Ok guys, opinions on Camac?

[catherine-rogers]

As with any harp, what you need to do is try one.

[unknown-user]

As some of you may know, I’m on quite the harp hunt for a semi-grand
gig harp. I have a gorgeous Salvi CG that I love completely- it just
weighs a ton! Thus, I’m looking for a smaller harp. While I love the
sound of Lyon/Healy’s, they don’t have any semi-grand that I’m
interested in. I already own a Salvi, so I’m looking to have a
little diversity among my harp reprtoire. After scrutenizing (sp?) a
few other harp brands, I’ve decided to look closer into Camac harps.
More specifically, the Camac Clio.

I notice that it weighs only 56 pounds. This makes me a little bit
weary- that’s only 9 pounds more than my Troubador! Is it becuase
they dont use the best wood, or is it just an ingenious
construction…?

Has any one owned a Camac for a long time? I’m really interested in
a harp that I will have for a long time.

On the Camac website, it seems like all the effort put into it is to
make the website beautiful. I find the Camac website to NOT be
straight foward at all. It’s actually really confusing. It looks
like they’re putting too much effort into saying “at the heart of
the harp” and all these other whimsical things rather than showing
off thier products with prices and warranties, etc., so that makes
me a little bit sketchy of them.

So c’mon guys, give me some unwarped, non sugar-coated opinions on
Camacs.

Let the battle begin.

Just kiddinG!

[unknown-user]

Steve,

Camac has reshaped the upper end of the harp so that you don’t need to reach back so far (ergonomics?).

[unknown-user]

Oh my gosh!

I didn’t even think of my good pal Carl!!! And to think he lives about 20 minutes from me and I didn’t even drop an e-mail about smaller harps. I shall do that lickity split!

[carl-swanson]

Thank you for asking about Swanson harps.

[unknown-user]

hey, right now i own a camac athena, i am very happy with it, it sounds so good, even wen i play in the orchestra, the sound its rich and full, they are so light because the column is made of fiber glass covered by a thin wood layer, so it never gives me problems when its moved.

i think they are the best harps at the most afordable price

[unknown-user]

I’ve found my concert grand to be way too heavy for me to move alone, and will need a lighter weight harp for performance gigs also someday. On paper the Camac Clio is the ideal harp because it is very lightweight, but still has 44 strings, is economical compared to other small harps, and has many technical advances that make it sturdier, and more practical than most harps. I’ve only heard one once and remember the sound to be less resonant than the Lyon and Healy 85 petite. Also, on the website the extended soundboard on the Clio is made of cedar. I was wondering, if the Clio soundboard could be upgraded to a really high quality spruce, would it make it a bit more resonant? If I could hear a Clio that had more richness to the tone than the one I remember, I would be sold on it. It would be ideal to go someplace like the Virginia Harp Center and try out all the small pedal harps in the same acoustic environment to really know how they compare.

[unknown-user]

Sorry, but I can’t foresee forsaking Lyon & Healy for any other maker known to me. What could be lacking about their semi-grands? We can’t always have the exact look we want. You have to go for the best sound, because that’s what matters most of all.

[unknown-user]

yeah saul, we have seen in every post that you add, that you love lyon healy,play always lyon healy, lyon healy is the best, even you dream about lyon healy. we know that you exist ok
so if you are not going to answer the question about camac, just shus

[alexander-rider]

Ivan, we are all entitled to our opinions; saul was just giving his in a polite measured way.

[unknown-user]

Yeah, but Carl only makes concert grands.

[alexander-rider]

doh. i forgot.

[Tacye]

What this topic makes me wonder is why many people have so much trouble moving a CG?

[carl-swanson]

Steve- Most of the professional harpists who bought one of my harps sold
something else in order to buy mine.

[unknown-user]

Tayce- I have trouble moving my CG becuase it’s SOOO heavy. 92 pounds, I think the Salvi website says. I have a Salvi harp trolley. It’s probably easier for you becuase you’ve been playing so much longer than I have. Guess it just takes some getting used to. As for the Swanson….

As for Carl- why haven’t I thought of you sooner?!? Since I’m selling my Troubador (decided to become a solely pedal harp teacher/perfromer) which is worth about $3,000 and my Salvi which is about $15,500 your La Scoula will definetely be in the back of my mind.

Ciao for now,

Steve

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