Woods Used for making
Wire–Strung Harps

The wood used to make a harp is critical in defining the sound of the instrument, the look and feel of it, and the weight of the finished harp. Some people are concerned about using native woods, woods that were used to make the instruments that have survived from years and centuries past, and the treatment of the wood used.

As this section of our website grows, we hope to have more illustrations of particular woods, the trees from which those woods come, information on some of the treatments that makers give their wood, and pages on the different woods available to the modern harp maker.

Historic Woods used in the harps that have survived from before 1800.
Woods Bibliography resources on various historic woods.
Personal thoughts and experiences from modern harp-makers:
American Woods by James Skeen, harpmaker in Tennessee, United States of America
The Isle of Skye by William Macdonald, harpmaker in the Hebrides, Scotland