The Swan and Cygnet Harp Design

THE SOUNDBOX:

The soundboxes on the Swan and the Cygnet are exactly the same construction and size. We could stop part way through construction and change a Swan into a Cygnet or vice versa. They are the exact same box. They have a graceful and comfortable staved back (semi rounded) soundbox, lined with contrasting binding.

A Cherry Cygnet and a Koa Swan

THE SOUNDBOARD:

Our Swans and Cygnets come with a veneered solid wood soundboard. The veneer helps cut the overtones and gives your harp a very smooth and uniform look. Spruce, Cedar and Redwood (depending on availability of Redwood) are the possible choices for your harps soundboard. The harps below are Bubinga with a redwood soundboard, Cherry with a Spruce soundboard and Koa with a Cedar soundboard. We can use a spruce soundboard and veneer it with cedar or we can use a Cedar soundboard and veneer it with spruce. On our Walnut harps we like to use a Cedar soundboard.

Redwood is the left photo, Spruce is in the middle and Cedar is on the right.

The string rib can be light or dark as seen in the pictures above and notice the inlay around the soundboard and on the pillar of the Koa harp in the photo on the right.

THE PILLAR and THE NECK

The Swan T-Braced pillar

The pillar of the Swan has an elegant T-Brace that matches the soundbox wood. This not only adds strength to the pillar but creates a beautiful front showpiece to your harp.

Maple and Koa Swans

THE S-Curve Cygnet Pillar

The pillar of the Cynget has a graceful S-curve that is both beautiful to look at and strong in it's construction. It gives this harp a beautiful nighttime sillouette.

Walnut, Cherry, Maple and Koa Cygnets

THE NECK:

The Piano pin block in the center of the harp neck, makes the neck virtually unbreakable. The same construction is used on the Swans and the Cygnets. The harp below is a Walnut Swan.

To make the harp neck, Dave takes a piece of wood that is like the wood the harp box is made out of and splits it down the center. He opens it up and puts the piano pin block in between, like a sandwich, with the bread being the harp wood and the piano pin block being the sandwich filling. He glues it all together to make a gorgeous and strong harp neck.

The Swan name plate adds strength to the neck and pillar joint of the Swan. The Cygnet pillar is shorter than the Swan Pillar and is constructed a little differenty thus not needing the name plate reinforcement.

THE LEVERS:

We use the Camac levers as the standard lever on all of our harps. They have the clearest levered tone available. They are easy to regulate using the threaded bridge pins. They are also color coded for ease in flipping levers. The Truitts and Lovelands are available upon request and may have an upcharge.

THE FEET:

Notice the rubber on the bottom of the feet of both the Swan and the Cygnet, which helps to keep the harp from slipping when playing on an uncarpeted floor.

Here's a picture of the regular and short feet of a Swan.

If you have any questions about any of these details, please feel free to email or call us. Contact information is below.

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