Are Pakistani Harps still as bad as people say?

[Michaela Braveman]

After reading the entire log of messages, I would have to agree with Michael and Liam in that there is a need to be respectful and tolerant of other people’s opinions. I have seen similar

[Jerusha Amado]

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I’ve owned both the Thormahlen and the Dusty brands, and after selling my Thor I bought a Dusty.

[brook-boddie]

Jerusha, I agree with you.

[Rachel]

I agree, I have toured the Dusty Strings workshop and was very impressed with the care and process they put into each harp.

[Michaela Braveman]

Brook and Jerusha,

I was using the Dusty – Thormahlen comparisson as an example of how we can all have difference in opinion. As Jerusha stated in his message “it’s all a matter of personal preference”…, I couldn’t agree more! We all hear, see and want different things from a harp…, thank God there are choices out there!

Going back to the subject of Pakistani harps and previous exchanges in this log, I think it is important to respect our differences in opinion. If somebody is happy playing a Pakistani harp…, I think that is great. Same with the Dusty’s.

I notced a couple people

[brook-boddie]

Perhaps the reason the market is flooded with them is because they are great harps.

[Jerusha Amado]

Michaela,

The problem occurred with your statement that the craftsmanship of a Dusty doesn’t compare to other brands, which is simply not true.

[Geri McQuillen]

Hello Ken.

It’s is so nice to hear from another Denwar owner.

[Audrey Nickel]

And the question with the Pakis still comes down to one of reliability.

[Michaela Braveman]

Hi Jerusha,

It is not a matter of “superior of inferior”, it is a matter of being different! It’s like comparring apples to oranges…, you can’t!

Coming from a carpenter family, let me give you an example of what I mean. If you are looking to remodel your kitchen, you have two choices: 1. Go to your local home improvement store and chose your cabinets from one of the many lines of pre-fabricated cabinets (many of which are very good quality…, in fact, I happen to have some of them in my own kitchen) OR 2. Hire a master carpenter to custom build your cabinets uniquely for your kitchen. Whichever option you choose, you can end up with beautiful cabinets, however, from a craftsman perspective, they do not campare.

Same applies to harps. Dusty is a reputable harp builder who makes good quality harps, however, they are mass-manufactured. Most

[Jerusha Amado]

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[Michaela Braveman]

<There was an implication in your words that the Dusty was inferior, which is why Dusty owners came to the defense of the brand.

[william-weber]

Mid-East was good about my complaint of a break in the soundboard: they replaced the instrument promptly, allowing me to keep the string set and tuning key from the old one. The replacement has endured two or three times as long, though I’m being very careful with it. The dull sound, I discovered, could be cured by putting on those replacement strings, which are glassy-smooth compared with the bumpy original ones. String tone and tunability improved beyond comparison.

Markwood Heavenly Strings have already packaged string sets called “PakistanHeather” and “PakistanMeghan”. Now that I made Markwood a string table of my Mid-East x-strung, maybe they will list a “PakistanCaitlin”.

Pakistan harps? Not for the beginner, who has more important concerns. Got a dull plunky one? Put on some real strings and try it again.

[Jerusha Amado]

I never said that you said the word inferior.

[unknown-user]

Gee folks.

Umm, thanks for answering my question almost two years ago. If I’d known it was going to cause such trouble and bad feelings I would never have posted it. How about we all agree to disagree and stay friends?

I don’t get a lot of time to play harp as I did when I first posted although I do the odd gig. I am working a lot as a keyboardist with a commercial country/rock project right now but I still love my L+H and play here and there. I also sing folk still and am working on some folk music research (My part-time day job is history related). Thanks again to everyone for their kind input.

Peace, respect, love and good karma to all. Let’s wrap this thread up before there are any more hurt feelings eh.

Cheers

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