Asking for advice before buying a 32-36 lever harp

[HBrock25]

Hi, I’ve lately sold my Salvi Livia 36 strings harp which I loved (I’ve returned from US to Israel), and now I have

[daniele-di]

Hi Hanna,

the only harps I tried for a bit (at an harp festival) are the Ogden and the Hermine, I don`t know about the others, so I can only share some thoughts with you.
First, why did you sold the Livia? 😀 I tried it and it sounded really sweet.
I know some people say that an used harp sound better than a new one, but If I had to take a new harp that I will keep for a lifetime, I would go for a new one (like I actually did).
Lots of people praise the Ogden and also the Troubadour, but I wasn`t so impressed when I tried them.
Probably because -as far as I know- those harps have the same string tension and spacing as the L&G pedal harps, which is a good thing for people that want to go for a pedal harp, but I found it a bit unconfortable, and the string tension is just too much for me, even If I suppose you`ll get used to it at some point.

I remember the Camacs sounded lovely, but I don`t remember exactly the sound of the Hermine, the one I tried and liked the most was the Melusine, but in the end I felt in love with the Dusty String ones which I believe they have the most beautiful sound 🙂

Daniele

[jennifer-buehler]

I can’t say enough good things about my Thormahlen.

[kay-lister]

. . .

[sherry-lenox]

I agree with Jennifer. I had the chance to play an old Thormahlen over the summer and it sounded wonderful. The Swan is also a very versatile instrument.

If you got the Thormahlen at a good enough price, you could have the old levers replaced with Camac levers if it didn’t have them originally.

As another thought, some people don’t like synthetic strings, so unless you have played them previously, that might or might not work well for you.

[Hanna Palmon]

Thank you so much for your thoughts and advices! I’ve heard the Camac Melusine yesterday and loved it, and tomorrow will try the Concert Melusine; I’m very curious to try the old Thormahlen Swan, which costs half of a new Swan’s price. The question is, of course, whether 15 years ago the Thormahlens were as excellent as the new ones

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