Little Things Are Big Things

In harp lutherie, as in all lutherie, it quality comes down to details. Here are just three little things that really are big things.

Rees Harp Tuning Wrench

You’re thinking, what can be special about a tuning wrench?  The thing that distinguishes a Rees wrench from other wrenches is that it is not special at all.  We have our harp tuning pins specially machined so that a standard drum key (the keys which are used to tighten drum heads) can be used to tune them.  In other words, if you lose your wrench when you are at an out-of-town gig, you can go into any musical instrument store on the planet, purchase a standard drum key (for about $2.00) and you are ready to go.  So, nothing special turns out to be very special indeed.

Harp Weight

Rees has been a leader in building lighter weight wood harps with huge voices for years. You should not have to decide between being able to handle your instrument and having it voice with a concert quality intonation and dynamic range. William applies classical lutherie techniques to pack lots of voice into the fewest pounds possible so that younever sacrifice what you hear for what you carry.

Leg Room and a New Shoulder

Because so many lever harps have large, wide, deep soundboxes which taper away from the soundboard at the base, harpists have to have a longer reach, tilt the harp to a steeper angle, and sit with their legs farther apart in order to accommodate the large soundbox.  Since Rees harps are smaller in all of these respects (See Flat Backs vs Staved or Round Backs), there is considerably more leg room and harpers are able to more comfortably sit with the harp. Additionally, in response to requests from our customers of smaller stature, we are now offering all concert line Rees harps with a narrower shoulder.