DAVY'S KOVAC HARP RESOURCES
See the following links for helpful resources on building, maintaining, setting up & tuning your harp.
Free 3rd Party PDF Readers: (Adobe Acrobat Reader & Foxit PDF Reader)
DIY Kovac Harp Materials, Tools & String Lists: (6 Separate Pages)
- 22 String PVC Piper Harp
- 26 String Pine Harp
- 26 String Harpune
- 22 String Paraguayan Folk Harp*
- 29 String Paraguayan Folk Harp*
- 36 String Paraguayan Folk Harp*
* For the above 3 Paraguayan Folk Harps, ignore the string diameters suggested in the "Harpmaking Made Simple" book. John Kovac later updated those parameters to what is now found in the above documents. (Adjust all string hole & grommets sizes proportionally.)
Materials Resources:
- Wood, glues, surface finishes, tools, hardware, etc: Any "Big Box" home & lumber stores (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) &/or national lumber stores (84 Lumber, etc.). Harbor Freight is good for inexpensive tools if you are making only a single harp.
- Harp Strings, Grommets, etc: We highly recommend only Vermont Strings. They maintain on file, string parameters for each Kovac harp.
- String Tuning Mechanisms: We highly recommend only C.B. Gitty.
** If you desire to make your harp's Soundboard from superior "Paulownia" quartersawn wood instead of Sitka Spruce (as we do for our ParaHarps), we highly recommend either:
- David Sutton, (423) 278-8891, http://www.paulowniasource.com, Tennesee, USA
- Danny Blickenstaff, MT. HOPE FARMS, (301) 790-2372, Maryland, USA
Supplemental PDF Document Set: (11 Pages)
- Harp Resources & Links
- Mandatory & necessary Harp Tuning Mechanism modifications
- Detailed string paths
- Attaching strings to your harp & winding
- Optional Tuning Modifications for your harp (making tuning life easier)
ParaHarp Folk Harp:
- Instruction Plans (Click to Review Assembly Instructions)
- ParaHarp 26 String Chart
- ParaHarp 33 String Chart (Coming soon)
How to Tie a Knot on Your Harp Strings (At the Soundboard)
Middle C Finder (Traditional C4)
Updated 2020 String Charts for Kovac Harps