The English Autoharp Today

Chromatic Autoharps

This is the Griffin, a 21 bar basic Chromatic instrument which comes as standard with a choice of either a Sitka Spruce soundboard or a quarter sawn Mahogany soundboard.

The Griffin has 3mm saw cut veneered sides and is fitted with fine tuners as standard. Can be either a chromatic or diatonic instrument. The bridges are Beech and the instrument features a clear bass scratch plate, black chrome strap, anchor points and red chord bar felts.

Custom Built 21 bar Chromatic Autoharp

These are some great examples of custom built 21 bar Chromatic autoharps.

Featuring American Walnut back and sides, Canadian yellow Cedar-front. Laburnum bridges. Stripped Ebony chord bars, Walnut bar end covers, buttons and fine tuner cover/knee rest.

Diatonic Autoharps

This is the Raven a 15 bar basic G/D diatonic instrument which comes as standard with a soundboard of Canadian Yellow Cedar and Striped Ebony chord-bars.

The Raven has 3mm saw cut veneered sides and is fitted with fine tuners. The bridges are Laburnum and the lock-bar sliders are Maple.

This is a perfect example of a 13 bar C/F Diatonic Autoharp

G/D/A Diatonic Autoharp. Burr Walnut back and Sitka Spruce front.

C Pentatonic Autoharp

This is a 37 string C Pentatonic Autoharp. The Soundboard and back are selected quarter sawn Western Red Cedar. The laminated pin block is reduced in size, which along with the lightweight Cedar, makes this harp very lightweight and responsive. The sides are veneered with 3mm reclaimed 18th Century Cuban Mahogany. The strutting on the soundboard and back are quarter sawn Cedar. The Chord bar end covers and the bars are Mahogany. The bridges are quarter sawn Laburnum and the chord-bar buttons are Padauk wood. The Autoharp is fitted with a custom string set and a fine tuner unit.

Resonator Autoharps

This Autoharp is an acoustic harp, increased to at least 30% more volume without resorting to the use of a P A system. The harp you see here has a Sitka Spruce soundboard, the back of the harp is also a quarter sawn soundboard made from Cedar. With the addition of the Walnut resonator back plus the extra soundboard this without a doubt has greatly increased the volume and overall tone.

The Resonator harp has 3mm saw cut veneered sides and has been fitted with fine tuners. This is versatile as it can be either a Chromatic or Diatonic instrument. The bridges are Beech and the instrument features a clear bass scratch plate, black chrome strap anchor points and red Chord bar felts.

This is how one is made:

The two piece book matched back made from American Walnut

Internal sound-hole ring and strut blanks glued in place

Three piece Cedar harp back
(second soundboard) — Three piece Cedar harp back (second soundboard)

Complete harp frame and strut blanks glued in prior to final carving

Internal sound-hole ring and voiced soundboard struts in place

Back struts carved and makers label glued in place

Side veneers trimmed up and sanded
(view 2) — Side veneers trimmed up and sanded (view 2)

Image of harp after undergoing the polishing process, making and gluing on the bridges, installing the bridge pins, polished bridge caps and stringing up

2nd view of harp after undergoing the polishing process, making and gluing on the bridges, installing the bridge pins, polished bridge caps and stringing up

Images of harp after undergoing the polishing process, making and gluing on the bridges, installing the bridge pins, polished bridge caps and stringing up

Roughly shaped Walnut chord-bar covers prior to final carving and polishing

Chord-bar channel and Mahogany T section prepared ready for gluing together and milling a slot to one end and a drilled hole at the other

Chordbars completed, polished and veneered in Birds-Eye-Maple

Chord bars complete with Walnut buttons, light springs and felts glued on

Chordbars complete with Walnut buttons, light springs and felts glued on prior to cutting

Resonator back complete with turned Boxwood feet and logo

The Piano Autoharp

This instrument is very different in operation to the normal autoharp as it has a single octave piano keyboard mounted on the bars. All of the strings are damped and a string only sounds when the key for that note is pressed. This makes possible the playing of any chord playable with 5 fingers and frees the instrument from the requirement for every chord to have a dedicated bar to silence all the notes that are NOT in the cord. With this design all of the strings are normally damped (silent) and only sound when the key for that note is pressed thus any chord however weird can be played.

The instrument shown below has a resonator back fitted and has a lot in common with the Resonator Harp.

This can be upgraded as well with a French Polished soundboard and sides, a Mahogany back, chordbars, chordbar covers and buttons.