Getting a style 100

[YJ Lin]

Forgive me, if any of you were jaded with people posting things like this, but I just have to say it.

I’m getting a Lyon and Healy style 100 in mahogany. Because there are no 100s for me to try on in my area, I did a lot of research online instead. If only there were audio samples of different harps…then again each harp sounds different (and recordings sound different from the real thing). I’ve decided on the style 100 because of 1) economy 2) simple but pretty 3) rich, resonant sound? (? because I’ve never heard them). I admit, it’s a risk, but I don’t much of a choice. L&H showroom is halfway across the world for me. Please, if any of you have anything to say, especially about the 100, please do so. I’ve been dying to get a pedal harp for 3 years. In fact, I’m so excited about it I just can’t think of anything else. I really hope that it’ll be worth it, and will last me for a long time.

Why Lyon and Healy? Well, I had friends around me, they praised about the sound like they’ve never heard something so beautiful. I played only once on a Lyon and Healy, it was a Style 23, while I’ve played far many times on Salvi (I believe it was a Daphne 46) and Aoyama (Amphion and Monarch). It’s not that I didn’t like their sound, but each harp that I played on had a different feel. For Aoyama, their strings feel somewhat stiffer than Salvi or Lyon and Healy (the sound is pretty different too) But still, I love all the harps. As for that one time I played on a Lyon and Healy Style 23, I do like the sound, but I don’t think it’s a very good gauge in determining the sound of the style 100 that I’m going to purchase, because I know every harp is different. Sigh!

[deb-l]

Oh my goodness that is a beauty! I wish I could tell you about the harp.

[catherine-rogers]

I played one within the last year for another harpist who was interested in buying it but was too far away to come try it herself. Another harpist friend and I thought it was one of the best harps we’d ever heard and both of us would have loved to own it.

[Philippa mcauliffe]

There is a harp professor whose name is eluding me (can anyone help??)_

[YJ Lin]

Thank you all for your responses! All of your inputs have been very kind and helpful. Especially Georgina, that’s a wonderful suggestion! If anyone of you could help me out with the sound check process, please contact me! I would be very glad to pay a fee to help me out (but not too much…I’m very budget conscious) Hopefully, you’ll be already staying in Chicago, I would not like to bother anyone of you to travel far. Or does Lyon and Healy offer such a service? (ask for a harpist to evaluate the sound)

[sherry-lenox]

I bought a used 85P sight unseen and ear unheard, and the harpist/salesperson working for Lyon and Healy was VERY helpful. Her description of the sound of my harp (that was all I cared about) was conservative and accurate- I actually think the harp sounded better than she had described.

Even though she was employed as the seller, she had no good reason to be dishonest when she was talking to me about the instrument I was interested in.

I was very satisfied with my purchase and continue to be.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I have been to the showroom twice in the last two years or less. On each visit, I found all the harps to sound good, and most of them to sound pretty much the same. If you can afford a 23, I think that is still the best standard instrument to go buy/by, for sound and appearance and value. A 100 is a good choice too. I think the harps with carved columns have a bit more rounded tone. I think you should get the very best harp that you possibly can unless you are sure you will be able to buy another down the road. I am grateful every day to Frances Miller for insisting that we buy a 23. (She was not even pleased I wanted a Walnut model.) I should have listened to her and gotten the natural. But she didn’t say why, perhaps. Her reasoning was that it had the best resale value if needed, it was the most presentable and useful, and the best quality. I think that is mostly still true. A Salzedo model is marvelous if you want a big, projecting sound, particularly for orchestral playing. Its distinctive look may be less usable in some situations. It is handsome, but the 23 is universally loved. There is something magical in its mish-mosh of different carvings.

[jessica-wolff]

The 23 is a very handsome harp, but it looks so naked in natural. At least until a few years down the road, when the white wood starts to turn amber. Any figure the maple has doesn’t show up well in natural either, and any gold-leafing also shows up better on a stained wood.

[deb-l]

oh I disagree.

[YJ Lin]

Dear Saul,

As I researched for a suitable harp model for myself, I’ve followed the forum postings very closely as to what anyone says about any model. I have noted yours, and I predicted that you’d recommend the 23, as you really did. I have absolutely nothing against the 23, but the thing is, I’m only a student harpist, and my parents are financing the purchase of the harp. To me, the 23 is too extravagant, which I can only ask for as a professional harpist. I don’t really want to place too much financial burden on my parents as they work really hard to bring home the bacon.

So, my issue now, is to make sure that for what they’re paying, it’ll be worth it. So, in other words, I want to make sure that my harp sounds great, which I can’t do so personally as Chicago is halfway across the globe for me.

I do like the carvings of the 23, but I do, too, like the simple scalloped column of the 100. I think its cute. I saw one 100 on Lyon and Healy CPO Harps before, and soon it was sold. I’m guessing that the 100 does have good resale value too.

As for the 23 that I tried on, it belonged to a professional harpist who teaches as well. I’ve asked her about the 100, she says, “there are no 100s to try on here, but it’s very similar (probably tone-wise, I would guess) to the 23s which there are several here.” I know the 23 is beautiful. But I guess, as a student harpist, I have to be modest with my choices. If I become professional, I’m sure that the 100 will still work well, given that I bought a really good one. Also, by then, I should afford the harp I want, than depend on my parents.

[barbara-brundage]

> for sound and appearance and value

While I loved, loved, loved my 23 and would still be delighted to have it today if it hadn’t been dropped, I have to say that I have some doubts about “value” anymore.

Tastes have changed (embellishment is not popular anywhere, not just in harps), and the flood of cheap pedal harps may well mean that resale value for the more expensive models will not be what it was in the past.

[kreig-kitts]

My first teacher always performed and still performs on a Style 100. Hers is

[tony-morosco]

YJ,

Although there is some variation from harp to harp, Saul is right that as a rule Lyon and Healy harps tend to be fairly constant with good tone. To me the 100s do sound a lot like the 23s and I think the 100 is a good choice.

The 100 is a perfectly acceptable, professional quality harp. It has no limitations that would prevent you from using it long into a career as a professional harpist.

So assuming good tone,

[kreig-kitts]

I love ebony harps and am thinking of it when I get a pedal harp. My big pause, which I’ve heard others share, is how dings could show up on ebony, assuming a kerchunk in the finish would reveal the constrating wood underneath. Being somewhat clumsy, I imagine my harp will get a ding now and then (i.e., first ding three seconds after I breathe on it), and I think a natural finish might end up being a safer option for me.

[jessica-wolff]

Good to hear some voices speaking up for ebony! I like it too and would only avoid it if the underlying wood were so beautiful that it would be a shame to cover it up.

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