Rigel Harp in Flame Mahogany, Orion Harp in Purpleheart with black soundboard, and Rigel Harp in lightweight, aircraft grade Mahogany plywood. All have a solid Sitka spruce soundboard and nylon strings.
The Orion Cross-Strung Harp
61 strings, 5 octaves in the 5/7 configuration with a flat-backed sound box.
Height: 58 inches, Weight 25-33 pounds depending upon wood choice.
This Orion harp is made of bubinga wood with a standard hand-rubbed water resistant finish.
The original Orion cross-strung harp, made of purpleheart wood with a black soundboard.
We are very grateful to the late Harper Tasche for his assistance in the design of this harp. His advice on the string spacing and other elements required to make the cross-strung harps comfortable and easy to play was invaluable. You can hear Harper Tasche gleefully play this harp on the first ever solo cross-strung harp CD, “Depth of Field” which is performed on the Blessley Orion. “Depth of Field” features a wide variety of styles including Classical, Ragtime, Jazz, Traditional, and Original music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8INC-3UD9w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlQW8aWCmQg
To order his Harp books, go to https://folkharp.com/product-category/pdfs-by-composer/tasche-harper/The Rigel Cross-strung Harp
61 strings, 5 octaves in the 5/7 configuration with a stave-backed sound box in Western Black Walnut.
Height: 56 inches, Weight 25-32 pounds depending upon wood choice.
The Rigel Cross-strung harp pictured below was made for Harper Tasche. You can hear him gleefully play this harp on his CD, “Powers that Be,” www.harpcrossing.com and watch him play on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0uNzLV22Ks
This Rigel Cross-strung harp is hand painted in a modified Hindeloopen/Rosemaling style. It is made of an aircraft grade mahogany plywood that is certified by Lloyds of London to be free of voids (air pockets), and has a solid Sitka spruce soundboard. This construction method made the harp very lightweight for his specific travel and workshop needs.
All Blessley Instruments harps can be built in a variety of hardwoods, including cherry, maple, walnut, and mahogany. Soundboards are made of solid “Steinway Grade” Sitka spruce. Contact us at 360-910-1112 (Mark) or 360-600-8477 (Valerie) to inquire about the availability of exotic hardwoods such as bubinga or purpleheart. Extra cost options include: recurve pedestal, clavicle cut out, and variable feet height to suit your needs.