Different type levers- what’s the difference?

[Michaela Braveman]

Yes, there have been several threats on levers on this forum during the last few months and the opinions very greatly! My personal opinion is….

• Loveland: Outdated. It is my understanding that even Dusty is starting to move away from them. They are made out of plastic, which makes them easily breakable. They’ve been around for a long time and most harp makers have moved away from them.
• Camacs: Popular and good quality levers, sturdy,good functionality and easy to regulate. A popular choice amongst many harp makers, especially since they are relatively cheap too. They are however, very ugly, huge, metally looking (looks like a set of orthodentures on your harp) and are, in my opinion, an eye sore!
• Truitts: Similar good quality as the Camacs, will not alter the tone and they look beautiful on the harp (like harp jewelry). The gold plating keeps them tarnish free. A low profile lever with excellent functionality and well worth the extra money.

Heartland Harps uses Truitt levers standard on all of their harps. Thormahlen, uses Camacs as their standard lever, but will install Truitts for an upcharge (which is what I did on my Swan). I believe that from a production perspective, most harp makers prefer to stick with a certain lever, since their production process is setup for it. And since Camacs are good quality and affordable levers, it makes sense that they are the first choice for many harp makers.

If you are simply looking for a good lever quality, not matter how they look on your harp, I believe you will be happy

[barbara-brundage]

You can force it, but the adjustable pin are something I’ve not seen with other levers. I’ve owned harps with lovelands before and they all have plain old pedal harp style bridge pins, which are not at all the same thing to work with. I realize that this is how technicians do it, but it’s nowhere near as user-friendly as the adjustable pins.

As someone who lives where there’s really nobody who does lever harp regulations (there’s one guy who will reluctantly do them, but he’s clear across the state and takes a ‘good enough for a government job’ kind of attitude towards a lever harp), the ability to easily make adjustments is a major, major thing for me. I would not feel at all comfortable trying to regulate my prelude, for instance.

[carl-swanson]

Barbara- By adjustable pin I’m assuming you mean that the bridge pin can be moved in(closer to the neck) and out(further away). I think Camac has a machine screw threading on its bridge pins so that to make that adjustment you screw the pin in or out.

With Lovelands, the hole in the neck for the bridge pin is supposed to be quite a bit deeper than the length of pin that will be in the neck. So you just tap it in with a hammer, or grab it with visegrip pliers and twist and pull it out.

As I said above, that in-and-out adjustment is the principal way of regulating in the upper octaves. But below about the third octave it just can’t be used effectively.

Here’s a little digression. The basic principals that govern harp regulation, both pedal and lever, are these: You can alter the distance of the disc or lever from the bridge pin, or you can alter the tension exerted on the string when the disc or lever is engaged. HOWEVER, each of these works better in different parts of the instrument.

Altering the distance of the disc or lever from the bridge pin(or adjustable nut on a pedal harp) is effective across the whole range of the instrument. But it becomes the only means of regulating in the lower octaves. Altering the tension(by making the disc close more or less on the string, or the lever push harder or lighter on the string) is not effective in the lower octaves, but becomes more and more effective the higher you go on the instrument. In the first and second octaves, altering the tension when the disc or lever is engaged is probably more important than altering the distance.

In the lower octaves, the string length is so long and the tension so high that

a certain minimum tension is needed when the disc or lever is engaged to keep the string from buzzing. It would take too much added tension(because of the long string length) to raise the pitch at all. So adding more tension in the lower octaves is not an option.

In the upper octaves however, the string lengths are shorter and the tension lighter. So very little added tension when the disc or lever is engaged can have a huge effect on the pitch of the string. Hope this makes sense.

[Maria Myers]

Carol,

I recently tried Truitts for the first time and was surprised that I didn’t like them.

[andy-b]

Maria, I recently had that same experience with the Truitts. Very pretty, look great, but because the handles are flat and horizontal, they were hard for me to see and grab when sitting behind the harp. The harp I was considering had Loveland, and I found there was very little damping of the sound. Once I got it home, I did take modeler’s paint and make the red and blue dots on the handles for the C and F strings a little bigger, though.

[Maria Myers]

Andy,

I have no problem with Lovelands.

[jennifer-buehler]

Barbara.

Steve Moss travels and did a good job w/ my T Serenade w/ Lovelands.

[jennifer-byrne]

Maria, et al,

I agree with the idea of trying out levers before you decide.

[andy-b]

Hi, Jennifer: I agree completely with the gold against walnut…my Thormahlen Serenade is walnut with the Lovelands that have the longer gold handles, and it is very nice looking. And a friend is getting an ebony Serenade with Camac levers, and I can’t wait to see some close ups of the silver color against the black!

Andy

[Michaela Braveman]

Jennifer: When I tried the Camacs, I too found the throw to be very long and the big, bulky handles awkward to handle.

I am sure a lot it is what one is used to. My first harp came with Truitts and I never had any issues with them. They are easy to engage and will not alter the tone. Some harp makers paint little red and blue dots on the handles of the C and F strings. Certainly an easy thing to do, if somebody feels visually challenged seeing the handles.

That said, I can also see where somebody who is used to Camacs, and doesn’t mind their appearance, may prefer sticking with them.

[Mike Baldwin]

I am a big fan of Peter Brough’s levers.

[barbara-brundage]

I’m not sure I understand how these work. Do they go down for sharp or do they just stick out more than the average lever?

[Mike Baldwin]

Down for sharp.

[barbara-brundage]

Nope, nope, nope. Sorry. Pilgrim tried this years ago and learned a quick lesson.

The problem is that it only works if you never have to play a harp by another maker, which is not true for most performers, who are the ones who drive interest in a particular design.

Also, levers that are up are more vulnerable to whacks when moving the harp.

[Chris Asmann]

Nice to see that I’m not the only one. I opted for Truitt levers on a small portable harp and was very suprised to find that I really don’t like them.

In retrospect I would be much happier with the functionality of the Camacs. The Truitts look nice, but they move the strings out a little and they feel faintly gritty when you move them.

All the premium levers are comparable in price. I really think you should make an effort to see and use the levers you’re considerting before you make a choice. I wish I had.

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