Folc harps are all individually hand made. That's why I refer to the three types of harps as designs rather than models.
When a harp is begun, I can never be sure exactly how it is going to turn out.
Many tone woods are native here in the Appalachian mountains. Sawyers and millwrights have a ready market in
cabinet makers, furniture makers, gunsmiths, and the like for small batches of odd and irregular wood. So the wood I
obtain a little at a time varies greatly. There's the usual expected tone woods of black walnut, cherry, and hard maple
but I have also made instruments of butternut, sycamore, sassafras, mulberry, tulip wood, ash, hickory and a number
of other woods.
Some of the wood is only weeks old and has been kiln dried. Some has been stacked in someone's barn air drying for
75 years. Some is from youngish trees that were felled to make way for building and some were nearly dead of old
age before they were milled.
Sometimes a harp will be made from flawless #1 grade plank but since I muse and mull over every board before I
decide how to cut the parts from it, more often the board is one rejected by the cabinet maker because of knots and
boles which end up being trim and waste when the curved and arching parts are cut from the board. Such boards are
more prone to the burl and swirls that make the wood stronger and of a more striking appearance.
When the wood is being planed, shaved, and scraped into shape, and the parts are bent and clamped and assembled, the
wood will display a will of its own and cooperate or resist its destiny as a harp.
Then of course one never knows until the harp is strung and brought up pitch what will happen or exactly how it will
sound.
Now in all this you might ask, "How much are you going to want for that harp when its finished?"
Well, how would I know? If I state a given price for each design then I will continually be discarding harps that are
perfectly playable but not up to a "best of the best" standard and withholding others from list for sale because they are
of particular merit I'd be reluctant to part with them that lightly. This wouldn't be a problem for harps produced by a
formula from a standardized stock of materials and a standard cost of purchased labor. But for completely hand made
objects, it's a bit harder to pin down.
So the price list is, as Captain Barbosa told Elizabeth Swann, more like guidelines than actual rules.
When a harp is begun, I can never be sure exactly how it is going to turn out.
Many tone woods are native here in the Appalachian mountains. Sawyers and millwrights have a ready market in
cabinet makers, furniture makers, gunsmiths, and the like for small batches of odd and irregular wood. So the wood I
obtain a little at a time varies greatly. There's the usual expected tone woods of black walnut, cherry, and hard maple
but I have also made instruments of butternut, sycamore, sassafras, mulberry, tulip wood, ash, hickory and a number
of other woods.
Some of the wood is only weeks old and has been kiln dried. Some has been stacked in someone's barn air drying for
75 years. Some is from youngish trees that were felled to make way for building and some were nearly dead of old
age before they were milled.
Sometimes a harp will be made from flawless #1 grade plank but since I muse and mull over every board before I
decide how to cut the parts from it, more often the board is one rejected by the cabinet maker because of knots and
boles which end up being trim and waste when the curved and arching parts are cut from the board. Such boards are
more prone to the burl and swirls that make the wood stronger and of a more striking appearance.
When the wood is being planed, shaved, and scraped into shape, and the parts are bent and clamped and assembled, the
wood will display a will of its own and cooperate or resist its destiny as a harp.
Then of course one never knows until the harp is strung and brought up pitch what will happen or exactly how it will
sound.
Now in all this you might ask, "How much are you going to want for that harp when its finished?"
Well, how would I know? If I state a given price for each design then I will continually be discarding harps that are
perfectly playable but not up to a "best of the best" standard and withholding others from list for sale because they are
of particular merit I'd be reluctant to part with them that lightly. This wouldn't be a problem for harps produced by a
formula from a standardized stock of materials and a standard cost of purchased labor. But for completely hand made
objects, it's a bit harder to pin down.
So the price list is, as Captain Barbosa told Elizabeth Swann, more like guidelines than actual rules.
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General feel and appearance of the harp will influence its price as will its uniqueness or the uniqueness and rarity of the
materials used. A minor cosmetic flaw in the material or jointry will make the price more modest and a harp of some
unique appearance or particular turn of sound will be more dear.
The harps appearing on the available harps list are have been priced along these lines.
materials used. A minor cosmetic flaw in the material or jointry will make the price more modest and a harp of some
unique appearance or particular turn of sound will be more dear.
The harps appearing on the available harps list are have been priced along these lines.
Ancient Celtic $900 to $1100
Ancient Muse $600 to $750
Ancient Echo $600 to $750
Ancient Muse $600 to $750
Ancient Echo $600 to $750
If you want a harp built for you, simply send an email requesting it and that harp will be put on the queue as the next harp
built if the type of wood requested is at hand. When it is finished and has settled up to pitch, you will be sent pictures and
a sound sample (if possible) and the price based on the above guidelines. The request to have a harp specifically made for
you is more like the right of first refusal. If we don't agree that the harp is what you requested or if we don't agree on the
price, the harp goes to the available harps page and we'll put you back on the list for the next one if you like.
built if the type of wood requested is at hand. When it is finished and has settled up to pitch, you will be sent pictures and
a sound sample (if possible) and the price based on the above guidelines. The request to have a harp specifically made for
you is more like the right of first refusal. If we don't agree that the harp is what you requested or if we don't agree on the
price, the harp goes to the available harps page and we'll put you back on the list for the next one if you like.
At any rate, Folc harp prices are inexpensive, especially for an instrument sculpted to shape rather than built around the
convenience of the assembly line. Here you have a four octave wire strung harp with a magnificently bowed fore-pillar
and curved soundbox for under $1000. At these prices the harp player can afford to buy two or three of them and tune
them in different keys!
convenience of the assembly line. Here you have a four octave wire strung harp with a magnificently bowed fore-pillar
and curved soundbox for under $1000. At these prices the harp player can afford to buy two or three of them and tune
them in different keys!