Morning Thorpe Lyre(Student model)
This Lyre is known only by its copper alloy mounts that are attached at an angle. I have chosen to make this a starter Lyre, for people intersted in the Lyres sounds/use but dont want to worry about wooden tuning pegs and gut strings. I offer 2 types of end button styles.The example below has an oak body with Maple soundboard Nylegut strings and zither pin tuning pegs.
£400
Bergh Apton Lyre
This instrument is made of Sycamore/maple throughout with brass mounts. bands, and which includes a hand strap and pins.
I can provide this instrument with rear or front mounted pegs
(also available in oak and maple for £500)
£600
Prittlewell Lyre
This Lyre is similer to the snape Lyre in that it has circular mounts, as this instrument is still under conservation/investigation my current interpretation has just plain mounts and rear mounted Sutton hoo style pegs.
£500
Snape Lyre
This instrument has an oak soundboard which has a more muted sound when plucked but sounds great when strummed!! It has plain circular mounts like the Prittlewell Lyre. I tend to make this lyre a little smaller than the other Lyres and like to tune it up higher.
£500
More Lyres
I plan to add the little cologne Lyre tuned to C at some point, this will cost around £500 The trossingen Lyre I hope to add as soon as the data is available, around £400 in plain timber
Choices
All of my instruments are handmade from solid wood, with separate strings arms morticed into the top of the instrument.
Great care goes into choice of timber for these instruments.
The Bridge is Boxwood and the Tailpiece Yew with Gut strings. Pegs are made from a variety of Yew or Boxwood (Poplar/Willow on demand) I can make instruments with pegs tuned from the front like the Sutton Hoo model in the British museum or from behind (Like the trossingen example)which works better physically as strings pull the pegs tight in the string arm. With the Sutton Hoo peg type you have to apply firm pressure* when tuning to avoid the peg coming out, which is something you learn about rather quickly anyhow!
*from
2005 l intoduded an improved type of tuning key, made of 6
pieces of wood that replaced the older carved socket tuning
keys I used to make, these work well. The Trossingen type of peg might not need a tuning key at all! I will experiment when I have more info.
On the Sutton Hoo model these soundboard pins come as standard but I can add them to other models, each pin/brad is hand cut.