Cheap pedal harps?

[unknown-user]

There probably is no such thing as a cheap pedal harp. I have owned a L&H style 30 and a

Salvi Diana, both of which I loved. When I finally got it together to start looking a new

harp, an acquaintance suggested that I look at Aoyamas and Camacs. She maintained that

in recent years L&H and Salvi quality has declined as prices have escalated.

[unknown-user]

Just in response to a comment about Webster’s String Instruments, I did a little google search, and while they do sell beautiful large harps which look like pedal harps… when you look closer they are lever harps. Certainly very beautiful, but I would listen before you buy. After you’ve played the harp for a while you’ll know what kind of tone you’re looking for. I’m assuming you have played for a while, because you said you’ve been dreaming of a pedal harp, not just any harp.

Umm.. cheap for a pedal harp seems to be $8,000… which is not cheap unless you’re Bill Gates or something….

[john Doe]

Hey Elizabeth,

I would look at buying a Camac,

You get a lot more harp for your money. They are also Lighter, Cheaper and Sound Great!

They use carbon fiber in there sound board and you do not have to worey about the sound board spliting or cracking after your waranty is up. I know that the L&H and Salvi have that problem. The Salvi show room in anheim has lost 5 harps this last year due to vineer cracks in the sound board. They even sent one on tour with “The Celtic Woman” with a big crack in it!

Good luck looking at Camacs!

[unknown-user]

Hi John,

This is an old thread, but as so many people still ponder this issue i think it very relevant that you have resurrected this question. Do you own a Camac? What model do you own, or have you played? How do you find it?

I’ve been confused about the carbon fibre issue. As some Camac’s seem to have it and others do not. I hear that the Altlantide Prestige model does not have carbon fibre anymore for instance. But I’m unsure.

I also do not believe that there is such thing as a cheap harp. You get what you pay for. And the cheaper models can end up costing you a fortune in lost work and in repairs if you are not very very careful. As I’m sure everyone has experienced at one time or another in their lives!

[tony-morosco]

I thought that the carbon fiber boards were only used in the electric acoustic models that were intended to be played with amplification only.

I heard Maire Ni Chathasaigh play once and she was using a Camac lever harp with a carbon fiber board, but without it being plugged in you could hardly hear it. It was just a bit louder than the solid body electrics, but had a very different sound than the solid body when plugged in to an amplifier.

But I do know that all of the pedal harps listed on their website, with the exception of the solid body electric pedal harp, all have wood soundboards. The Clio uses cedar for the extended and German Spruce for the straight board, the Athena uses fir from Northern Europe, The Altantide doesn’t specify the type of wood but it does clearly indicate it is the “finest and oldest naturally-dried woods”,

I agree that there is no such thing as a cheap pedal harp. There are, however, some models that are excellent buys depending on what you are going to do with it. Playing for yourself at home for your own pleasure doesn’t require as fine an instrument as playing professionally. Nothing wrong with having the best so long as you can afford it, but a Camac Athena is a great choice for a Concert Grand for personal use at home and is good quality construction at a good price.

There are lots of options, and all of the major harp makers have reasonably priced models. And they all have their over the top models and their mid range. I think it is great that such a wide range of instruments are available these days that can accommodate different needs and budgets.

But there is definitely not such thing as a good, well made yet “cheap” pedal harp. Cheap means inexpensive, but it also means poor quality, and when it comes to pedal harps I think people will find that if you can apply one definition of cheap to a harp you almost always can apply the other as well.

[unknown-user]

Thanks for that advice about Camac. I’m not familiar as yet about their range of harps, so am unsure what to advice about them. The biggest thing that makes me hesitant is that they have not been around for very long, so who knows what problems they may have down the track somewhere along the line – a sort of conservative attitude of the “devil you know is better than the devil you don’t”. I learnt this to my detriment with another brand of harp that was a bit of an unknown to me, and it has been a complete and unmitigated disaster from the day the “thing” from the black lagoon arrived…so I suppose I’m biased and a feeling a bit burnt about lesser known/brand instruments….

But I am quite intrigued by Camac, especially their actions, and the ones I have seen and played

[barbara-low]

I asked about the carbon fiber soundboards and was told that the soundboards with carbon fiber in them are still made out of wood. There’s only a thin sheet of CF in the board.

[unknown-user]

Yes, I heard that too, but I’ve heard that only some have the sliver of carbon fibre and others don’t. It actually is what has put me off them for a while, as I have heard that as a consquence of using all these different and new glues to cope with bonding wood to non wooden materials, that they have had some problems with “separation”…I had a student that had the string bar pull off…ripping the veneer off of the soundboard veneer. I do not know how common it is, but it did freak me out a bit in a new harp. But I have heard other people really sing their praises, so I just need to see more of them and see how they go in our part of the world. As there are no old ones here yet.

[leonard-lim]

Hi Rosemary!
I wrote to the Camac owner Jakez Francois a huge long list of quesions during my course of research in deciding which harp to buy and this is his reply regarding the woods used for the soundboards.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Carbon fiber means plastic, doesn’t it? Let’s call a spade a spade. Plastic instruments can sound surprisingly good, but they’re still plastic. A blend of wood and plastic would still be compromised, to me. I think this thread is a font of misinformation.

I just met a flutist named Concus, I bet you’re related, Sherry.

[barbara-low]

All pedal harps made today are held together with a form of plastic. That’s what Mike Lewis said at the AHS Maintenance Seminar that I attended last summer in San Francisco. I forget the name of the glue he mentioned but he assured us it was plastic. He also said the finish protecting the wood and metal parts of the harp is a plastic and that the gut strings are coated in plastic and the nylon strings are – plastic.

[unknown-user]

I think the glues they use are either PVA – the white one, which is a light weight glue that they use as it is easy to remove if you need a repair (but can come apart with heat and humidity and cause unpleasant things like the join between the soundbox and soundboard to come apart…but at least the board will not split the join will give first…) And the second glue I’ve heard of is an epoxy resin, which they also use in boat building and floor covering!

From what I’ve been told, the problem is not so much that the harps are carbon fibre based, but that they are attempting to adhere carbon fibre to wood. Different substances need different glues. And it is quite difficult to find a glue that will adhere a plastic to a wood. So, you have the potential of seperation of the parts, especially with

[unknown-user]

PS – thanks for all that info Barbara – I find it all very useful to debate things openly and I really appreciate your comments…

PPS – the eyelets on my L&H are plastic…

[kreig-kitts]

I don’t think it’s really accurate to refer to carbon fibre as plastic. It’s not just goo poored into a mold. Trees are also

[unknown-user]

Hi Kreig,

Yep, you are right, I’m mainly nervous about carbon fibre as it is “new” to harps and I’m unsure how it will react over time to our climate…once it’s been around a while and is “tried and true” I suppose it would not bother me as much. I also have to get used to the sound, as the few that I’ve heard do sound different.

I think the Camac Acoustic Electric is a better harp than the electrics from the other companies, as well, you have the acoustic option and they just seem to have a more attractive sound when amplified as

[Author]

Posts