Early Harp for Early Holiday

[John McK]

Some folks knew that I had ordered a Campbell Boston harp to replace my first instrument ( a lovely Thormahlen.) Anyway, it arrived today . . . and it sounds fantastic. Nothing, whatsoever, like a classical or lever harp of course. Rather, it has a clear, focused tone without a whole lot of sustain or “bloom” in the bass, but with a great “tangy” character in the mid range. It’s also a gorgeous piece of artwork, secondarily.

The annoying thing is that I have to wait for the holiday break to play it much! But I suppose that’s not a bad problem to have.

http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/8725/boston1.jpg

http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/8981/boston2z.jpg

[deb-l]

thanks for posting pictures John, looks very nice next to the tree!

[John McK]

Depends mostly on the piece. . .

[deb-l]

What does it mean that it’s fully brayed?

[diana-lincoln]

Can I ask what happened to your Thormahlen?

[John McK]

Sold it, to another forumite.

I miss it, but ultimately I made the right call.

[John McK]

Braying – the pegs holding the string to the soundboard have a tab that can be adjusted to collide with the plucked string. . . making a big buzz. “Fully brayed” means that each string can have this effect. It’s not unlike a sitar. I haven’t tried it yet – waiting for the strings to settle in.

The whole harp appears to be made of walnut.

It weighs 7 pounds, so sore shoulders are not a problem 🙂 I read posts about hauling harps upstairs and thank God that I am not a pedal harpist, too!

[jennifer-buehler]

Gorgeous.

[John McK]

The odds against me ever justifying *two* bray harps are pretty steep.

Yeah, setting the brays is something you more-or-less do and leave set. . . not a task for doing between pieces during a concert, certainly. I want to try setting them in the bass and leaving the midrange and upper end clean. . .

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