The Woods we use
We are very particular about the wood that goes into each Thormahlen Harp. In our soundboards, we use only hand-split, clear, vertical-grained spruce or cedar which provides the greatest strength and stability and the clearest tone. For the body of the harp, we use the most beautiful domestic and exotic figured hardwoods we can find. The various woods we use produce a range of tonal characteristics as discussed below.

DOMESTIC
Cherry: a warm and sweet tone that is very pleasing and mellow. It darkens with age to a beautiful amber color.
Mahogany: a big, warm voice with a long sustain
Maple: a bright tone that is well-balanced with good projection and a strong fundamental
Walnut: a medium bright, clear, open sound, rich with overtones.

EXOTICS
Bubinga: a bright, clear, ringing tone with a lot of sustain, emphasizes the fundamental.
Rosewood: a warmer than Bubinga, not as loud, has a lot of sustain, stronger on overtones.
Koa: a very rich sound with clear bell-like tones especially in the high end. Our favorite.

With all of our exotic harps we use Mahogany for the neck and pillar. This greatly reduces the weight of some of the heavier wood but also allows us to use the wood responsibly for the places that matter. We can use the same wood for the neck and pillar for an extra charge.

SOUNDBOARDS
Most of our soundboards are made of Spruce. Spruce has long been favored for the soundboards of stringed instruments. Spruce has a characteristic sound that is clear and dry. We always use it on our maple harps as seen on the harp in photo on the left. We have found that Cedar gives the harps more sustain and tends to warm up the tone and open up the bass octaves. We particularly like to use Cedar with Walnut and Rosewood (harp on left in photo), and we like Spruce with Maple, (harp on right in photo), Koa, Cherry and Mahogany.

With so many wood choices available to us, we are able to tailor the sound of the harp to your needs. If you would like to discuss the tonal qualities that you are after in a harp, call us. We'd love to help you figure out what would be the best harp woods for you.

PICK YOUR WOOD
If you would like, you can pick a wood set for your harp. There is a minimum charge of $100 to choose your own wood set. Depending on the wood set you pick, there may be a further upcharge of anywhere from $200-1200 depending on how "deluxe" of a set you pick. The sets will be labeled with their price so you can pick accordingly. We have some spectacular wood sets from time to time, so check with us to see what we have available in the wood that you're thinking of. We will give you an online link to look at a number of digital photos of the possibilities along with their costs. They would look something like this example in Koa:

Koa set A $900 (for example)

Please continue browsing by checking out Our Shop.