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The company Karel Hanzík – Musical Instruments evolved out of a cabinet shop in 2001. At that time, I started to make stringed instruments: lyres, kanteles, citterns and the like. In 2007, I was joined by Ing. Petr Kopeček and, together, we began to make hook harps. After an initial three-year period during which we gathered information and experience, we now have the capability to design and build a harp to customer specifications. Each instrument we build is an original. We beilieve that, first and foremost, a musical instrument should play well and have a good sound. Its appearance (i.e. decorations, carvings, drawings, etc. that increase its price) are secondary in importance.
To the maximum extent possible, we use hand work techniques and hard wax and oil-based finishes. At the customer’s request, we can also provide a lacquer finish, but in the winter months these possibilities are limited as we have to utilize the services of a third party.
The harps we are currently making range from 100 to 160 cm (40–63 inches) in height, but we are capable of making larger harps (including double and triple harps). The number of strings is usually 26–36, and the tone range C - c4. For the first octave starting from the lower C, we use metal strings – with muting upon request – which have a sound very similar to artificial strings and which enable a range of muting settings, or an original set of strings from the U.S. company Markstrings.
In terms of the woods used, our harps are mainly from maple, ash, and elm, as well as glued materials such as bamboo and multiplex. With the latter, it is possible to build the body and column from a single piece of material, which eliminates the possibility of it coming apart later. With bamboo harps, the entire instrument (except the strings) can be made from bamboo.
We source nylon strings from Markstrings (U.S.A.), and metal strings from Gorstrings in Starý Hrozenkov, Czech Republic. The hooks, which are used to raise or lower the pitch, use either a simple stainless steel design manufactured in-house, or a lever design from the company Camac. The tuning pegs, tuning tool, and other hardware are from the company Rubner.
Our harps can be fitted with pickups for amplification, which can be useful when tuning the instrument in settings with higher levels of background noise. We use tried and tested pickups from the company Cejpek, or a miniature condenser microphone.
We are constantly expanding our harp range. We have begun to use special, thin sounding boards without openings (eliminating cracking). The new sounding boards give the instrument a fuller sound and improved dynamic range.
Harps have become our fate and our path. . . and it is definitely a less travelled path because, as one of the best performers in our area said, we use unconventional technologies and build harps using techniques not used elsewhere. He added, however, that the instruments play well and they are in demand, so why not use these techniques? That said, I do have to admit that, as time goes on, our techniques are beginning to resemble the traditional ones more and more.