Beginner with New Harp (Problems)

[wil-weten]

I think you may want to read this current thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/harp/comments/ydzh8s/was_this_refurbished_arrived_broken_with_a/ This harp has been sold by the same company as yours.

[balfour-knight]

I have read this entire thread now, and I wondered what type of tuning pins your current harp has, Fiona. If they are the standard, tapered ones, do you know how to push on them as you tune with the tuning key, to make them grip tighter in the wood? If they are the straight, threaded type, then no amount of pushing on them will help them to grip tighter. It sounded like they may be loose enough to slip back as soon as you take off the tuning key.

Hope this may help, Fiona.

Best wishes,
Balfour

[Fiona Kidd]

Wil. That is horrendous damage and I feel sorry for the OP of that thread. Reading through the thread the OP says it is a G4M harp but from a different seller. Amazon have started selling them again I noticed yesterday. Whoever sold it, the OP should demand a refund.

My harp arrived very well packaged. It was inside a plywood and wood box, then a thick cardboard box, inside that wrapped with swathes of bubble wrap and finally the harp bag which is thick and well padded.

If my harp had arrived like that, I would have gone ballistic.

I also wonder if this is the same 29 string harp G4M had on their website a few weeks before I bought my harp. They had it on a reduced price as it had been returned for some reason. I did contemplate it but decided to hold out for the 36 string model.

[Fiona Kidd]

Hello Balfour. The pins are the standard push type. I have noticed that some of the pins seem to be further into the wood than others suggesting that some of the holes have been drilled a fraction too wide.

These harps were supposed to be out of stock until just before Christmas and I’m wondering if the manufacturing company in Pakistan rushed the order and quality control went by the wayside.

[Biagio]

Fiona, assuming you keep this harp at least for now, here’s a tip for slipping pegs. Use a thin metal shim – even heavy duty aluminum foil will work, though brass is preferable. It’s not uncommon to see that done on older harps.

If they are the “push type” that means the holes/pins are tapered. Perhaps when the holes were reamed it was not precise, or the pegs were not perfectly machined. It happens.

Biagio

[Fiona Kidd]

That’s a good tip Biagio and one I will keep in mind. I haven’t played the harp today. Woke this morning with a bit of a headache that’s been with me all day. Came close to cancelling my piano lesson but went anyway. Think it’s the weather – it’s a bit thundery here today and is forecast.

Tomorrow (or at least later on today) I intend to have a musical day. I wonder if the harp will still be in tune.

[Molly]

Hi Fiona,

I’m sorry to hear about your experience with this new harp. What a bummer!! While I don’t have any knowledge about your particular harp, I can tell you that it will likely be just as expensive to change out the levers and strings, than to just save up and purchase the Dusty that you like. BUT, I would suggest against buying it new. There is a Facebook group you can join where folks all over are selling all kinds of used harps. Many of them are fantastic quality. I recently purchased my first harp used, and got it for $1500 less than a new one.

I don’t mean to sound too blunt, but you cannot purchase a 34-string harp for less than $1000USD and expect it to be of good quality. Unless, you get very very lucky finding a well-made harp secondhand. You get what you pay for. To some degree, you cannot troubleshoot your way out of shoddy workmanship. This harp is going to put you through so much grief. You should not have to fix a brand new instrument! I would highly recommend that you return your harp if you can, or sell it. Your money will be better spent if you save up a bit of money to purchase a secondhand Ravenna. You will not regret it!

[Fiona Kidd]

Hello Molly. It has certainly been annoying. I didn’t expect a cheap harp to last anyway, my idea being to learn on it and save up for a Ravenna.

I’m in the UK and secondhand Ravennas are few and far between. Morley Harps did have one about 2 years ago and it was only about £300 less than the cost of a new one so just as well to buy new.

They have got a secondhand Ravenna 34 for £1200 in at the moment but it has been water damaged. Speaking to them yesterday on the phone, it sounds perfectly playable but they advised me to come and see it for myself which I will be doing on Thursday. If you look back my previous posts, I put a link to it. If it is in reasonable condition I will be very tempted to buy it. If not, it will be a nice day out and I will be like a little kid in a candy shop!

[Molly]

Ah, I see, I didn’t read all the responses. If the water damage on the used one isn’t going to cause issues, then that seems a good choice, especially for a starter harp! I really hope that you are able to get it!!

[Tacye]

If you are looking for low priced harps in the UK some to think about are Derwent (though I find their website horrible) and Wee Nifty (haven’t heard much about them of late, but was very impressed when they launched – hope they are doing as well as they deserve!), or the second hand Niebisch and Tree on Affairs of the Harp listing. Up in price there is for instance the Camlad by Silver Spear at £2100 for 34 strings or worth looking at Pilgrim’s second hand list too.

[Fiona Kidd]

Hi Molly. I’m keeping open minded about the Ravenna at the moment. Biagio gave me some good advice on what to look for. If it is worth buying, my credit card is going to get an airing. I keep it for that rainy day that occasionally crops up. Does a harp qualify for a rainy day? Well, I suppose I can bend the rules.

What I am going to do with two harps I’m not sure yet as we have quite a small house and my baby grand piano already takes up 1/3rd of the living room. I’m trying to get my son interested. He was learning the violin but had an operation and can’t play it now but could learn to play the harp.

We’ll see what Thursday brings. In the meantime, the G4M has still kept tune except for the E6 string which is still stretching. The G4M is not making decisions easy for me. Murphy’s Law I suppose.

[Fiona Kidd]

I went to see the Ravenna this afternoon – and it now has a new home with me.

Examined it thoroughly, played it and what a difference. The levers all work smoothly and the sound is well…that famous Dusty Strings sound.

The soundboard is raised towards the bottom of the harp but the ply has not sprung apart, something Biagio kindly told me to look out for. The low C string can vibrate against the pillar but only if plucked really hard – and I mean REALLY hard at the top of the string. I couldn’t get it to vibrate.

The soundboard as it is could last many years – even outlive me but the good thing is the soundboard/box can be replaced. Cost would be between £500 and £800 depending on the exchange rate so even if I had to replace the soundbox at a later date would still be considerably less than buying a new Ravenna 34.

The harp is already tuned to Eb. At the moment it is sitting in my living room aclimatising.

Big question now is what to do with the other harp. I spent about an hour tuning it (again) last night and could hear some of the strings going out of tune while I was playing it. Spoke to Morley’s technician about it and he thinks the same as me – the tuning pins are slipping probably due to the holes being reamed too wide.

I will probably try G4M for a full refund. If not, I will sell it for whatever I can get.

I think I’ve got a bargain.

[balfour-knight]

Hi Fiona!

We are SO HAPPY for you! I owned a beautiful Ravenna 34 for about 4 1/2 years that I used mostly for a gigging harp. When I found my cherry FH36S, I traded in the Ravenna, but Ravenna was a great little harp. There is nothing quite like a Dusty, in my opinion, and I also own a gorgeous Camac Atlantide Prestige concert grand pedal harp.

Hopefully you can get a full refund from G4M. That harp just is not a top quality instrument!

My sweet wife and I are envious that you live so close to Clive Morley Harps! We would have also been like kids in a candy store, ha, ha! We live in western North Carolina, USA, and we are about 3 1/2 hours from the Atlanta Harp Center, which we enjoy going to from time to time. We are having a very beautiful Fall right now in our gorgeous mountains!

Best wishes to you,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)

[Fiona Kidd]

Hi Balfour and Carol Lynn

We had a nice run out. The trees here are quite stunning at the moment. The sun was shining after the heavy rain we had last night. Shades of gold, russets and the red berries. Where Morley Harps is situated is really beautiful countryside and they’re in a quaint English village called Filkins. You can see it on Google Maps.

We were surrounded by all kinds of harps, lever and pedal harps but the only one I was interested in was the Ravenna.

I let it acclimatise for a few hours and it’s still in tune. Plucked a few strings on the Ravenna and the corresponding strings on the G4M. Absolutely no comparison. The G4M is again slightly out of tune and the strings sound dull. The tension on the G4M strings is now such that I believe the middle section won’t take much more tuning before they start to break.

I wanted to tune the G4M to Eb but was worried that might be the last straw for it.

The Ravenna on the other hand is already tuned to Eb. I also find the Ravenna to be much more comfortable, is better balanced and sits nicely on my shoulder without digging in. Probably because the soundbox is a different shape. The stand along with the carry bag was never returned to Morley Harps but I don’t really need a stand anyway as I’m very small. A carry bag I can order later but for now the harp’s not going anywhere. I have a lot to learn. It’ll certainly keep me out of mischief! Just the thing to keep me occupied on these dark, winter nights.

[wil-weten]

Hi Fiona, congratulations on your Ravenna. I’m sure you’ll enjoy many happy hours with her.

You may like to know that, if you wish, you could order the removable stand for the Ravenna later on. They are sold e.g. by the reputable harp shop De Zingende Snaar in the Netherlands, but I guess Morley Harps would be happy to sell you one set of legs too, or you could order them from Dusty Harps in the US (by the way, shipping costs VAT (both on the harp and the shipping costs…), custom fees and possibly some other import costs could make importing yourself rather pricey.

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