How to Use This Book

If you're anything like me, there are two things you will only do under extreme duress - ask for directions and read instruction manuals. When it comes to harpsichord building, both of these understandable traits can accomplish the same thing - they can get you lost in a hurry. In fact, the more you know (or think you know) about harpsichords and harpsichord building, the greater the possibility of making serious errors. At the risk of sounding totally hypocritical, let me suggest the following:

The thirty eight chapters in this book are intimately related to one another. A part that you build or a procedure that you follow in one chapter may have a profound, if not obvious, effect on another part or procedure described in another chapter. After all, we are building a harpsichord - not thirty eight unrelated entities. Understanding these relationships takes experience - something the reader of this book probably doesn't have. Therefore, in order to see more of the big picture, I suggest you read and understand the entire chapter you're working on before you begin working. In fact, reading the entire book before you start building is a terrific idea. Allow me to cite a hypothetical situation. You finish building the instrument's case and decide to get a head start on painting it. So you read the chapter on painting and proceed to apply 9 coats of paint to the case. Two months pass and it's time to install the hitchpin rails which must be firmly glued to the inside of the case. Unfortunately, glue won't stick to paint! Had you taken the time to read the entire book, you would have saved yourself the nasty task of removing all that paint.

Keep in mind that this is not a novel. It's not necessary to start at the beginning and work your way to the end. I like to start with the keyboard but you may prefer to start elsewhere. That's fine - within reason. Obviously you can't string the instrument before you build the case just as you can't paint something you haven't built yet. The advantage to starting with Chapter 1 is that I've done much of the thinking for you. Following my outline will assure that there is some logic to the order of construction. It may keep you from having to re-do something that was done prematurely. Especially important is the use of glue. In several instances, I ask you to assemble and install a part without glue - only to be taken apart and reassembled with glue. Do yourself a favor and follow this advice, even if doing so seems redundant and wasteful of your time. It may well save you a lot of grief!

Hundreds of photos and illustrations are used in the Harpsichord Project to clarify the text. Photos are used as much as possible, but there are times when an illustration provides greater clarity leading to a better understanding of the text. For the same reason, measurements in this book are given in both Imperial (inches) and Metric (millimeters) units. The Imperial measurement is given first, followed by the Metric equivalent shown between square brackets [ ].

And now, the final nugget of wisdom. If you do make an error or find something that I've written in these pages that is impossible to understand, send me an e-mail at enm@ernestmillerharpsichords.com. I'll do my best to talk you through a fix or to help you make sense of my ramblings.

Good luck on your project!