WOW! Very interesting! Unfortunately I’m not able to help you though. Somebody else will be, for sure. Have you asked Camac’s customer service? I’m curious and will follow this thread…

– Lily

I thought I should have tagged @wil-weten ! 👍

What’s the lifespan of an old harp like that? For playing?

I find it beautiful just to look at…

Congratulations, Mel! 🙂

@MEL, mine was strung with pedal gut strings. At the time, this model was both sold as nylon strung as pedal gut strung.
I wouldn’t string it into fluoro carbon strings, as with the same diameters of the strings, they would increase the tension which is bad for harps in general, but especially for older harps, and with the same tension, the strings would be significantly thinner and that could be a problem for the old levers which might work less well (the plastic levers can hardly be adjusted). Also, the sound of gut is quite different from fluorocarbon strings.
Now,if you want or need to replace strings and you’re on a budget, you may like to try Camac Nylgut. That is especially suitable for harps with pedal gut tension and it has practically the same diameters. Nylgut sounds a bit less rich than natural gut, but it is much cheaper, and I actually like it being a bit brighter than gut, but not as bright as nylon.

If the levers are still functional, don’t change them. If you need to replace a few, chances are that Camac could still provide you with them. Though the modern Camac levers are great, putting them on this harp would cost a lot of money. Think of removing the current levers, filling up the holes, drilling new holes, masking the filled up holes and putting new levers on. I really don’t think it would be worth the price.

@Lily Camac harps are very sturdy and heavily built. If they’re properly cared for, they could last at least for the rest of your harp playing life.