Page Two

Making the Tailpiece, Cutting the Belly & Back, Making the Bridge

Step 4 - Making the Tailpiece

The strings are attached to the lyre with zither pins on the arch at the top, stretched down over a moveable bridge, tied securely to a tailpiece akin to that found on a violin, which in turn are fastened to a small peg at the base of the instrument, holding everything taut. A sketch provided the basis for the tailpiece design, but it was important to make it in dimensions fitting the rest of the instrument.

Examining an image of the reconstructed lyre currently held at the British Museum proved most helpful in determining relative scale and dimension. The image can be viewed here.

 

 

Having cut the tailpiece from the offcuts of hardwood, it then needed to be much thinner in order to lie flat against the belly of the sound chamber.

Once it had been cut to an appropriate thickness it was sanded smooth. Holes for the strings and the fastener would be cut at a later stage when the instrument was being assembled.

 

Step 5 - Cutting the Belly & Back

As mentioned above, the sanded body of the lyre was used as a template to create the belly and back pieces in plywood. Ply can be difficult to cut, with its tendency to splinter at the edges, so an extra 1/4" was added to the measurement during the cutting process.

This was done freehand rather then by drawing an extra border, as can be seen in the photo. All of the extra was sanded down once the ply and hardwood sections were glued together, removing the uneven edges and giving perfect straight lines on the final instrument.

 

 

Step 6 - Making the Bridge

The bridge holds the strings away from the body of the instrument, allowing them to vibrate freely. The source material has a sketch of the required shape, but the dimensions depend on the width of the tailpiece - the H shaped bridge should be as wide as the widest point of the tailpiece, which helps ensure the correct spacing of the strings. The outline was drawn onto hardwood, ready for cutting and sanding; as with the tailpiece the resultant piece needs to be thinner than the full depth of the hardwood, in this case approximately half the depth.

 

 

Cut out and with the hard edges sanded to a curve, the bridge is complete apart from the small grooves in which the strings will lie to prevent them slipping when under tension. Note that the bases of the two sides of the H have been left smooth to sit flush against the belly. The bridge is moveable, that is, its position between strings and instrument can be changed to help with tuning, but the tension will hold it firmly in place at all times.

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