Michael J King- Instruments

Order Book Open for 2025 commissions. Parts plans and accessories available , shop here

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Instruments, Strings, parts, plans, Lyre making USB and Printed plans, other accessories and supplies

Downloads

Plans are available for instant download in PDF format, designed to be printed out on home printers. Wide overlaps to help collate the drawings. Support provided by email. These are my best and current models of instruments.

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Instruments

Order book open for 2025. 8 spaces left! View details »

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"Viking" 6 string and 7 string Lyre

My "Viking" Lyre model (Hedeby Lyre) is available as a 6-string model or as a 7-string Hybrid with the Scale length and tuning of the Kravik lyre with the simplicity of the older lyre design to create a versatile and warm sounding 7 String lyre. Uses my Kravik Lyre string set. Maple body, choice of soundboards, Spruce, Cedar and Maple. made to order/stock 2024

11 String Kanteles

11 String Kanteles are one of my favourite Kantele models. the tutor book by Arja Kastinen is available for this instrument. This is a fabulous, great-sounding Kantele made with a Cherry wood frame, a Cedar soundboard and a hard beech pin block for reliable tuning complete with the Tuning Key mounted underneath if wished, the culmination of my 20 years of making Kanteles, let me know if you are interested in one of these. Plans available on my Kantele making CD

Standard Cedar and maple Lyres,

Cedar and Maple lyres are now available to order direct through etsy.com, These warm-sounding models with wood decoration on arms sound as good as the more decorated models but are available within 2-3 months. These Cedar topped lyres combined with Fluorocarbon strings provide a versatile toolkit to explore different tunings and pitches. These feature the same hide glued tops as my more expensive lyres but have a machine-routed body from a solid plank. Wooden pegs as standard, harp pins or gut strings are also optional. The plans for this model are based on the Sutton Hoo shape, see my Lyre making DVD

new standard model lyre, plain maple with strap