Thanks for all this info. I am not getting the instrument after all even though I paid for it.  

I bought the instrument on eBay last week-made the seller an offer and she accepted. That was a week ago Tuesday. This morning when I sent a message asking if it had been shipped and if my payment went through ok, she suddenly gave me a refund when I had never asked for a refund.

I’m wondering if the seller changed her mind and decided she wanted to keep the instrument after all. She wrote reason for refund as “item not as described “. I did mention it might be an Aeolian harp and was looking forward to trying it out.  Maybe that made her want to keep it.

I did report it to eBay.

I think generically it is a plucked psaltery or plucked zither, not usually played with hammers but by deft fingerpicking.

It becomes an Aeolian or Wind Harp if you use it that way and it makes sound in the wind. (I've never understood how that works with average breezes, whatever Wikipedia says about vortex effects - but if it works, it works!)

I'd just tune it to a C or D scale - or whatever, depending on the thickness of the strings and what pitch they'll hold. 

Aeolian or Wind Harp.  You set it across the width of the sill of an open window, and close the sash down almost on top of it, to funnel the breeze over the strings.  

It does look to be an Aeolian harp! Thanks for everyone’s help.

Looking forward to it being shipped and receiving it.

Cool!  The name sounded familiar so I looked it up https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeolian_harp .  You let the wind play it.

Now it’s really beginning to get interesting.

Found a Don Oblander who was the guitar player in 1967-1970 for a Beaverton, Oregon band called, Summer Blues Band and later called Chains of Illusion. He did some posting on a guitar forum and might possibly have been a luthier.

Would this be meant to play with hammers?

Aeolian Harp

It reminds me  of psalters like this ones: https://www.klangwerkstatt.de/psalterien

Found a couple of obits with the name but no info on a Don Oblander who made instruments. I’ve been searching for a couple of days and can’t find much info at all about this instrument.

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I've never seen one. Is Don Oblander still around on the internet?

More pics…

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Hello to all,

I just bought this instrument online because I really thought it was neat and interesting looking. I own two mountain dulcimers and like collecting musical instruments, especially wooden stringed instruments.  My question is, what is it?

It is almost 24” long. If identified, how should it be tuned?

thanks,

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