Able Assistant Harp Cart

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Yes, Walter liked a rubber-plastic combination pedal wrapping. I can only guess that the wing nut is for attaching a lamp, holding the neck together, or hanging something.

[robert-stone]

Dawn: ever try to negotiate with a pawn shop? Trust me, the price they’re willing to negotiate is still more than it’s worth and 5 times what they paid for it.

[robert-stone]

you can see on one of the photos on EBAY what I’m talking about regarding the base- there is one photo of the side of the harp on the left side-there is a large gap between the base and body and there are green felts inserted there to take up the slack-also there is a large bolt with washer visible in the photo-not sure if this is original or an attempt to prevent any more separation.

[barbara-low]

No, the bolt is not original equipment, and a mystery as to why it’s there. Would you be able to find out from the original owner? The gap between the base and the body indicates to me that the body base frame has blown.

[dawn-penland]

My other thought was, Walter could reclaim it and sell it to whoever is interested.

[robert-stone]

Dawn: He could only reclaim it if he had pawned it and used the harp as collateral. They bought it outright from him so I doubt they would let him repurchase it. Oh, maybe they would -at $15,000!

[robert-stone]

Hi Barbara: I’m not sure if a hole was drilled through the body for that bolt and washer or why it’s there. That would be a shame. It might be a $6,000 or more repair according to L&H, but what would you do if it had a hole in the body? Patch it? I think at a minimum, someone would be looking at $10,000 in repairs not including the soundboard, re-riveting, alignment of the column, regulation and new strings.

[robert-stone]

Hi Barbara: I did speak to Walter again regarding the bolts near the base and they are on both sides. He didn’t use your term “blown out” but instead said it was “slipping”. He said a proper repair on it would be aprox. $8,000.- and the bolts were intended to hold it until it could be properly fixed. He said it has been like this for a few years.

[robert-stone]

Dawn:

I made the pawn shop an offer. I offered to buy it back from them with a reasonable profit and then give Walter a fair price for it. So far, they haven’t responded. I heard he sold it to the pawn shop for $2,000.- which wasn’t fair,even in the condition it’s in.

[carl-swanson]

Robert- If I understand this correctly, the base frame of the harp was slipping down. If the baseboard(the carved and gilded piece that the column sits on and which forms the top of the pedestal) is salvageable and does not have to be replaced, then the cost of repairing the base frame(in my workshop) is $3,200, not $8,000. I don’t know where he got that figure.

[robert-stone]

Carl: I don’t know if you’ve gone on EBAY and saw the pictures of this harp. If you have, or get a chance, you’ll notice one of the photos shows a crack about three inches long on the top of

[robert-stone]

A few other points: Walter Pfeil made a 48th string on top of the “g”- an “a” string-in order to do this, he created a new eyelet in the soundboad and an additional peg for the string on the neck-it also has a larger handle than the stock one-Walter said it made it easier to move around.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I didn’t notice that, but always thought it could be done, and should be, as we have literature that calls for an A, and I want to be able to write for it. Adding another string to the harp would definitely renew interest in it. A 7th Octave B would also be very useful and is also needed for some pieces.

[John Walsh]

[eliza-morrison]

I recently played this harp, and found that under the disrepair it still has a lovely, lovely sound. Unforunately, I cannot afford to both buy it and fix it. But it is a potentially great instrument; I hope some good solution can be found. It is certainly being bumped and banged a lot in its present location, which is a shame.

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