Marini 22 String Travel Harp

[Rebecca Estrada-Pintel]

Hi. Does anyone have the Marini 22-string Travel harp? At 21″ it’s small enough to meet airline requirements for hand luggage so I’m really tempted by it. But I wonder whether there is anything about its construction that would make it feel totally different from playing a lever harp (e.g. are the strings close to the soundboard which means playing on the edge of fingertips on the left hand?) Grateful for advice from anyone who has one / has played one – thanks!

[harpy]

If you play in the middle of the strings, you don’t run into the soundboard with the left hand – there’s plenty of room. The main issue with this very flat harp is stability, but I find a combination of a strap and the lap bar works pretty well. You can also try their backplate – I find it a bit cumbersome, but it works well for some.

One caveat: the harp fits the airline requirements for hand luggage, but the case does NOT – it’s 25 1/2″ high x 18 1/2″ wide. (This is the regular case, I don’t know about the backpack one.) If you check with the airline ahead of time they may be willing to accommodate you, but I’m considering making a bubblewrap sleeve that would stay closer to the harp’s dimensions while still protecting it.

[Rebecca Estrada-Pintel]

Thank you so much, that’s incredibly helpful! I might make my own case so i should be able to get around the size issue but you make a good point that there’s not much wriggle room if the harp’s already at 21cm! In case helpful to you, if you wanted to go beyond bubble wrap, i found this on how to layer up a bespoke foam casing which I think you could do without the additional lining and casing that this person also does: https://www.instructables.com/Make-a-Hybrid-Instrument-Case/?amp_page=true

[harpy]

Thanks, the foam is an interesting idea!

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