AKLOT Lyre Harp, 17 Strings Thumb Piano Set

Very pretty lyre, really like it on paper, but:

As other reviewers have mentioned, the included strings are crap. They have included, essentially one set of steel guitar strings, but the thing is that the steel guitar string set they included just can’t handle the tension on the last two strings, even if you ease it in. They WILL snap and it DOES hurt. If you’re lucky, it’ll snap in the middle of the day when you’re in another room. If you’re unlucky, it’ll happen when you’re playing it. If you buy this lyre, go ahead and buy nicer guitar strings. Use an E string for the highest notes. Consult a music store for help (and buy something for their trouble!).

The finish itself is very good except in the drill-holes for the strings, which are very very rough. I had to lightly sand them. There’s some leftover sawdust and shavings packed into the hole, which is annoying to remove.

The tuning pegs, as others have noted, stink. It is VERY difficult to tune them because they really want to jump up 3-5 pitches, even if you go as gently as you can. There is no real fix for this, you would have to pay a luthier to replace all the pegs and at that point you should just buy a whole new lyre. So you’re just gonna have to put up with it.

BUT, when you get it in tune, when you use proper strings, when you clean up the machining flaws, it’s a beautiful instrument. That work is the price you pay for a cheap lyre.

I bought this lyre as Aklot was a name that mentioned in a few reddits and the price was within what I was willing to pay for in order to get started. I specifically chose the deer head because of the string count but because it looked like it had Ibex horns— and as someone who larps as a satyr, I kinda dig the goatish look.

The pros::
The strings stay in tune IF you stretch them correctly. (I have unfortunately snapped both my A5 strings and have had to get along without it.)

It’s pretty solid construction and I’ve had no issues with it.

Great beginner harp for those looking to just start out.

Full access to all strings from behind.

The Cons::

Honestly, my only main con is how tightly packed in the strings are. It makes it WAY too easy to accidentally pluck the wrong string or buzz against others.

Overall opinion is that while the strings are super close together it was still easy for me to go from zero experience to now learning my 5th song in just 30 days of anywhere from twenty minutes to an hour of practice a day.

This hand-held string instrument is so convenient to play anywhere when going for walks, visiting someone in the hospital to soothe their stress, or as a caregiver, sitting with a dog, or when a child or infant goes to sleep and relax with the sweet sounds. One does not have to play recognizable songs, one can play random strings the way it is tuned, and it is best to use one side for that, or one can try and tune the instrument to a pentatonic scale. However, one has to be careful not to tune a string too tight as they can break. Then again, a set of new strings comes with it, which is nice. When I first received this instrument and wanted to tune it, I hesitated to tighten the strings too much, but I realized that was how to tune it. And it is easy since the notes are written on the instrument. And I believe it is customary to tune the instrument several times before it stays tuned. This instrument sounds so lovely to play for oneself or others. I wished it could be tuned like a piano, but it is tuned to a kalimba scale; however, I discovered that tuned this way, one can strum chords like a guitar and play familiar songs that way, or just strum chords alone, which sounds beautiful too. This Aklot mini lyre is perfect for adults and children, and the sound is tender and sweet and can be meditative and reduce stress, and therefore be very healing as well as fun.

good product

This is very beautiful and I look forward to learning how to play!