Lyre Harp, AKLOT 16 Metal Strings Mahogany Body Lyra Harp with Maple Saddle Carved Note Tuning Wrench Pickup Strings and Black Gig Bag

I love it. I've been unable to play my many guitars due to my hands not cooperating. This sounds great. A note for people who might benefit from tuning suggestions: 1. Don't rush to tune it the day you get it. Take it out of the box and let it set out for at least a day to get up to the "room temp" in your house. I got a wood looking stand, which is two pieces that you slot together to make a curved guitar or small instrument stand. Works perfectly on the counter. 2. When you go to tune it the first time, know that it is going to take you about an hour to do it. You want to tune it very carefully, in TINY, less than 1/32 of an inch movements. 3. The tuning it "set for" starts with the largest string, on the left, as a "G" string. So, it's: G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A 4. I put my electric tuner, DEAD CENTER of the thinnest part of the lyre, clamped on right behind the strings. 5. Put your tuning tool on the peg, holding it in your hand like you would the handle of a mug of coffee. Put your THUMB on the peg. 6. You want to tune "up" to your note, not down from past your note. NOTE: The very first time you tune the strings, they will be "falling out of tune" quickly, as they stretch to their full length. This is normal. For THAT reason, when you do your first series of tunings, once you have "hit" the note, don't worry or try to "tune it back down " if you went slightly over the perfect center mark on your tuner, into the high side. Why, because, in this FIRST TUNING session, it's going to relax and drop to the low side of the center mark on your tuner. You will fix all that at the end of tuning all the strings. You might be fixing that for a couple days, until the strings have finished stretching. 7. Start on the heavy, "wound" "G" string on the left. Make TINY, TINY, MOVEMENTS. Squeeze your hand tight on the handle of tool, while your thumb rests on the peg. You will feel imperceptible movement on the peg. You do NOT want to give it a sweeping crank. It doesn't take much, once you are in range, to go way overboard. If you crank away in big movements, it's harder to tune and you could break a string. 8. Once you feel movement, remove the tool and pluck the string to see what the tuner says to you. Put the tool back on and repeat until you get the "G" string tuned. 9. Pluck the next "A" string and tell yourself "This is "A" as you run your finger UP the string to the peg. Doing that sounds stupid, but, if you have ever been on the "wrong peg" for the string you are plucking, and you keep cranking away, because, what you pluck and what you SEE on the tuner is not going to be match right if you are plucking the 3rd string but you are cranking away on the 4th tuning peg. I learned that the hard way while tuning a 12 string guitar. 10. So, tune that "A" string, then the next "B" string, the "C" string, the "D" string, the "E, the "F" and the "G" string. If you have trouble believing your tuner, it helps to pluck the strings you have already tuned, up to the one you are working on, to "Hear" where you are. 11. You are next going to tune the first of the thin, "unwound" strings, which is an "A" string. NOTE: The "unwound", thinner, strings, will break if wound too tightly. So, if you give it a bunch of sweeping cranks, instead of imperceptible movements, that might be your result, as the thinner strings require much LESS of an adjustment before they change notes. 12. After you tune that "A" string, go back to the FIRST, heavy, "G" and gently tune your way back all those strings to that "A" string you just tuned. TINY movements, as it doesnt take much pressure to change a note at that point. NOTE: As you retune the thin strings for the SUBSEQUENT times, it takes even LESS pressure, so, be careful. 13. Tune the "B" and "C" and "D" strings. 14. Go BACK to the first string again, and gently bring all the other strings back into tune, clear up to the "D" string you just tuned. 15. Tune the "E" and "F" string. 16. Go BACK to the first string, AGAIN, and bring them all into tune. BY NOW, YOU WILL NOTICE that you ARE able to get dead center on your tuner screen, without wavering over, as the strings are stretching and holding the notes better. 17. Tune the "G" and "A" strings. 18. Go BACK to the first "G" string and adjust the tuning again. 19. Play the instrument for awhile. Then, go back and adjust the tuning again. 20. Put it away on ata stand or some manner of tablet stand, to keep it at from having the bag or anything else accidentally touching the strings, and, allow it to rest at room temp to continue its "New String" stretching. When you pick it up tomorrow, and, thereafter, you will notice that the strings are staying in tune. Remember to never CRANK on these strings. Just tightening your hand on the handle, while it's on the peg, will cause imperceptible movements. For me, I would rather tune UP to a note than go back and forth, up and down, trying to hit the note perfectly. Always go up. The reason I did this, at length, wss because I read a bunch of comments for people who got discouraged or quit trying to tune their instruments, or, thought their instrument was defective. ( I read those reviews cumulatively across all brands of lyre reviews that I read). So, I though this might help somebody with their decision to try this kind instrument.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect at this price point, and with all the extra items that would be included. The instrument is very nicely crafted. There are no rough edges, and the strings, pegs and grommets are very nicely spaced and installed. It has a nice sound quality and has metal strings. All the items in the pictures were included. The tuning is a little tight, but not unexpected for an instrument with peg tuners. Initially it will take multiple tunings while the strings stretch, but over time I feel it will stay in tune, once the strings settle in, just fine. The gig bag is nicely made, I just wish it would have a bit of padding and a storage pocket, but for the price I can't really complain. I plan on transporting it in an additional padded bag that also will have pockets for the other items. I would definitely have no problems sharing this instrument with the grandkids. I also like this design, as it allows for the instrument to either be played upright, or to be played flat on a table or lap. A good option for those of us dealing with shoulder and back arthritis. The only thing I would change, and I have to admit that I don't know if it's an option, is that I would pay for this to be placed in an additional box for shipping. It was shipped in the factory box. While this box is sufficient for that purpose of enclosing the instrument and accessories together, it's not quite strong enough to be the main shipping box. During shipping, the box received a hole in it, and the instrument has a ding on it where the box was compromised. At least the ding is on the back of the instrument. Overall, I am quite pleased with this instrument. Good quality for the price.

Very easy to use and well made.

I love this instrument. It's so beautiful and it sounds amazing! I was pleasantly surprised by the addition of a metal strip at the base of the lyre harp that prevents the strings from resting on the wood. I believe this will significantly improve the durability of the structure. My only complaint is that the edges of the strings tied to the knobs at the top are extremely sharp and easily tears into your skin so I won't recommend this product for a small child. I received a number of knicks and cuts before I realized that I needed to avoid touching the knobs altogether... But apart from the wounds, lol, I'm sooo excited and happy to have this lyre harp!

Beautiful wood, well packaged and comes with a storage bag that helps protect it. It has a very soft sound and my grandson loved it.

I love this instrument. I found the pentatonic scale too limiting and so changed the tuning to D minor. I've had no issues with the tuning pegs slipping and the resonance and sustain are great. There are minor finishing issues on the back and some of the edges were not sanded enough, but I really don't care. The price was great and the lyre sounds lovely.

So I bought this item hoping to learn the lyre. I have multiple instruments and know my way around stringed instruments mostly guitar, mandolin and ukulele. When this item arrived I was ecstatic and immediately went to tune the instrument. I'm knowledgeable on different types of strings so I knew this wouldn't be much of an issue for me. I immediately went to tuning the item because of course when you receive this instrument it is not in tune (as to be expected). The strings were wrapped properly by the manufacturer (which was surprising) so I tuned all the strings to their proper pitches using a piano recording and gave the strings plenty of time to stretch. After a couple of days I would check the notes and retune as needed. I attempted to learn a few melodies and to no surprise the strings would go out of tune which was no big deal, I expected that so I would re-tune them and set the instrument down just to give it a little more time in case the strings were still stretching. However, after a few days of this, it was clear... the tuning heads do not lock into place. With every stringed guitar that I own..when you tune the string..they lock into place. Even the cheap tuning heads that I have will still lock into place. This lyre that I bought, will NOT lock into place. Every time you try to tune it, it will gradually unwind itself. I even went as far as to tuning each individual string an entire whole note above what it should have been and the strings would end up going flat. I did this a few times and managed to get a couple strings to stay in their respective lane, but obviously without the rest of the strings on course..the end result of the harmonics were an abysmal tone that you'd expect from the innermost regions of Hell. What should you expect from such an "affordable" instrument? It is hot garbage..and yes, I watched reviews on this exact item (from youtube) that had great things to say for it being the price it is. TLDR: Save your money. Invest in a true quality instrument. If the tuning heads would have locked in place, I could work around any other imperfections. You get what you pay for and I don't think a week long headache of $60+ is worth it. I give this: negative stars, because the time I wasted already, I'll never get back.

I like it. Good for slow simple melodies. Easy to tune.