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Lynda Lyre KIT
Build your very own 22-string diatonic Lyre! This Lyre was designed in collaboration with Lynda Kuckenbrod to meet the needs of her SoundWerk Certification course. The Lyre is small and lightweight (only 4 pounds) making it portable and easy to hold. The 22 string diatonic scale is accessible to beginners and still provides enough range to keep skilled musicians satisfied.
Project Summary
Difficulty Rating
The DIY Kit includes quality wood parts that have been pre-fit in our woodshop. You'll assemble the parts following our detailed instructions. Once assembled, you'll do a final sanding and apply the finish of your choice. The last thing you'll do is install the included hardware and strings. You can expect to spend between 15-20 hours on this project. For a complete overview of the project, download and read through the assembly instructions.
What's Included
- All pre-cut wood parts
- All musical hardware
- Complete set of strings
- Tuning wrench
Assembly Instructions
Clamping the Lynda Lyre
Lynda Lyre Kit
| Item# | Lynda Lyre |
| Strings | 22 nylon or wire |
| Tuning | C Diatonic Tuning |
| Range | C3-C6 |
| Size | 28" long, 14" wide |
| Soundboard | Solid spruce |
| Frame | Solid cherry |
| Weight | 4 pounds |
| Warranty | Musicmakers Warranty |
This was a great first project!
As someone with moderate woodworking skills who always wanted to try instrument-making, I was an am absolutely thrilled with this kit and the end result.
The quality of materials is excellent, the instructions very thorough and easy to follow, and the difficulty rating is accurate, all of which allowed me to jump right in with confidence. On top of that, the company were on-point with their service and willingness to answer detailed questions regarding their product. I'd definitely recommend Musicmakers kits to anyone with an interest.
Just one word of advice: make sure you're clear-headed when stringing it. Doing it while under brain-fog and having to redo that step is a drag. (Thatss obviously a user error, but an important consideration.)
Avery
05/22/2022
Verified Buyer
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Lynda Lyre Kit
I have just completed my second musical instrument DIY kit from Musicmakers. Last year I did the mountain dulcimer and this year I did the Lynda Lyre. I have always found the musicmakers products to be very high quality and worth the price. The instruments are not only beautiful, but functional and produce a wonderful sound. I can’t rave enough about the dulcimer in regards to the quality and beauty of the wood. The Lyre is a gorgeous instrument, however I was a little disappointed to realize the back panel was only hard wood veneer not solid wood. I have grown to expect better quality from musicmakers. It is the type of thing that only the person building the instrument would notice but for the price I expected solid hard wood. Also the cardboard template could be more exact. I love both of these instruments and have received many compliments on their beauty.
MARTIN H Walker
01/12/2021
Verified Buyer
4 of 4 customers found this helpful.
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Lynda Lyre Kit
Fun.... beautiful... and a great way to learn this lyre.... finished it in two days.... now, awaiting the drying from Varathane 3X satin.....
This is the second kit.... I built the Cheyenne Harp, also quite easy.... it has been in several TV shows from my auditions as an actor.... come one Musicmakers.... give me a challenging kit!!
You guys are awesome.... your support and communication are laudable....
Thomas Baker
06/19/2020
Verified Buyer
3 of 3 customers found this helpful.
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Perfect (well almost)
My daughter purchased this kit but had it sent directly to me for assembly as mothering leaves her little time for building. I had previously built the Music Makers mountain dulcimer which was a great project and resulted in a fine instrument. The Lynda Lyre kit was equally as much fun (easier) and I absolutely fell in love with the the beautiful cherry wood frame pieces. Everything fit together perfectly and the design and soundboard material produce a beautiful tone. The only suggestion I would make is that MM provides a separate template that is precise instead of the one that is printed in the manual and needs some compensation for the printers need to shrink it. It was not a problem for me but it did make for some anxiety. A template (in my humble but arrogant view) needs to be perfect if it is going to be a template. Thank you music makers, I know my daughter is going to be delighted with the lynda lyre.
That is a good suggestion. Jerry is working on it right now! Hopefully we can come up with something that will be more accurate and consistent.
frederic Beach
07/15/2019
Verified Buyer
17 of 17 customers found this helpful.
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Fun , beautiful project
This project took me about 10 days.i have never done woodworking but the directions were great..take your time and think three times and cut , sand , stain etc once..sounds wonderful..hardest part was stringing it.
Pam Rossetti
11/03/2018
Verified Buyer
4 of 4 customers found this helpful.
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Awesome sound
I wanted a practice harp that could go anywhere with me; this Lyre fit the bill. The kit instructions were fabulous. I emailed my questions and got a quick response when I had any questions. Where I did not have enough clamps, I used my exercise weights. You can build this Lyre with minimum equipment. It took me a month of nights and weekends. I did a lot of pyrographic design on it to make it really pretty. The sound is wonderful. I made a backpack for it, and it goes everywhere at only 4 pounds. Whenever I start to play it, people want to hear more!
Katherine E Spignese
09/19/2018
Verified Buyer
6 of 6 customers found this helpful.
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Great value!
I purchased this kit both as a homeschool woodshop project for my daughter to put together with her dad, and to foster her interest in the harp on a tight budget. What a great little instrument. It went together easily due to the great instructions and quality parts. Great sound too.
Leslie Lawson
06/16/2018
Verified Buyer
4 of 4 customers found this helpful.
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Wow!
The kit isn't difficult to assemble--maybe a bit tedious at times (shaping the soundboard and the back, for instance), put pretty straight-forward. I saw it as a fairly-affordable way to have a small, light-weight instrument to play while kicking back on the couch, but I am amazed by the big sound of this thing! This is a beautiful-sounding instrument, despite it's diminutive size. When I'm not playing it, I find myself talking about it, and I think my wife is getting jealous! :O Hats off to Music Makers!--not for making my wife jealous, but for making a great instrument!!!
Rob Darby
05/12/2018
Verified Buyer
3 of 3 customers found this helpful.
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Very cool design and simple to put together
I totally enjoyed putting together this awesome Lyre! Simple to do and everything was made of top quality materials. Well worth the price. Everything about it is great! Can't wait to get another kit of some sort. Will buy from Musicmaker again in the near future.
Daniel Hansell
05/02/2018
Verified Buyer
2 of 2 customers found this helpful.
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Nice easy kit
Easy simple kit to put together got it sat. Noon was playing it Sunday afternoon! About six hours, looks nice sounds grate !
David Birch
04/08/2018
Verified Buyer
4 of 4 customers found this helpful.
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very nice kit
All of the parts were precisely cut except for the front and back panels which were purposely left oversized but were easy to trim back. Everything went together well and it sounds good. I did put a pickup inside the sound chamber and so I can control the volume. Now I have to play it some.
Don Werdin
04/04/2018
Verified Buyer
7 of 7 customers found this helpful.
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