Forged handmade jew′s harp, master from Zaporizhzhia, Gerashchenko Nestor

Today we will show our new jew′s harp. In Google services, you can hear samples of its sound, and we plan to publish thematic videos on YouTube in February.



Model ′Cossack′, note sol, made by hot forging by blacksmith Nestor Gerashchenko, from Zaporizhzhia. Due to the relocation of their workshop, we had to wait longer than usual for this series of instruments, but it was worth it! After all, we got a good musical instrument, with clearly adjusted fissures (like in a manual!), comfortable in the hand while playing and not only, and, of course, very convincingly sounding!



Sound examples can be found on our Google page. Now we cannot show the previous versions of the same model, but for ourselves, we note the evolution of the jew′s harp and the master′s experiments. The knee has an interesting swan-like shape, the soundboards are polished from the outside, the frame is massive and very rigid, so it is unlikely that it will be possible to squeeze the soundboards excessively during the playing.



A neat sharpening of the tongue is visible, along the entire working length. The tongue ring is also polished and feels good when played. Sustain (sound duration), as far as I can tell, is moderate, which is closer to the European tradition. The frame ring seems to be deliberately rough, which gives the jew′s harp the image of a primordial artifact. However, this does not bother.



The open case made of burnt wood is very nice, original, and quite functional. It is an open type, but its leather lace provides a fairly reliable fixation of the jew′s harp, protecting it from damage.


In my humble opinion, for that money (~ 35 dollars) this is a very good jew′s harp and a delivery set!
Alexander, PSK