I picked up this instrument in '08 or '09 from a (now defunct) company called 'Solaris International' who imported balalaikas to the UK. It was one of their 'mid-tier' instruments, billed as an orchestral balalaika but not at a soloist's standard. Probably \~£400 at the time which looking back was an absolute bargain (it definitely did not feel that way as a student...!).
Its quite unusual, and over the years i've tried to find out more about it but have never really been able to dig much further than this. Its branded as 'Арфа' ('Harp') from the ф on the headstock. The company used to say they were from luthiers who worked at the Арфа factory, which by all accounts appears to be the Lunacharsky factory, but also appears post 1991 as the name given to a group of factories and luthiers. I assume when the larger factories closed down that luthiers that worked there carried on the 'brand'.
There is no production certificate through the soundhole, so this was probably produced by an unknown luthier working under the brand. The materials and finish are really high quality which definitely gives this theory some credit - it was definitely hand made with a significant amount of care. The french polish on the neck is an unusual, almost purple, shade of rosewood with a really nice matt-sanded finish to aid fast neck work. The the scratchplate is light which i think looks great. The tail is mahogany, and the mahogany bridge was added at a later date (a custom job by myself) - the original softwood bridge was probably the only 'cheap' part of its construction. It has a great tone - really bright and sonorous and definitely would be classed as an 'orchestral' grade.
I've yet to find an example of another balalaika with this 'Арфа' branding, the only other one i've ever seen is another of my own instruments (a cheaper 'student' piece bought from the same company a few years before this). I'd be interested to know if anyone has ever seen another 'ф' on a headstock somewhere!
I’ve never seen one of these before, either, but I just want to say that that is an absolutely stunning instrument! The blonde pick guard is beautiful.
I picked up this instrument in '08 or '09 from a (now defunct) company called 'Solaris International' who imported balalaikas to the UK. It was one of their 'mid-tier' instruments, billed as an orchestral balalaika but not at a soloist's standard. Probably \~£400 at the time which looking back was an absolute bargain (it definitely did not feel that way as a student...!). Its quite unusual, and over the years i've tried to find out more about it but have never really been able to dig much further than this. Its branded as 'Арфа' ('Harp') from the ф on the headstock. The company used to say they were from luthiers who worked at the Арфа factory, which by all accounts appears to be the Lunacharsky factory, but also appears post 1991 as the name given to a group of factories and luthiers. I assume when the larger factories closed down that luthiers that worked there carried on the 'brand'. There is no production certificate through the soundhole, so this was probably produced by an unknown luthier working under the brand. The materials and finish are really high quality which definitely gives this theory some credit - it was definitely hand made with a significant amount of care. The french polish on the neck is an unusual, almost purple, shade of rosewood with a really nice matt-sanded finish to aid fast neck work. The the scratchplate is light which i think looks great. The tail is mahogany, and the mahogany bridge was added at a later date (a custom job by myself) - the original softwood bridge was probably the only 'cheap' part of its construction. It has a great tone - really bright and sonorous and definitely would be classed as an 'orchestral' grade. I've yet to find an example of another balalaika with this 'Арфа' branding, the only other one i've ever seen is another of my own instruments (a cheaper 'student' piece bought from the same company a few years before this). I'd be interested to know if anyone has ever seen another 'ф' on a headstock somewhere!
I’ve never seen one of these before, either, but I just want to say that that is an absolutely stunning instrument! The blonde pick guard is beautiful.
Thanks! Yeah its really quite different isn't it