Harps by William Rees are likely the most acoustically advanced instruments you will find anywhere. That's because William Rees is a classically trained luthier and he approaches is harp designs from a luthiers point of view, as well as being a fine woodwooker.

Some of the specific features that distinguish a Rees harp are:

• SOUNDBOX - The Rees harps have a flat back that more or less parallels the soundboard. This helps bring out the weakest register on any acoustic instrument, the bass, and makes the harp's sound bigger and more colorful because the bass response is not lost or muted. The harps are also more comfortable to sit behind, requiring less of a reach to the low strings.

• ASYMMETRICAL SOUNDBOARD - Rees harps are designed with the strings going down the board slightly off center. This helps to avoid problems inherent in symmetrical soundboards where the vibrations created tend to cancel each other out. The Rees harps are sensitive to a wider range of tones and are more even from bass to treble with this construction method.

• LEVERS - Both Truitt levers and the latest generation Camac levers are available.

• ENVIROMENT - You won't find any rainforest or savannah woods in a Rees harp. Their cherry, walnut, maple and oak come from suppliers who harvest wood in a sustainable manner. Poplar, in many ways superior to the threatened species more traditionally used, makes the soundboard on a Rees harp.

• WORKMANSHIP METHODS - In every way on every harp, from the careful bracing inside the soundbox to their award-winning ornamentation on the outside, a Rees harp is likely the most carefully crafted instrument you will ever play.