About 11 years ago I built a harp from simple plans, and found that the simplicity of the design prevented the harp from having the kind of sound that I wanted to create. The materials seemed to be poorly suited to the high loads on the instrument and so only low tension strings could be used, making the harp “slow” and imprecise. My experience with fast sailboats told me that I could do better, so I designed a carbon/wood composite harp as a prototype for my wife Moira Nelson

After a few refinements I felt that it was time to create a new design with all the changes incorporated. The new harp (under construction) is lighter, stronger and has a wider range with 38 strings. The soundbox is vacuum bagged carbon with corecell in critical areas, and the neck is black walnut with an integral carbon beam to handle almost a ton of static loads, The post is a carbon/aluminum/foam unit for light weight, high strength and low transmission of vibration. This harp is intended to play like a concert harp, without the weight, maintenance and cost. It was not intended to be inexpensive, but high quality at a fair price.

Over the years I have repaired a number of harps, and my specialty is repairing cracked and broken necks using composite materials to make the neck much stronger than original, while retaining most of the original appearance. In the shop at this time is a “Gothic 36” with the usual neck failure and some separation of the soundboard at the bottom. Please contact me if you have any problem and we will find a solution.

Future plans are for a smaller harp for travel, 32 strings, all carbon, light, strong and weatherproof.