lever harp vs. pedal harp

[carl-swanson]

It may be that the original problems Deborah had have been perminently worked out. I suspect that when the various companies came out with the electric harp initially there were numerous problems they had not anticipated.

[unknown-user]

Hugh Jones in Australia makes a small pedal harp similar in size to the Pilgrim Progress. 41 string Hugh Jones harp. Still a bit on the heavy side though.

And Andrew Thom (also in Australia) is making some large lever harps of 40-45 strings now, with strings even longer in the bass than standard pedal harps(!). No picutres on his website as yet and I cannot speak for Mr Thom but if you asked nicely he may send you a photograph and information. Andrew Thom site. (Disclaimer – I have a Thom harp, only a small one though, and I am very biased towards it! 🙂 )

And on making pedal harps lighter – perhaps someone better accquainted with such matters can enlighten me – is there any reason why many or most of the steel and brass parts on a pedal harp couldn’t be replaced with titanium and/or titanium alloys? Titanium’s not expensive, and I know it can be more difficult to work than steel and brass, but other than that?

[tony-morosco]

+++It may be that the original problems Deborah had have been perminently worked out.+++

I believe that the electric Camac harp she originally used was a prototype. I believe that she may have a second generation version of that harp now and it probably did have a lot of updates. I recall once seeing her and noticing a dent in the fore-pillar of her electric which I didn’t see last time I saw her, so she either had the dent filled in and the finish touched up, or she is using a new harp.

I have the same harp in a later generation and did have a pickup go out once. When one pickup goes out on mine it does not have any effect on the others, and it can be changed without the need of soldering. There is kind of ball wrench that comes with it that can be used to remove the pickup and put in the new one. It takes about five minutes tops.

[Evangeline Williams]

She did have an early model-I remember asking some Camac folks about the strap or stand or something she has, and they said they would need a picture of my harp to see if it’s the newer version that would need a different type of strap, or something like that.

[Jerusha Amado]

Tony and Evangeline,

I think you’ve confirmed what Carl was saying in his last E-mail–that Deborah was using a prototype or early generation Camac electroharp and that the bugs needed to be worked out at that time.

[David Ice]

Saul,

Tim Guster of Belair, South Australia makes a lever harp that is nearly as tall as I am (6’2″) and has an outrageously HUGE sound and looks for all the world like a pedal harp.

[barbara-brundage]

But who could reach the levers? I can think of several American makers, like Webster, who make very attractive harps (i’d love his little pseudo-Erard) but I can’t reach the levers below middle C.

[barbara-brundage]

Meant to say “who make very attractive large lever harps”

[unknown-user]

Hmm. Titanium is 45% of the weight of steel, but I don’t know how much of the total weight of a pedal harp is made up of the steel/brass components, so I don’t know how much it would take off the total, but even a few extra kilos would help (in my opinion).

I’m not incredibly familiar with all the parts of a pedal harp but I do know a little about metalworking (I’m learning goldsmithing/jewelry) and I can’t think of any reason why harp parts couldn’t be titanium. There’s probably something really obvious I haven’t thought about, heh. I mean, titanium is reguarly used for high-performance engines and chassis such as in Formula 1 race cars, construction of offshore oil/exploration platforms, high-tension marine fastenings, and deep-sea submarine hulls – the stresses of a harp surely shouldn’t be a problem? (Also you can anodise it to brilliant colours which could make for some interesting action plate action. 😉 )

And Andrew Thom’s successfully been making lever harp soundboxes from aluminium for some time now, I’m wondering how that would go in a pedal harp.

Have any pedal harp builders tried titanium or aluminium for any fo the parts? I’m very curious and interested in all this! 🙂

[Victor Ortega]

I don’t know about titanium, but Camac uses aluminum alloy for the action plates and to connect the column to the soundboard inside the base, and carbon fiber for the column.

[Tacye]

I understand Salvi use aluminium on some of their harps.

[Jerusha Amado]

Tayce,

Isn’t the Clio a small double-action pedal harp?

Jerusha

[Tacye]

The Clio is usually double action, but I have come across references to single action version- about 2 years ago the Brandden Lassells in Australia said he could get them for about 80% the price of a double action Clio.

[Richard Shapiro]

Hello, The lever harp is a nice instrument, but it is a toy compared to the pedal harp.

[Kari T]

This is really a reply to #3 and #4.

#3 ‘It’s not a matter of one instrument being better than another. It is a matter of choosing the most appropriate tool for the job. What is the point of playing O’Carolan music on a pedal harp if you have a lever harp that it can be played on just as well but is more portable, less difficult or expensive to maintain,

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