This is an essential part of receiving your harp. It is really a good thing to keep your box, just in case you ever need it. If you can store it in the attic, basement, garage or where ever you can find room, it may come in handy someday. Please follow these instructions so you can reuse the box if you need to.

This unsolicited video from Tiffany Schaefer says it all. Take a look. It shows her unboxing her harp.

Here are the unboxing directions in a photo series.

When you receive your Thormahlen Harp, it is a good idea to take the box apart in the following manner, so you can save the box in case you ever need it.

You will see that the box is taped all the way around the triangular shape. You will want to lay the box down flat on it's side so the arrow, glass, and "don't drop" sticker are all facing up.

Take a utility knife (or kitchen knife) and go completely around the whole box cutting the tape along the edge. Make sure it is cut all the way around. You may have to cut at the corners diligently.

Turn the box over and carefully lift off the box top. This will be the part of the box that has the address label and shipping label. If it doesn't come off easily, check to see if some of the tape is still holding it together. If that is the case you may have to turn it back over and cut the tape. When you get the top off, lay it over to the side.

You will see small sections of tape all around the box. Cut those and then turn the box over again. Lift off this box that has the arrow, fragile and "don't drop" stickers on top. Lay it over to the side.

Now you will again see small sections of tape which you should cut. Remove this box top and voila, there is your harp wrapped in bubble wrap and its case. You may have a bundle of plastic bags taped across the tip of the pillar and neck. You can cut the tape of one side of that just to get it out of the way. It is put there to stabilize the harp in shipping.

Just pull back the bubble wrap and pull the case out of the box with the harp in it.

Check to make sure the knee block is in the right place. Although our shipments are usually 100% successful, IF something happened during shipping 99% of the time, this is what will happen (see picture on the left). You want the knee block to be exactly centered on top of the soundbox (see picture on the right).

You can reposition the knee block by either pounding with your fists and making it slide into place or you can loosen the strings. Don't take them off the tuning pin, just loosen them. One turn will probably do it. You may have to go all the way down to the bass wires to loosen the tension enough to put the knee block back into place. You can also try the pounding with your fists every once in a while during the string loosening to see if it will go back into place. That way you won't have to loosen any more strings than necessary. The strings will have to be tuned numerous times before they will hold pitch again.

If you try the fist pounding first, pound one fist on the knee block and the other fist on the soundbox so that you're pounding in opposite directions. You can wipe off any of the whitish compound using a cloth with paint thinner on it.

Here is a video we sent to Maeve Gilchrist to help her trouble shoot. It show the "whaking process."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxYwwZgmyn4

Put all the bubble wrap and such back in the box and put back all the boxes in order. First close the box with no stickers on it, then add the one with just stickers on top, and then finally add the box top with stickers all the way around and the address label on it.

Store the box somewhere dry and just hang onto it in case you ever need it.