Lyon and Healy Style 15 a good harp?

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Style 15s vary greatly in quality. Manhattan School of Music has one that they’ve had since the 1960s, and it is a truly great harp. The other one they had was miserable. I had one in college, that later pulled itself to pieces. If you’re not going to be moving the harp, and it is shipped carefully, that it has held up this far, makes it a possibly good choice.

[balfour-knight]

I was reading over this former thread, if any of you are interested.

[Harper10]

Thanks, Balfour! I wanted to give an update. The Style 15 is wonderful! The process of putting on new strings and getting the harp playable again took about 2 months or so (I went slow replacing strings and bringing the harp up to tension because I didn’t want to stress the wood and about 10 strings were not at proper tension.) It’s been so wonderful to have this harp! I’ve been taking pedal harp lessons on it and I’m really enjoying it. I was going to try and regulate it myself by chickened out and had a professional technician regulate it for me instead. What a difference a regulation makes on the sound and playability! Best of all, tech gave the harp a clean bill of health and said it was in great structural condition. Amazing.

I had purchased this harp thinking it would be all the pedal harp I would ever need… until I went and played a brand new pedal harp. The one I played is so much smaller and lighter than some of the older harps I’ve played on. So I’m considering purchasing a harp with an extended soundboard in the future and keeping the Style 15 for playing at events.

But the Style 15 has been the perfect introduction to the pedal harp world for me. I’m glad I didn’t spend more money by buying a newer harp that is comparable to the Style 15. (Such as the Chicago or the Daphne 40.) To anyone considering picking up a Style 15, I highly recommend them! Great small pedal harps! A great option if you want pedals and can find one that is structurally sound for a good price.

[balfour-knight]

Thanks so much for your update, Harper 10. I am so glad that you have been so pleased with the #15 L&H. Have you heard about the new Camac Egerie harps? I have not had the pleasure of playing one yet, but it seems that this new model is replacing the Athena. If it isn’t, maybe Camac is re-designing the Athena? The Egerie is full concert grand size, and can be had with a straight or extended soundboard. It may be constructed more like their Atlantide and other upper-level harps, worth checking out.

Wishing you all the best,
Balfour

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Manhattan School of Music has a style 15 that is one of the finest harps I have ever played. They also used to have one that was one of the worst. So they vary. I played one in college that had a good sound, but it later broke apart at the soundboard base. It’s all a matter of the quality of the wood in the particular harp.

[Sylvia]

My LH15 was built in 1971. It has endured the winters of Illinois and the intense heat and humidity of S. TX. It has been moved to literally thousands of events. No problems. Here is what it looks like:
http://weddingharpmusic.yolasite.com/

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