Options for small straight soundboard pedal harps

[Gillian Bradford]

I’m getting ready to upgrade to a pedal harp. I’m a petite female and also I just prefer the look of a small harp. I have no ambitions to ever play professionally or join an orchestra. I’m a hobby harpist and this instrument will only ever sit in my home and be enjoyed by me. I’m willing to put up with the fact I may not be able to play 100% of all harp music by having less than 47 strings. Truth be told I’ll probably never reach a level of proficiency required to do so anyway. So why a pedal harp then? Well it’s the sound I like. My lever harp is strung with concert stringing and sounds like a pedal harp. I just prefer the full resonance and deeper base that pedal harps provide over lever harps. I also enjoy some music that is better suited to a pedal harp.

So I’ve looked at the Camac Clio and the big issue there, is while I like the Camac sound overall I find the straight soundboard Clio’s don’t sound very nice compared to the Ex ones. They sound a bit brittle to my ears.

Salvi Daphne sounds very nice from the ones I heard so far. The sound is softer and very even from bottom to top. I especially like their top register.

Pilgrim progress doesn’t sound nice to me at all.

I’m not a fan of any of the LH harps I’ve heard so far. I won’t comment what they sound like to me because many people love them above all others. But they don’t sing to me.

Any others, perhaps a little more obscure I should be considering?

[carl-swanson]

Where are you located? I have a style 12 up on my web site at the moment. It was built in the 1920’s, is in excellent condition and sounds gorgeous. http://www.swansonharp.com

[patricia-jaeger]

Gillian, depending on your budget, here are

[Gillian Bradford]

How I wished in the US, but I don’t. If I did I would be swimming in choice. As it is, I am hard pressed to find any 2nd hand harp let alone one I like. It seems like I will have no choice except to buy sight unseen from a catalogue, and hoping YouTube vids are good enough to get some idea of what I am buying.

The cost of flying somewhere to test one out would add an additional $3,000-$4,000 to the cost of it. It’s just not feasible. Sadly there are some parts of the world where you can’t even try before you buy when spending thousands.

My budget is up to $15k. I’m hoping I can find something in that range.

[Sylvia]

I have an Aoyama Etude.

[carl-swanson]

So where are you????

[jessica-wolff]

I’ve seen and heard one of those Style 12s. It was adorable!

[Gillian Bradford]

The end of the earth, Australia.

[darth-mom]

Have you tried Hugh Jones?

[Gillian Bradford]

Thanks Darth Mom,

Yes I am aware of Hugh Jones although I cannot find anyone who has purchased a pedal harp from him. The harps available through the VIC harp society are all 47 string harps. A bit larger than I am looking for.

[patricia-jaeger]

Classic Harps Northwest

[carl-swanson]

Gillian-I tried to email you privately but there is no email address listed. If you go to my web site, http://www.swansonharp.com, and click on the USED HARPS FOR SALE page, there are two instruments you might be interested in: a style 12 and a style 18. Both are in excellent condition and sound gorgeous. In fact I have a great jazz harpist who wanted to buy the 12, but I insisted that it is just too small for her. But she loved its sound. She also really liked the style 18, partly because it had once belonged to another great jazz harpist, Daphne Helman. You should take a serious look at both these instruments, because they are small, in brand new condition, sound great, and look terrific.

[Gillian Bradford]

Thanks so much for your help everyone. I have taken your suggestions and yes Carl I will also have a look at the two harps you mention as well. I’l need to call my local customs office to find out what kind of customs or import duties I might incur with such an instrument.

[Author]

Posts