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 Bowed Psaltery Buyer's Guide
Technically, a psaltery is any instrument whose strings stretch over a sound board, like dulcimers and zithers. Psalteries in general are as old as recorded history, but psalteries played with a bow seem to be a 20th century invention.
The triangular bowed psalteries like the ones shown on this page probably emerged around 1940, but weren't widely known among North American traditional musicians until decades later.
Because the strings are pre-tuned for the notes you play, a well-tuned psaltery and well-rosined bow can give you a sweet sound out of every note you play.
For more information about bowed psalteries and their history, please see HarpersGuild's article "Introduction to Bowed Psaltery."
Makers By the Score - They are relatively easy for anyone with woodworking skills and a drill press to build, so a good number of builders have come and gone over the years.  Some, like the one to the right, recently spotted at Tamarack, are "folksy" one-offs, built by people who specialize in home-made-looking instruments like cigar-box banjos and dulcimers. They usually sound very nice.
Many "cottage industries" that built high-quality offerings similar to the four shown in the opening photo have emerged, built psalteries for a few years, then shut down, though a few are still operating.
The most prolific builders for the last few decades were Gene and Jessica Jaeger, makers of the Unicorn Strings instruments. Unfortunately, they had to discontinue production about 2022, but many examples turn up on the used market. The psalteries shown at the top and bottom of the picture near the top are both Unicorn Strings products.
A few custom builders are still operating. We will list the ones we know of on this page, with the caveat that they come and go quickly.
Chromatic Bowed Psalteries - "Chromatic" bowed psalteries have sharps and flats. Most often the "natural" keys (like the white keys of a piano) are arranged along the right edge of the instrument, and the sharp and flat keys (like the black keys of a piano) are arranged along the left edge. You'll see gaps there, just like there are gaps between the clusters of black keys on your piano.
Makers
Because these are not complicated for any experienced woodworker to build, many makers have come and gone. This list will grow as I find makers who are still making and shipping these.
In addition, a few companies are shipping bowed psalteries that have been made in Pakistan or other middle-Eastern countries. I have no opinion on their value or playabiity, sorry.
- Song of the Wood - High-quality custom psalteries made with specially-chosen materials. Builder John Read Smith started out making hammered dulcimers, so he knows his "stuff." Only a limited number are available at any time. (I have one and it's very nice.)
- James Jones Instruments makes a variety of instruments including at least three sizes of bowed psalteries. I haven't had my hands on one, but I hear good things.
- Zither Heaven, an American builder, made a nice selection of Folk instruments, and I haven't been disappointed with their psalteries I've come across. They seem to have gone out of business as of early 2025, but some very nice psalteries are still available new through secondary marketplaces like Amazon. How long that will last, I don't know.
- Roosebeck instruments are made in the middle East and vary widely in quality, though I've seen some well-built examples. Right now, several are available on Amazon, including "oversized" instruments that play deeper notes than standard psalteries..
Right now there seem to be several others who make a few at a time and don't always keep their web sites updated, so it's hard to tell if they're in business or not. I'm hoping to sort more of them out in the near future.
Get On My List - If you make bowed psalteries and you're not on my list, please use our Contact page to let me know. Include a link to your web site in the comments, please.
Recent manufacturers whose products you may still come across new or in good conditon.
- Unicorn Strings, an American builder, made more bowed psalteries than pretty much all the other builders put together. That said, they started building in the 1980s and went out of business about 2022, so you'll find them in all ages and conditions. They're very solid, though. I have one of their earliest ones, and it's playable in spite of obvious past abuse.
- Inspired Instrument made some fine examples, though they have sadly had to discontinue manufacturing.
- Orchard Springs made one in solid walnut I liked the appearance of, but have not had in my hands.
Countless other builders have come and gone. Several have made very nice professional-quality instruments that I've only ever seen one or two of. Plus a few made by craftspersons who never sold their wares turn up once in a while.
So, I'm not listing all the ones I've seen, especially since I can't report on them.
Conclusion
Like most of the articles on our HarpersGuild and CreekDontRise pages, this article came as a result of reader inquiries, and discovering that much of the "information" on these things was either patchy or unreliable. So I've picked up a few different pieces to make certain what I was writing about them was correct and tracked down what seem to be the most reliable sources of information.
That said, if you have a correction or a question, please contact me and I'll be glad to hear from you.
Also, if you make or play bowed psalteries, and want to provide additional information, corrections, etc. we'd be glad to hear from you.
 Whatever else you get out of our pages, I hope you come away with some great ideas for "sharing the joy."
And please stay in touch!
- Paul Race
*Here's an irony: every year, I receive about a dozen complaints from folks who have never been to my sites before, angry that a deal between that person and a vendor or manufacturer I recommend went south (in their opinion). They "googled" the product, saw my recommendation or review, then e-mailed me to tell me they were going to sue me or report me to the Better Business Bureau for personally ripping them off by recommending a product they had bought from someone else. Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, the problem is really because the customer didn't read the whole ad, or ordered the wrong thing, or threw away his paperwork and doesn't know where he bought it from, etc. I'm always polite, and sometimes I can even help them get things straightened out with the vendor, but it's not, technically, my problem.
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