I would discuss the Salvi harps with the sales manager Peter at the Santa Monica Salvi showroom. http://www.salviharpsinc.com. Yes, there are differences between the Salvi harps. Also depends on the year. My personal thought that may or may not be valid: l think the best Salvi harps were made when they used the new concept soundboard. I believe this was from 2008-2015. I have a Salvi Iris and Salvi Apollo with the new concept soundboards. They are both phenomenal and very different in sound. Ultimately, your choice comes down to whether or not you like the feel and sound of a particular harp.

I certainly agree with you, Biagio, my friend! All musical instrument players need to learn about how their instrument was made and how to maintain it. When I was an early teenager, complaining about how badly our family piano needed to be tuned, my father, who had the piano tuned only once a year, expressed his feeling: “guitar, harp, and fiddle players tune their own instruments, so I think you as a pianist need to learn how to tune your own piano.” That was that, so I began an “apprenticeship” with our local tuner. It was so good that I did that, and it enabled me to tune my own piano every time I heard something out of tune, and I made a nice business out of it tuning for other folks.

Sean, in the case of “high-end” harps, the more carving, decoration and gold it has on it, the more expensive it is. It is like cars, the more “chrome” and “bling” they have on them, the higher the cost, ha, ha! Once you get to the full professional concert grand size, past any that are referred to as “student” harps, then it is just a matter of personal taste in what the harp looks like, feels like, and sounds like.

There were two nice summer harp concerts at a local church here in NC which featured six L&H and Salvi concert grand harps and four faculty soloists, along with about 20 students. Although the harpists all were very particular about which harp they played, all six harps sounded very much alike to the audience. Many harp conferences feature “harp tastings” where the harps and players are behind a curtain or screen, so that the audience cannot see them. The results of judging the SOUND of each harp are usually a big surprise to the listeners when they are announced!

This is a fascinating topic. It will be good to read more postings about this in the future.

Harp Hugs everyone,
Balfour

That is indeed true Gretchen; vibrating string lengths are pretty standard for modern concert harps, although there may be a few differences in material here and there. So the main differences between models will lie with the sound board material, width and tapering, depth of the box and where the access holes are placed (ignoring the action of course). Still understanding exactly what that means would be a good thing for any harpist, methinks.

As all have said, there is no substitute for trying each out personally and the guidance of experienced people. Be that as it may, Sean expressed an interest in research and that too is an excellent idea.

Personally I rarely suggest one harp versus another anymore, or comment specifically on design. Rather, I suggest that that a prospective player identify artists whose music they like and what harp they play. Sure technique will make a difference but comparing, for example, Frank Voltz with Catrin Finch, or Harper Tasche with Kim Robertson might be helpful.

Gretchen,

Why did Salvi discontinue the new concept soundboard, and what are they using now?

Gretchen, my friend, do we ever agree about anything except that we both dearly love the harp?!!!Ha, Ha! In doing further research about Salvi in some older catalogs I have here, the only mention about the “new concept soundboard” applies directly to the Arion model. This model started out with 44 strings, then went to 47 like most of the harps now. You must have some information about their other harps using that new concept soundboard that I do not have-Yay! This is all good for Sean.

Sean, I know all about the changes and innovations that Camac has done to the pedal harp, too much to go into here, but check out Pacific-Atlantic Harps in Pasadena, CA on their website. Carolyn Sykes has put valuable information on there about the Camac line. These new innovations include the cables which have replaced the pedal rods, which are very easy to regulate, along with their discs. The natural discs turn in the opposite direction to the sharp discs, making for smoother pedaling with less buzzing, for example. Also, their soundboard technology is unique, and makes for a super-sounding harp. Bear in mind that my favorite one is the Atlantide-Prestige, which to my ears is well worth the price difference compared to the Athena Ex.

Harp Hugs everyone!
Balfour