Instruments of the nyckelharpa and kontrabasharpa family have a body and key mechanisms resembling those of a hurdy- gurdy, though they are played using a handheld bow rather than a rotating wheel. The kontrabasharpa is the type in common use from the eighteenth century to the first third of the nineteenth century. The name is misleading and does not refer to the instrument’s compas but is explained by the presence of a drone string (also called “bass string”), with the two melody strings placed on either side of it. It can thus be said that the two melody strings run “contre la basse” (against the bass). The kontrabasharpa has a single row of keys that stop both melody strings at the same time, unlike the modern nyckelharpa, which has three or four rows of keys, one row for each string. The kontrabasharpa also has a number of sympathetic strings, typically ten of them (compared to twelve on the modern nyckelharpa).

The violin maker Jean-Claude Condi built for the ensemble a copy of the kontrabasharpa on display at the Musée des Instruments du Musée de la Musique in Paris (ref. E.1609).
This instrument was acquired by the museum in 1900 but previously belonged to the family of the piano maker Hugues-Amédée Thibout, who is said to have received it as a gift from the Swedish painter Anders Zorn (1860-1920), a great defender of his country’s popular music. He subsequently presented it at the Universal Exhibitions of 1889 and 1900 in Paris.