Hello,
my wife, just playing a pedal harp, has the dream of a Paraguayan harp. We will order it from Gustavo Arias. But there are still some questions to be cleared.
Certain is that it shall be / have
– diatonic without sharpening levers
– 42 instead of 37 cords
– cords with red Cs and blue Fs (thus, to be equal with the colors of a pedal harp)
– a stand (because we don’t like the idea to lay down the harp on the ground)
If you have any comments please let me know.
Not sure is whether it is advisable to spend over 250 $ more for the better Gotoh machine heads. Are they worth the money? Gustavo said that with the Taiwan heads they never have had any defects; they are really good. – Will they do their job satisfactory? Can we save the money?
Which wood shall be choose for the soundboard, spruce or red cedar? Gustavo had sent a description of the tone qualities for soundboards made of these woods. Spruce: “… very rich, bright, and clear tone. Its noble, focused voice and rich overtones offers a wide range of color. It has a woody sound that ages into a very powerful tone.” Red cedar: “… overtones … are rich over a narrower range than spruce, their full tone, darker coloring, and warm enveloping sound is enchanting. Cedar and redwood are also more responsive than spruce at least initially, but they do not improve with age to the degree that spruce …”
Ok, I know: It’s a matter of taste and of the music you want to play.
(My wife will preferably play Latin American music.) But as we never have heard instruments with red wood soundboards, from the pure description it’s a bit difficult to decide.
I would be very glad if YOU could record a small sample with spruce and with red cedar soundboards, and give a link to the MP3-files.
Finally, but that’s not so essential, my wife is uncertain about design and color. She tends to a very simple appearance: no carvings for the soundbox and the neck, and no color varnishing, and most probably even without inlays.
(But I don’t know whether such simplicity might give a scarcely appealing look. If there is a nice wood texture it will do alone.)
Unfortunately there are no photos of a plain, smooth surface of red cedar and trebol, the two woods Gustavo uses for the harp body. We would like to see the wood textures in direct comparison.
By chance, have you some photos?
And for pilar and head? Hmm … pilar maybe with some turnings, or what do you think of this form? Design
Many thanks in advance, and if you have any other
suggestions I’m very glad to hear them!
Best regards
Dieter
.
