Disability issues, thinking of returning to the harp

[Biagio]

Balfour, yep bronze core nylon wrap has a wonderful depth and warmth compared to the typical steel core – unless that is rather thin with a lot of fiber bedding. That can sound great too, but it is a bit softer IMO. I like the almost indistinguishable transition from fiber core silver wrap to gut. But damme that is expensive and won’t work on all harps.

I know you love your fh36 Cherie – I’ve heard it and love it too, pretty cool that you got it a year later.

Harper Tasche has one in Bubinga and boy, it’s to die for!

Slight thread hijack – sorry:-)
Biagio

[Elettaria]

Note to self: this forum is not, in fact, sending me emails when I get replies. I had no idea you were all posting on my thread!

I had a lovely chat with Mark Norris, and am very keen on getting a harp from him. The 36 string harp is looking most appealing, once someone pointed out to me that being able to reach a low C with Camac’s wider spacing will be the equivalent of a low A with narrower spacing.

His waiting list is 18 months. So then I rang the people I’m renting a harp from, and they can rent me a maple Starfish Glencoe from June until I get my own harp. If I fall head over heels in love with a Starfish or a Teifi (pretty much everything else has been ruled out by being too tall for me to reach the bottom levers comfortably, but you never know), then I’ll go for that, but the general opinion is that Mark’s harps are head and shoulders above the competition. The prices start at the same price as a Starfish (excluding the student model), but he doesn’t have to pay VAT, so you’re getting more harp for the same money, so to speak. It’s also great that there is a finally a good harpmaker who is so keen on working with fluorocarbon and can help me find exactly what I need. The long wait won’t be so painful with a better rental harp, and it means I’ll have had much more experience by the time my name is at the top of the waiting list and will be better placed to choose exactly what sort of harp and string gauge I want.

The thing that is currently tricky is that I need a slightly lower stool, being 4’11 tall. The one I’m using at the moment is a 38cm folding storage box. It’s too big to fit in the wheelchair bag. We may have to rig up something with bungee cords to attach it to the wheelchair, and then take that on the bus. It’s rather heavy, and I really wish we didn’t need to do that. But no one I’ve spoken to so far is going to have a suitable harp stool at the festival which I can borrow for trying out harps. Camac has a few, but their room is always mobbed and they understandably don’t want to let me borrow them to try with other luthiers’ harps. Teifi has one that’s too low and one that’s too high! Everyone else is generally going for ordinary chairs and raising the harp instead, which makes sense if you are taller than me.

And, erm, I might have seriously overdone it ringing various harp people and pacing while on the phone yesterday. The cat looked concerned and eventually herded me back to bed, and is pinning me down in bed right now, but I am absolutely bushed. Hopefully I will have recovered by Saturday, and will be able to get enough practise in that my fingers will be up to trying out lots of harps.

[Elettaria]

Bubinga apparently adds a good 2kg to your average lever harp, but they say it sounds amazing and is so pretty! I have a hair fork in it. I have hair toys in various woods, I even got one in cherry just so that I could see what it was like while thinking about harps. If I go for a Norris it’ll be American walnut, unless I fall wildly in love with that striking-looking yew he sometimes uses and save up a lot more money, and if I get a Starfish, cherry or walnut. Teifi are starting to drop out of the running now I know that they use concert spacing, but you never know.

[balfour-knight]

Elettaria,

It is good to know that you have decided on the harp you would like to have. I do not have any experience with the harps made by Mark Norris, but one knows what one likes when he/she finds it.

I had, from 2006 until recently, a wonderful tall 36-string harp in walnut made by Musicmakers here in the USA. I thought I preferred that wood until I found my special figured-cherry FH36S by Dusty Strings. I had long admired the FH36 in Bubinga and in Maple, but they lacked the warm tone that mine has in this cherry. Perhaps when they are strung in gut, bubinga and maple might not be quite as bright and piercing, and I know that many persons in the UK prefer gut strings. I certainly prefer them on my L&H pedal harp, with only the highest octave in Artist Nylon.

Biagio, I bet Harper Tasche prefers a very bright tone, and he certainly demonstrates all of Dusty’s harps very well on their website. He would have had his pick of all their harps when he did that for Dusty, and obviously he selected the one that “spoke to him” like I did. I was not looking for a new harp at all when “Cherie” “spoke to me!” I am glad that we all don’t like exactly the same harp, because someone would have snatched mine up and I would not have had the chance to get her, ha, ha! I know that my “Cherie” was selected and used at the SEHW by Emily Mitchell for her concert, and I am so glad that Emily already had her bubinga FH36!

Like you all say, “to each his/her own.” I hope we have not “hijacked” this thread too much, Elletaria! Good luck with finding the HARP OF YOUR DREAMS! You deserve it! Please let us know how it turns out.

With best thoughts,
Balfour

[Tacye]

Exactly as Balfour says, it is nice we don’t all like the same harps. There are lots of lovely, good quality harps out there, each of which is the right harp for somebody. So enjoy the Festival, try lots of harps and see if one declares it is coming home with you. They do that sometimes and it isn’t always the one you thought you would get.

[Biagio]

Well said Tacye! To hijack a just leetle bitty more: a player of Harper’s calibre can make a harp sound however he or she wants – even a piece of junk. The trick is to fall in love with it.

So be of good cheer, and best wishes in finding whatever speaks to you!

Biagio

PS to Balfour: I think that Tasche’s Bubinga 36 is one of the older ones; they had longer bass strings and a longer sustain, richer voice than some more recent – and of course it has aged in. Me, if I ever cast my eyes on an ad for a used Caswell Gwydion wire 34 I’ll be on that like a cat on a wool sock.
Yup lot’s of gorgeous harps out there!!

[Elettaria]

Thanks! I’m not 100% decided, I have only had one lesson each on a Starfish and a Norris and didn’t get to concentrate on them as much as I’d have liked, so it’ll be down to trying them out on Saturday. Any tips, apart from bringing several pieces covering a range of techniques etc.?

[balfour-knight]

Elettaria,

On the day I found my Cherie, I had played and demonstrated many fine harps by many different makers. I was going about in the Vendors’ Hall at the Southeastern Harp Weekend autographing copies of my newly released arrangement for lever harp called “The Essence of Swan,” published by Simply the Harp in Atlanta, GA. After lunch, I went back to the Dusty Strings booth and tried some more of their harps, commenting on each one of them to Ray, Sue, Christy and Mitch. Then Mitch set up two FH36S’s for me to enjoy–I tried the first one, maple and gut strung, complimented them on such a beautiful harp, then turned to the second FH36S. I placed my hands on the strings, played a C Major arpeggio, and the tone and presence of this special harp went straight to my heart! My sweet wife saw my reaction instantly and asked “what do you think of this harp?” I replied “I think I have died and gone to Heaven!” I then looked at the wood, special figured cherry, with the gorgeous abalone inlay and built-in pick-up system, and realized that this harp has everything I could ever want in a harp, so she came home with us.

I had the advantage of not having to look for a harp that day, I just “fell over it” so to speak, which was quite remarkable since I am so “picky.” In your case, a harp might just speak to you like that, and you can try them one-by-one and see what happens. In my case, I already had three beautiful harps and I play professionally, so I knew exactly what I wanted when I found it. I knew I had to get Cherie and that it would be my ONLY chance–I could not pass it up, and my sweet wife agreed.

Thanks, Tacye and Biagio! I always enjoy reading all of your posts.

Best wishes and have a great day,
Balfour

[jennifer-rehfisch]

I’ll be at the Festival on Saturday if you want to borrow a stool. I’ve a wooden Pilgrim stool you’d be welcome to borrow while trying out harps (it is one of the smaller ones with the legs that unscrew rather than their larger model). I’ll keep an eye out for you. I also want to try out Mark Norris’s new light bright 36 string harp. His website also indicates that he may have a harp with a new style of levers at the Festival. I’d also like to have a look at the Starfish harps and the Salvi Gaia. I don’t need to buy a new harp this year but will probably look at buying a new one in a few years so it is nice to see what is available.

[Elettaria]

What a kind offer! I’ve just spoken to Pilgrim and if you mean the little unpadded wooden stools, they’re too low. The one I’m using right now is 38cm, and it seems to be the right height for me for a Starfish, but I need a cushion on it when I’m playing the taller Hermine. The cushion is the easiest part, I can use the wheelchair cushion. How tall is the stool you’re bringing?

Are you driving there, by any chance? I’m in the Southside and would be thrilled to bits if we could get a lift off someone, one way or the other. The wheelchair is a small manual one and folds down.

The Salvi student lever harp range doesn’t seem to have the best reputation, from what I’ve heard. Quite a few people are saying the construction quality is alarmingly variable. I spent a while looking into that range because of the silkgut strings, but eventually concluded I was better off with fluorocarbon and a more expensive harp.

Doesn’t that new Norris harp look exciting? The extra strings are in the bass, too, where they’ll be far more useful! And it’s no bigger than many other 34 string harps.

[Elettaria]

Balfour – what a sweet love story! Cherry is a beautiful wood. My partner’s new mountain dulcimer is cherry with a sinker cypress top and maple fretboard, and it looks and sounds gorgeous. Any photos of the beloved?

Chances aren’t that high that I’ll be taking a harp home with me, what with most of them being too tall for me and/or strung in gut. But you never know! Dusty Strings harps are pretty expensive, by the time you pay for import and VAT and so forth. I hear there are serious structural problems with the Ravenna models, otherwise I’d consider buying a second-hand one if I need one to tide me over while I wait for a harp to be built. The FH series have a good reputation, they look lovely, and the hybrid soundboard sounds intriguing.

[balfour-knight]

Hi, Elettaria!

I do not know how to post a photo here, but check out Dusty Strings’ website and go to “testimonials.” They have a short one from me first, then scroll WAY DOWN to find a photo of us with Cherie and a longer testimonial. We still feel the same way about this special harp, and even more so! There is also a testimonial from me about the Ravenna 34.

I have not been aware of any structural problems with the Ravennas, and mine was always in perfect condition, after years of using her. Also, the customer service at Dusty has always been exemplary!

Good luck with your harp quest, and have a great time at the Festival!

Best regards,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)

[jennifer-rehfisch]

Sorry, I have the standard Pilgrim stool and so it will be too low. I’ll be travelling by car on Saturday but will be getting a lift from my husband and kids and I’m afraid we will not have any space.

The Dusty Strings harps that I’ve heard sound lovely, I’m just not as familiar with them as the Starfish and Norris harps.

[Elettaria]

All three of you look very happy together! Beautiful harp. Camac levers?

I’m trying to remember exactly what I was told the problem was with the Ravennas. It was something to do with not bracing the soundboard properly, and apparently a few of them have exploded. Also bear in mind I wouldn’t be getting customer service directly from Dusty Strings, since they’re on another continent! I’ve chatted to them about their harps and they’re lovely.

When the rental Hermine arrived in December, a string broke ten minutes later, the second one down. I chalked it up to temperature changes, but the same string has broken again, despite not being played. It’s very frayed, so Camac reckon there may be a sharp bit inside the tuning pin, and recommend rubbing a tiny bit of fine sandpaper inside it. I also asked them about the difficulty I’m having with the bottom levers. I’m wondering how much of it is that I’m short and it’s harder to reach, and how much is that maybe the lever is running a bit stiff. They’re always going to be stiffer to use on the bass wires, I imagine. Anyway, I’ll see how other harps feel at the festival.

[Biagio]

A few of the early Ravennas did have an “issue” but that was corrected a long time ago. For my money those are the best of the lower cost harps.

Biagio

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