The bowed psaltery, like most of the instruments I build, has an unclear history. A few music historians claim the instrument dates back to the Hellenistic or Renaissance periods and a very small minority claim it dates back to Biblical times. Although the instrument does appear to be something characteristic of the Renaissance the most generally accepted theories place the origin of the bowed psaltery during the late 1800s or early 1900s. Its design is often credited to a German music teacher who used it as a simple instrument for beginning music students to learn.

Bowed Psalteries are triangular in shape with the stings arranged in a manner that permits each string to be bowed separately thus creating the individual notes of a melody. A form of the zither, the strings run from pegs at the base of the instrument to pegs arranged along the side. Set up much like a piano, the notes on the right side of the instrument are tuned like the white keys and those on the left side, the sharps and flats, are tuned like the black keys. Unlike a violin, each string of the bowed psaltery is tuned to a different note so one does not need to finger or fret the strings when playing. Notes played on the bowed psaltery continue to ring after being played, giving this instrument a very haunting and distinctive sound. Most bowed psalteries have 24 strings and a two octave range.  The bow is usually made with horse hair and rosined to create sound when it is pulled or pushed over the stings.

Bowed Psalteries Handcrafted by Steven Stapleton are professional quality instruments with 32 strings that provide almost three octaves from a low C to a high G. They can be made of a variety of solid woods including cherry, curly maple, walnut, mahogany and various exotic woods such as bloodwood, purpleheart and sassafras. The sound box is large and deep with a soundboard made of book matched spruce, western red cedar or redwood. The bridge is made of rosewood, which is a very hard wood used to transfer the vibration of the strings to the sound box. Metal tuning pins are used because they will last for the life of the instrument and hold the strings in tune longer than plastic tuning pins. The instrument is sanded to 7000 grit inside and out. Two coats of lemon oil are applied to the inside and twelve coats of tung oil are applied to the outside of the psaltery, with a light sanding between coats, for a smooth finish that allows the instrument to vibrate better, providing a fuller and richer sound. The bow is arched for comfort and strung with horse hair. A bow, rosin, tuning sheet and tuning lever are included with the instrument. The tuning sheet can be placed under the strings to easily locate the notes while playing.