Harp FAQ

Here are a few FAQ's folks like to ask. Is your question not on this list? To ask, email us here. We'd love to answer all your harp & music questions!

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Do I need expensive power tools to build a harp?

No, you can build a high-quality harp with basic woodworking tools. While a drill press, router, and band saw make the process faster, John Kovac’s "Harpmaking Made Simple" methods were designed for the home DIY builder using common hand & power tools. For those who want to skip the heavy machinery entirely, our pre-cut wood kits provide all the complex pieces ready for assembly.

How long does it take to build a 26-string harp?

Most first-time builders can complete a 26-string harp in 20 to 50 hours of active work. The timeline depends on your experience level and whether you are starting from scratch or using a pre-cut kit. A dedicated builder can often finish the assembly in a few weeks of part-time evenings, while the finishing, stringing, & tuning process can add several additional days for glue & varnish to cure, strings to settle, etc.

Can I use plywood for a harp soundboard?

Yes and no; it depends entirely on the plywood.

High-quality 1/8" thick, 5-ply aircraft birch plywood is an excellent choice for a DIY folk harp soundboard. While solid spruce is the traditional material, premium aircraft-grade birch is very stable, easy to work with, and far less prone to cracking from humidity changes than solid wood.

Aircraft birch produces a bright, clear tone that works very well for folk harps. It is also much more beginner-friendly than trying to joint, thickness, and brace solid spruce planks. Better yet, it is readily available online.

Our wood-provided kits use aircraft birch soundboards, so the builder receives a proven, reliable soundboard material from the start.

That said, most other plywood is NOT suitable for harp soundboards. Ordinary construction plywood, cabinet plywood, and random hardware-store plywood should never be used.

Some builders have used Luan underlayment (not the "Sherwood" label) from big-box lumber or hardware stores as a budget soundboard material. It can work, and it can produce a decent & acceptable tone, though usually somewhat reduced in quality compared to aircraft birch.

The risk with Luan is inconsistency. Depending on the production run, some sheets may delaminate, shred, split, or weaken under long-term string pressure.

The good news is that most Kovac-style kit plans use floating soundboards that are not permanently glued into the harp body. So, if a builder chooses a cheaper Luan soundboard and it eventually fails, it can usually be replaced much more easily than a glued-in soundboard.

In Summary:
For best results, use 1/8" 5-ply aircraft birch plywood. It is stable, strong, beginner-friendly, and proven for our harp designs. Luan may be used only as a budget experiment, not as the preferred or recommended material.

How do I fix a buzzing string on a DIY harp?

Most harp string buzzes are caused by a string making slight contact with a sharping lever via a misadjusted bridge pin.

First, check the simple things:

Make sure the string is seated firmly in the bridge pin notch. Then check that the string is wound neatly and tightly on the tuning mechanism. Loose, messy, or overlapping windings from one tuning mechanism to the next can sometimes create noise.

If the buzz continues, a small adjustment to the height of the bridge pin in relation to any sharping levers used will often solve the problem.

Another common source is excess string length. Long string tails knotted inside the soundbox behind the soundboard can rub against other strings and buzz. If that is happening, trim the tail shorter.

Extra string length at the top of the neck can also buzz, especially if it is touching another string, pin, lever, or part of the harp frame. Loose hardware can also create sympathetic buzzing. Bass and lower midrange notes are more likely to reveal these problems because they move more air and vibrate the harp body more strongly.

Buzzing may also come from a loose wood component. Thin back panels are a common culprit because they can radiate the sound in all directions, making the source hard to locate.

To troubleshoot, play a note that usually causes the buzz. While it is ringing, use your other hand to gently press on different parts of the harp: the sides, back, front, neck, and hardware areas. If pressing on one area reduces or stops the buzz, you have probably found the source.

In Summary:
Start with the bridge pin & lever (if installed), and the tuning windings. Then check excess string tails, loose hardware, and finally the wood body itself. If the buzz is coming from a structural or unclear source, ask a professional harp maker before making major adjustments.

What is the difference between a lever harp and a pedal harp?

The main difference is how the instrument changes keys: lever harps use hand-operated toggles, while pedal harps use a foot-operated mechanism. Lever harps (often called folk or Celtic harps) are smaller, more portable, and ideal for the DIY builder. Pedal harps are much larger orchestral instruments designed for complex classical music that requires rapid, mid-song key changes, perfect for foot operation, leaving the hands free to play without interruption. However, many lever harp players have learned ways to adjust their hand-operated "sharping levers" while still playing. 

What does the Bible say about a harp?

The Bible frequently mentions stringed instruments, often translated into English as harps, though many of these were likely ancient lyres, such as the kinnor.

These instruments appear throughout Scripture as instruments of praise, worship, prophecy, and spiritual warfare. They are used to praise God, as in Psalm 71:22, to accompany prophecy, as in 1 Samuel 10:5, and in Revelation, they are pictured in the hands of heavenly worshippers.

It is important to understand that modern harps developed long after the simpler biblical lyre forms. The large triangular harp structure we recognize today did not exist in ancient Israel in the same way. A lyre was much easier to build, carry, and maintain using the local materials and tools available at the time.

That said, the biblical meaning is not really about the engineering difference between a lyre and a harp. A stringed instrument is still a stringed instrument. Whether the strings pass through a soundboard as on a harp, or across a frame as on a lyre, the important thing is the sound offered in worship and the heart of the worshipper.

In Summary:
Biblical “harps” were often closer to lyres than modern harps, but the spiritual message remains the same: stringed instruments have long been used to praise God, strengthen worship, and express devotion from the heart.

Still have more questions? To ask, email us here. We'd love to answer all your harp & music questions!