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Sharping levers interchangeable with Salvi Levers?

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Home Forums Harps and Accessories Sharping levers interchangeable with Salvi Levers?

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  • #450733
    LittleBookSiren
    Participant

    Are any other levers interchangeable with the Salvi levers?

    I have an old Salvi lap harp and 3 of the levers are broken (snapped off), and two others are bent. I’m considering replacing the damaged levers with the nickel plated levers or just replacing all of them with a lever I like better and are less likely to just snap.

    The truitt’s are beautiful and I played briefly on a harp with them, and liked them, and I also like the weight, reviews, and appearance of the Forte levers, but would have to fill in and re-drill all of the holes. I could do this, but I’d like to avoid if I don’t absolutely have to do it. I assume the truitt levers would require the same?

    If I replace all the levers, I’d like to go with gold colored levers. I was given the harp, so I’m ok spending a little bit of money and a lot of elbow grease to fix it up.

    #450857
    charles-nix
    Member

    You will almost certainly have to fill in holes and redrill for almost any lever. And you will have to refinish or accept seeing the old filled holes. Either also means restringing.

    Your best option is to order a sample Truitt and/or Forte and see how they will fit on your harp. Lever mountings also require varying amounts of open neck width. So order a sample and see how it fits up and down the string band. The fret point for the new lever will be _approximately_ the same as your current levers.

    Also suggest adding up what this will cost just in parts. And if you’re not totally confident in your ability and skills for the tasks required, consider what it might cost to have a professional take over the project if you get stuck.

    A good plan might be to start with a scrap piece of finished wood, drill and mount a lever or two on it, then remove, fill the holes and remount. And understand that you will be working to very tight tolerance or it will look very crooked.

    #450938
    LittleBookSiren
    Participant

    Thanks for your very helpful response Charles! I appreciate your suggestion to test on scrap wood and knowing the cost to have a professional take over if I get stuck. I’ve done wood carving and wood refinishing, and replaced a lever, but never had to drill and place all of the levers.

    I’ll be removing the strings and existing levers to refinish the harp anyways, so either way it’s going to be a project.

    Do you know if it’s common for the nickel-plated Salvi levers to snap? Or is it likely just because this harp was abused and then neglected?

    It’s cheaper to just replace the broken and bent ones, but if they’re known for snapping, might be worth it to just replace them all while I have the harp taken apart.

    #451545
    balfour-knight
    Participant

    I have never heard that Salvi levers have any tendency to snap or break. This harp was probably knocked over, or otherwise mistreated, to break and bend those levers. If you can get levers like the originals, and if you like their tone and throw, it would certainly be easier to just replace the damaged ones. Good luck with refinishing and refurbishing this harp. By the way, if I were replaceing ALL the levers, I would use Camac (French) levers, and they have a “gold” colored option. My Dusty Strings FH36S has a full set of Camac levers, and they are great!

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