Lyon & Healy – Repair Service After My Harp “Exploded”

[Carolyn DUrso]

One side of the soundboard on my L&H 85P popped off of the sound-box recently for no apparent reason. The screws are still attached to the sound-box, but the board and trim are ripped away from it. This also caused two 2″ horizontal tears in the soundboard itself.

My harp is 10 years old (had a 3-year warranty), was never kept near a heat source or dry air, and always wore a padded fitted “coat” for travelling locally. So there was no environmental reason for the rupture, especially in late summer.

Lyon & Healy seemed quite surprised that the damaged occurred and even requested photos, which I sent them. Their advice is that I trade it in for full original value and upgrade to a new harp or pay the difference for a current equal style harp.

L&H did offer to repair my harp for a cost of $2200 plus $300 to regulate it. Shipping it round trip would cost $300-$400, bringing my cost to $2800-$2900!

Since this was the result of a serious manufacturer error (which only manifested itself after 10 years), I’m surprised at Lyon & Healy’s response.

Has anyone else had problems like this with an L&H harp? How were you treated by the company?

[deb-l]

that doesn’t sound too bad, that they would give you purchase price towards trade in, granted harps are more expensive than they were then but your harp was already 10 yrs old and they depreciate.

[Carolyn DUrso]

Since L&H doesn’t make my style harp anymore, I’d have to upgrade at a cost of several thousand dollars. I can’t even afford the price of them repairing it, much less buying a new one.

I love my harp and am devestated that it ruptured.

[Carolyn DUrso]

Upon close inspection of the screws holding the soundboard onto the sound-box (as a result of Carl’s insight from another thread on this subject), it appears that they were countersunk too far, leaving inadequate strength for holding the soundboard down.

[Dwyn .]

L&H may not make the 85P any more, but they do get used ones as trade-ins.

[Dwyn .]

Honestly, I’m surprised that the design involves countersinking the screws into the soundboard at all.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I think they gave you a fairly low price to repair it. They are not responsible after the warranty, as you know. It is the extra price one pays for buying a cheaper model. You could skip the regulating and try to do it yourself, or have someone local do it, but it would cost about the same.

You got ten years use, and moved it around, so it cost you about $100 a month, if you had been renting it, or somethign like that. It is time for a bigger harp anyway, so take the trade-in, or buy a second-hand harp. You should get a 23.

[Katherine Denler]

Saul, it shows my age that my first impulse was to “like” your post, as on facebook…

🙂

[Sam Karlinski]

I go to do that all the time on this site, Katherine! I actually suggested to Kim that if they redesign the website, that should be a feature (and that could keep “well liked” threads and comments on the homepage, which would be nice, instead of just recent posts).

~Sam

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