Months ago when I displayed photos of Gilligan, my rental harp’s woes and how badly he needs restoration, some of my Facebook friends advised me to send the harp back and get a new harp instead. But because of the unpleasant circumstances of failed attempts to get approved by Allegro, roadblocks, let downs, and the unwillingness partaking in various rent to own new pedal programs coming from well known harp dealers that don’t last long, I’m going to stay with the decision of choosing the next best thing — buy, keep, and restore Gilligan even if I have to wait months for him to be restored at Venus Harps which in a way is no different than what an expectant mother feels when she has to wait 9 months for her baby to be born.

The $1,200 I earned through performances of last year will go towards a complete set of new strings, tuning pins, and new shoes. But what I want to know is how much are the regulation of the harp, the reriveting of the action, replacement of the pedals and mechanisms, base and soundboard including decals, the fixing of the cracks and scratches, and, other than at Venus Harps in Chicago, where nearby can I find a professional harp technician in the Lansing, Michigan area who can come and look at my harp, regulate, and make repairs on him?

BTW, here’s a collection of photos on Flickr showing what’s wrong with him

Gilligan: A Venus Classic Harp in need of restoration.