Kontrabas nyckelharpa

Making the keys is the last complicated job for the kontrabas, simply because they are all slightly different, and some […]

The nut on a stringed instrument like the nyckelharpa is the piece of wood (or sometimes plastic) over which the

When I first started the drawings I had decided how I wanted to tune the sympathetic strings. I wanted a

I wanted the kontrabas body to be a fairly dark colour, and initially thought that “Falun red” (the colour of

Nycklar och löv – 1 🙂 (Keys and tangents – 1) The raw materials!

The tailpiece isn’t fastened to the body, just held in place by the tension of the strings and a retaining

The bridge is a key component – but pretty small! In the traditional instruments, some of the sympathetic strings were

Unfortunately I forgot to take photos as I was making the soundpost. It’s another piece of the old piano soundboard,

There are a lot of possibilities in choosing the wood to use from my recycled piano – I don’t know

The key box design is very simple (thank you Kjell Lundvall for the suggestion). It’s even more simple than the

Having got the top nicely smooth, it’s time to cut some holes in it. Knowing how much work has gone

Now the top (second version) is glued up from strips, and approximately the right shape, it has to be shaped,

Having found that a steamed top wasn’t really working well enough – I really think this old timber is very

Before completing the second attempt at the top of the instrument, I decided to complete and glue on the headstock

Before the top can be attached to the body, there are a few more things to do. First, decide how

After a lot of work planing the piece selected for the top to thickness (about 3.5 to 4mm), it was

Originally I thought I would make the top from glued pieces, and cut it out to shape with chisels and

The back of the instrument is made from tonewood – a part of the old piano soundboard, cut to size

Time to finish the rough shaping, and round off all the sharp corners! First a bit more wood can be

Now I have a lump of wood that’s roughly nyckelharpa shaped, it’s time to start cutting bits off to get