First harp build – lever question….

[tanyanoel]

I am getting ready to build a harp for the first time. I have decided on a music maker kit. My question for those of you who have done this before, what are your opinions on the number of levers to add? I would pay someone to add the levers, I am not going to attempt that part myself 🙂 I was considering just doing F and C levers since I have a few other harps already (one fully levered and the other a pedal harp). What are your thoughts on doing just those C and Fs? Is it harder then to add the rest oof the levers if I decide that I really want them all or am I better off doing a fully levered harp?

[talfryn]

Hello Tanyanoel,
Congratulations on obtaining a musicmakers kit, I am sure you’ll have fun building it. I have built a few music makers kits over the years, not just harps. It’s a good way to get into instrument building and gives you a knowledge that will help you learning to play. I have progressed from the kits and am building my own designs for myself and others now.
The choice of levers will depend on the music you want to play. I play traditional celtic and French music and the Harp I use predomantly for that is one of my first builds a musicmakers belle Harp, which has been modified a bit and made electro acoustic adding some built in pick ups. It’s light very robust, very even tone and can play fast. Great when your trekking through farmyards and fields at dances and festivals.
On this Harp, I use levers on E,F,B and C strings which means I can play in all the keys for my repertoire. If I tune the base harp all levers down I can get the major keys (and relative minors) with these levers for E flat, F,C,D,G which covers 99.9 percent of trad celtic and French tunes.
I admit that I mostly fit levers on all notes these days but this Belle tuning has never let me down. You can always add more levers later. If you can build the kit you should be able to fit levers yourself, it’s not that difficult you just need patience as they are a lot of strings, if you decide to do that start another post later and I am sure advice can be given.
Over the years I have used Mickel, Camac and Sakem levers, the best being Camac and Sakem. In my opinion the Sakem levers are the best performing but they are more difficult to fit, you need to undo the string when you fit them, but the result is worth it. The Camac levers are top quality as well, but I prefer Sakem.
One thing to réalisé is don’t mount the levers until 2 months after the new Harp has been tuned to pitch. Also if your in Eu contact the lever manufacturers directly, they are normally less expensive.
Good luck with your build…

[Biagio]

Talfryn’s advice is very good; I would just add a few things:

First, if only partly levered your choice will depend on what kind of music you wish to play. Many “folk” and “Celtic” tunes are in the key of G, C or sometimes D; if “classical” or written for voice, then flatted keys.

Second if you play solo it does not really matter, just learn to transpose.

Third, some levers are more difficult to mount than others. Those that work by moving the string in (toward the neck) such as Lovelands are more difficult to keep in place while mounting them; on the other hand they usually cost less than say, Camacs Rees or Truits.

Last, how much are you wiling to spend? For economy you could choose Musicmakers Universal levers but Rees (sold by Robinsons Harp Shop) cost the same and are better made.

Happy harping,
Biagio

[balfour-knight]

Sounds like a fun harp building project! If it were up to me, I would mount full levers, after you build the harp and let it mature for a while. That way, you would not place a limit on which keys you could play in, or which accidentals you will need, for example, in the melody lines. Since keyboard instruments already have all these notes, and the lever harp is limited anyway, even with full levers, I would go the whole way.

Hope you all have very happy holidays,
Balfour

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by balfour-knight.

[Biagio]

Getting back to the original question:

As my friend Balfour noted (little pun there) it will be about a month before strings are fully stretched in and the SB has stabilized so I suggest taking the time to research both different lever types and how to mount them. Since you already have a fully levered harp and a pedal one your experience with them should indicate to you how many to put on this one eventually. So, not knowing what music you will play or why you are doing the kit…Fs certainly, maybe Cs too.

A related question: why did you decide to build this from a kit? If it was for the experience of making a lever harp you might consider mounting levers yourself rather than paying someone. This is not as difficult as some believe, with Truitts, Rees or Musicmakers’ universals (Lovelands are a pain). Granted, it is time consuming but if you paid me to do it (for example) I would charge $40 per hour so to fully lever a 34 string harp; that is about $225 (assuming 10 minutes each) on top of the lever costs.

Sure it will look better with a full set but looks aren’t everything. In your shoes therefore I wold plan on just Fs and possibly Cs for now and mount them myself for no other reason than the learning experience. Here’s a brief rundown:

1) Determine the approximate sharp point by multiplying vibrating length by 0.0558. Mark that length with a Sharpie below the bridge pin.

2) Slide the lever into place and test for accuracy by engaging the lever. String tension will hold Truitts Rees or Universals in place while you mark and drill for the holding screws. Note: Betty Truitt advises using a hand drill but I have had not trouble with an electric drill. I don’t even tap the hole unless the wood is very hard e.g. maple.

3) Start in the middle to get some practice, say the F below middle C. After doing a few it goes quite quickly. Frankly at this stage in my “career” I don’t even measure and mark since I have a very good idea of where the levers should go after one or three are in place.

Rick Kemper (Sligo Harps) gives a thorough description for Truitts and Camacs; Musicmakers instructions for Universals and Lovelands. The principles are essentially the same for any lever type.

Happy harping,
Biagio

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Biagio.
• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Biagio.

[balfour-knight]

Thanks, Biagio, my friend!

I agree completely–I would mount the levers myself. Although I have never done this, I have a friend who does not have nearly my experience with woodworking and building things, who has put together several harps from kits. He has successfully completed these harps and installed Camac levers on them, on every string. He says “piece of cake!” So, I think anyone who could successfully build the harp from a kit could also mount as many levers as desired. Here is my vote of confidence in you, Tanyanoel!

I would also venture to say that anyone who has a pedal harp, which can produce all keys to play in, with every available natural, sharp and flat, would certainly want full levers on a lever harp. You may not use them all right now, but most folks develop their technique and improve over time, raising the bar, so to speak. Why limit yourself to only two or three keys to play in? Even with full levers, a lever harp can only play in 8 Major/relative-minor keys. Different tunings can make C and all 7 sharp keys possible, C and all 7 flat keys possible, or something in between, like the “E flat tuning,” which means you can play in C, G, D, A, E, F, B flat, and E flat. (Plus their relative minors, of course.)

Happy harping, everyone!
Balfour

[tanyanoel]

Thank you for all of this info and advice!!!!! As far as why I want to build a harp, it is definitely for the experience of making an instrument myself and what I will learn along the way. I am hoping that by the time the harp build is finished that I may very well feel comfortable enough to put on the levers myself. I prefer Camac levers (I am reading and bookmarking Rick Kemper’s Camac lever installation guide and bookmarking for future reference).

I have plenty of time to go back and fort on how many levers to add and if I will do it or have someone install those 🙂 I’ll see how it goes, I am sure I will have other questions once the build begins – I am excited tot get started!!!

[Biagio]

Good for you Tanyanoeel! I think you will find this is fun as well as instructive. Here are a few thoughts hat occurred this AM.

Finishing: There are several that you could use. Musicmakers suggests (and sells) a polyurethane gel but I don’t think it is any better than what you can buy in any hardware store for less. Top end makers usually use lacquer and it drys quickly but has very noxious fumes. If you like a rubbed finish look you can use a product called Tru-oil gun stock finish which is what I use. It dries quickly too without fumes – you just wipe it on and sand very lightly between coats. Three or four coats will do it. I don’t use it on the sound board but spray that with Deft lacquer in an pen air space.

Camac levers: Many people love them. I have never installed them myself because a) I don’t want to buy metric bits; and b) I prefer Truitts anyway. Note that you may have to fill and re-drill bridge pin holes since your kit’s holes are already per-drilled.

I would encourage you to download the free string analysis Excel worksheet provided by Musicmakers since you are doing this at least partly to learn about harp making. Deciding on the strings is the first step that makers take so why not learn a little bit about that too? MM gives all the information you need to fill it out (vibrating length and composition); for further commentary Rick Kemper (again) does an excellent discussion. You can get the spread sheet here: https://www.harpkit.com/harp-string-analysis-spreadsheet.html

By all means start a new topic with further questions and updates on your progress! You also might consider joining the Groups-io Harpmakers forum and/or Groups-io Harplist. No cost but one must be “approved” to join – mainly to weed out scammers who seem to think that harp makers/players are easily scammed. Beats me why:-).

Cheerio,
Biagio

• This reply was modified 4 years, 8 months ago by Biagio. Reason: spelling

[tanyanoel]

Thank you Biagio, I will look into those groups, I imagine they will be very helpful along my building journey 🙂

[Author]

Posts