw Tops
Tuesday, day 6. May 2008I was thinking about Bearclaw Sitka Spruce, and how each one of the tops are completely different from each other. Some have big splotches of figure, others have smaller streaks, and still others have thinner lines and trails of bearclaw figure. Additionally, the figure didn’t seem to continue itself very deeply in the wood, which […]
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Spring Cleaning
Friday, day 28. March 2008This week, probably for the first time this entire year, it feels as though I am finally “cruising” on building psalteries. I don’t have to go out and buy any supplies. I don’t have a cold or flu. I don’t have to make any new jigs or shop fixtures. I can focus on just psalteries.
I’ve […]
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Some New Note Markers
Thursday, day 27. March 2008I’ve added a few new note marker options. (You can check out all the options here.)
The first is the elegant Black Star Diopside. (Which reflects a beautiful floating light within the stone.)
And the second addition is a timeless classic: pearls. (Genuine pearls cultured on a freshwater pearl farm.)
I’m continually experiementing with new stones and new […]
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Strings, strings, and more strings
Friday, day 7. March 2008 Well, after quite a prolonged shortage, I’ve finally got my shipment of wound strings! Look for a new batch of bowed psalteries to be listed on the main site: Phantasy Psalteries in the near future.
After having experimented with all sorts of strings during the beginning of the year, I really am leaning toward nickel-plated […]
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Sick as a dog
Thursday, day 21. February 2008 Well, I’ve been sick with either the flu, or a really bad cold for most of this week. Consequently, I haven’t been able to finish any psalteries lately, but there are plenty of them on the horizon.
For now, since I am mostly bedridden, (or sometimes “office-chair-ridden”), I decided to make a little slideshow to […]
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Carbon Fiber Saddles
Thursday, day 31. January 2008I was pleasantly surprised today at the performance of a new saddle material. As a matter of fact, I found it so superior to just about all other saddle options, that I’m thinking of phasing out nearly all other materials for saddles. (Except of course using an all-wood bridge with no saddle at all, which […]
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Delignit is Here
Friday, day 18. January 2008So just what is Delignit? Delignit is a laminated pinblock material made of European Beech and bonded with phenolic resins. It is widely used in high-end pianos worldwide, and is actually imported from Germany.
In a nutshell, it is a specialized form of plywood that I’ve now adapted to be used in bowed psalteries to give […]
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Laser-cut Roses
Saturday, day 5. January 2008I’ve fought and resisted this for a while now, but decided I’d finally cave in and make laser-cut roses available via the special order form. Why did I fight it? Because I like to build everything myself, and there’s just something unsettling about using something that has basically been cut and patterned by a robot. […]
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All-Wood Bridges
Friday, day 4. January 2008When I first designed the “Phantasy Psalteries” website, the bowed psalteries I made still used plain-steel strings, and wound strings were added later as a new feature. As a result, I’m finding that not everything is a one-to-one carryover from the plain mono-filament music wire of the past.
Most notably, there is the bridge saddle. If […]
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Merry Christmas
Tuesday, day 25. December 2007I hope everyone has had a merry Christmas. I’ve had to set a few bowed psaltery projects aside for the past few days, but I should hopefully be back in full swing tomorrow.
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Phantasy Psalteries v2.0
Monday, day 3. December 2007I’m in the process of revamping my website a bit, as I get time. I’m planning on adding more options, and also editing some areas for clarity and brevity. Hopefully the navigation - particularly on the Woods and Materials page, will be much cleaner and easier to use.
I’ve got several new changes to the bowed […]
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Yes, Psaltery begins with a P…
Monday, day 26. November 2007I remember telling my aunt about my website, and I wrote down the address on a sheet of paper and handed it to her:
www.phantasypsalteries.com
She gave me a puzzled expression. I said, “do you understand what I wrote?”
“It says, fantasy pee salteries? I don’t get it” she replied.
So, just to remind everyone: yes, psaltery begins […]
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Happy Thanksgiving
Wednesday, day 21. November 2007I’ve been sick for the better part of this past week, so I’ve not been able to make a whole lot of progress on building. I hope to be back in full swing right after Thanksgiving. But nonetheless…
Happy Thanksgiving
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New Bow Size Available
Monday, day 19. November 2007I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback on shorter bows, and I’ve decided to include 1/32 size violin bows as an available bow option. As a result of this, I am shifting everything to the shorter end of the spectrum. Now, the 1/16 size will be standard, with the 1/32 being the small size, […]
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