Lyon and Healy Style 2000

[HBrock25]

Hi, I am new to this forum and I was wondering if anyone owns or has played the style 2000. I am considering buying one that is nine years old and appears to be in good condition. It would mainly be used for practice at home, so would usually be played only acoustically. I would really appreciate any opinions on this model, especially regarding how the sound compares to non-electric models. Thank you so much!

[alyssa-michalsky]

Hey Audrey!

I bought my pure Concert Grand Electric as my first CG harp back in 1997. I used it ALL through university (much to the chagrin of my teacher) and I practiced on it acoustically every day. I now use it exclusively for my gigs, and my advanced students have been using it for their lessons at my studio for years acoustically. I just bought a new ElectroAcoustic for a back up in case anything happened to my Electric both for gigs and now so that my students will have a full Acoustic in the studio.

Before I get into the semantics of pros and cons though, if you will never use it electric, then there is no reason to buy it. If you will use it for both, then I do have rave reviews.

Now, here are the pros and cons.

Pro: They do NOT make pure electrics anymore and the pickups on the newer electroacoustics are not as good as the originals. Remember, any time something is half and half, it’s exactly that – not good as something which is pure 100% So therefore, you would be buying a harp that is rare and no longer produced. Mine is custom, so it is forever special. (and btw, they do sell the pickups at L&H still)

Con: as mentioned, I just got a back up harp. If anything happens to the electronics and you are using it full time as a gigging harp, you need to have a backup plan (or a really good musical electronics man to help in a pinch)

Pro/Con: The funny thing is, is that I got bashed for choosing the Electric because it would “compromise” my advancement and technique and it in fact, was the opposite. I will tell you a story – yes it is true that the sound of a pure electric harp is no sound you ever want to be playing with acoustically if you are playing at any type of event. But it does function the same way as an acoustic – the only difference is that the resonance is not as great, making it quite a bit softer and the tone/resonance is compromised.
HOWEVER: the thing is – in order to try to achieve the same tone/resonance quality of an acoustic CG, you have to work much harder. You have to dig into the strings more, you have to have more strength and control. So here’s the kicker. Playing the electric acoustically all throughout university made me stronger and better, because once I had to play on an Acoustic Harp at lessons, or at a recital, it was SO easy to make a huge sound and my hands were stronger for it, therefore making the resonance and tone come out on the Acoustic with hardly an effort.

SUPER PRO: the electric harp is unrivaled in terms of the sound it produces when you need to be heard. No number of mics or special amplification can ever duplicate the clarity of a direct signal. Not only that, but it is incredibly cool when you start playing around with a mixing board for special sound effects. If you will be gigging with this harp and performing in the new contemporary world – it is simply a must.
I would NEVER perform at any of my professional gigging events without it. It is one of my main selling points and furthermore, you never hurt your fingers “trying” to be heard over a crowd.

Like I said, if you never use it as an Electric harp, it is a waste to purchase it – but I hope that these facts will help you in your decision depending on how you will be using it. I think I may be the only one who was gutsy enough to use this thing acoustically all through my Bachelor’s and Master’s degree with the harp lol.

You can see my harp and tons of samples of music that I have done with it in recordings and on my CD’s on my website http://www.divineharp.com Not only that, but I have a page dedicated to the sound difference between a pure acoustic and a pure electric.

Give me a shout if you have any questions 🙂

Regards,

Alyssa Michalsky
BMus, BEd, MMus
http://www.divineharp.com

[jimmy-h]

I really wish there was more info on the new ones out there. I’ve seen several style 100’s on youtube but it takes some searching. Are these essentially the same as the style 100 but with the pickups added, or are they actually made different with the same column as the 100?

Also, if anyone knows, do they mature the same as acoustic L&H harps? I mean, do they sound better as they belly up a bit, or does the pickup mechanism affect it’s acoustic sound over time?

I love Alyssa’s input, but surely she’s not the only one to own one.

[jimmy-h]

I’ve been trying to answer my own quesitons for a while. For posterity, Park Stickney uses/used this harp. There are photos of him with one on his website:
http://olgp.com/bio.html

as well as youtube videos, which help with determining how they sound. I’m not a jazz fan so I stumbled on it more or less:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnPKL04yYD4 Not the greatest recording 🙁
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fM7njTmOnrg A little better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr9y-lkQNTo etc…

Dunno if it helps anyone, but it’s the best samples I’ve found outside of Salvi’s and Camac’s electroacoustics. There seem to be more samples of those available.

[Li Shan Tan]

You probably bought your harp already, considering that this post was started two years ago.

But for the other people who recently stumbled on this post or want to know about L&H electroacoustic/electric harps! I just found this video recently, which I think it’s an old model of the Lyon Healy Style 100. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiDqaatxat0

Also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxYwDzwJx-o which I think is a fully electric harp although it says electroacoustic in the title..?
Hope this helps!

[jimmy-h]

I think that first video might be an older style 100 with an internal pickup added after manufacture. You can see the cable plugged into the harp above the pedals on the left side, which seems an unfortunate location to install it but probably kept the cable off the pedals better than putting the plug in jack in the base in the back I guess. I didn’t see individual pickups on the individual strings on the soundboard, unless I’m missing something. The newer style 2000, at least, has two pickups on the right side of the base and more towards the front so it would be out of the way and not facing the audience.

In that second video they must have labeled it wrong. It’s either a 100, or an electroacoustic(2000) I think the same column causes some confusion. It’s hard to tell what it really is as the resolution and distance from the camera make it hard to tell, but I’d guess its a 100 since it doesn’t have the rosewood center strip the pickups are mounted on and it does have the newer rounded base suggesting it’s not an older model harp.

If you look at the first two videos I posted above you can see the rosewood center strip on the soundboard. That’s a big clue it’s a style 2000 instead of a 100. If you look at Alyssa’s harp pictures/videos you can see the older style pickups on the 2000, which does not have the rosewood strip but does have the rounded base. I think I read someplace the older pickups were nice.

I cant tell if this is a 2000 or a Camac or what, the resolution is poor and the harp is all black. But, those do look like older pickups, they are just too huge to be regular eyelets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PO5rwrd6ok

Possibly, Greg Buchanan also plays an electroacoustic, but it looks like a blue Salzedo on his website.

It’s almost like everything on the internet is more confusing concerning electroacoustic harps than helpful.

[alyssa-michalsky–2]

Hey Guys! I would have responded sooner – but I wasn’t getting an email saying there were replies to this post – sorry!

Ok, several things since my last post. At the time I just had purchased the newest electro acoustic from L&H. I wish they had had this technology when I first purchased back in 1997. To answer your first question Jimmy – yes, the new electroacoustic improves with age just like the regular harp. Because it has the extended soundboard and complete resonance capabilities just like other harps – acoustically it does get better in time. If it’s the only CG you have – then it does the trick for both acoustic and electric. But if you are a purist, and you want to perform in a concert hall with an acoustic harp professionally – then simply go with an acoustic. If you are like me and need the acoustic for studio teaching and the electric for performance – then the newest L&H electroacoustic does the job. I still hold true to saying the original CG pure electric can’t be beat!

As for the video clips: Li Shan – the first video is not an electric harp – Jimmy is right – she adds the cable plugged into the inside of the harp. The new pickups are easy to see – and this harp doesn’t have any.

As for pickups – the issues I have encountered: The older pickups wear in time – My electric purchased in 1997 has had five pickups replaced on the bass strings because eventually the tension breaks the pickup. – It takes about 10 years, but it will happen. I have had them replaced /sodered in by a professional and no problems since. I can’t comment on what happens with the new pickups – since they are internal, I’m sure the same problem doesn’t exist – but who knows what will happen in 10 years.

Since my last post I have added many videos to my website – if you hook up the electric harp to a midi or soundboard (or a stadium sound system like in my videos) You will see the vast capabilities in sound. I wouldn’t play the electric with simply just a speaker anymore – once you see the other capabilities – you won’t go back.

Joanna Jordan is a good friend of mine and she was my mentor – we’re the only ones in Canada still who play an electric harp… check out her samples – joannajordan.com She does things in a completely different style with a track in the background – it’s simply fabulous!!

What did you end up getting Jimmy? I hope this thread has helped… I’ll make sure I get emails if the thread is added to.

Cheers!
Alyssa

[jimmy-h]

My 2000 is pretty much done. It may take longer before I get it though, It was 102 today in this part of Texas.

[KarenA]

HI Alyssa, I checked your website to listen to electric and acoustic sound samples. Your playing is certainly great but just can’t dig the electro sound which sounds too tin-can synthesized. Maybe it’s the way it was recorded and perhaps it sounds better live. But nothing will beat the traditional acoustic and natural sound of the harp. Would love to to see more acoustic-playing videos of your performances.

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