Abalone Inlay

Dress up your harp with the colorful sparkle of abalone shell, which we carefully inlay by hand between delicate strips of multi-layered veneer called purfling. Abalone inlay is available on the FH34, FH36H and FH36S models as a strip around the edge of the soundboard or a graceful celtic knot design on the front of the pillar. This is a custom option, and it can take about 6 to 8 weeks for Dusty Strings to build a harp with abalone inlay, but it is well worth the wait!  

Abalone are a group of large marine snails The shells of abalones have a low, open spiral structure, and are characterized by several open respiratory pores in a row near the shell's outer edge. The thick inner layer of the shell is composed of nacre (mother-of-pearl), which in many species is highly iridescent, giving rise to a range of strong, changeable colors, which make the shells attractive to humans as decorative objects, jewelry, and as a source of colorful mother-of-pearl.

Import and Export of abalone is subject to CITES, or the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.  Dusty Strings have to get an export licence from the  US Fish and Wildlife Service and we have to get appropriate import licences. 

Soundboard Inlay

Dusty Strings  abalone soundboard inlay outlines the entire perimeter of the soundboard.

Link to Dusty Strings blog on how they are made:

https://manufacturing.dustystrings.com/blog/crafting-hand-inlaid-celtic-knot

Available for models FH34, FH36H & FH36S

Price for this item is for the inlay and the export / import licences are extra - please contact us to get exact quotes.