ORIGINAL Lyon & Healy Troubadour – need your thoughts please

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This topic has 16 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 10 months ago by Neka Borders.

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June 9, 2010 at 9:11 pm #74185

Shirley Starke
Member

I didn’t buy that Troubadour II, and am very glad I didn’t. Now I have a chance to get another Troubadour I – if the violinist who bought it at an estate sale hasn’t fallen too much in love with it to part with it.

My harp will be repaired, but might never be the same again. In any case, it’s always at church, and I need a second harp to keep at home. I make my living arranging harp music, and have been separated from my harp so much that I haven’t arranged a new piece in a couple of years. And the ebony one I’m considering is gorgeous…

Just wonder how much difference its warped neck would make when playing. I’ve never played a harp with a warped neck, so would appreciate advice on whether to buy it like that or not.

Blessings!

Shirley

June 9, 2010 at 9:56 pm #74186

Neka Borders
Participant

Shirley,

The good news: When I purchased my Troubadour I (from the original owner), I took it immediately to Lyon & Healy. They had me leave it overnight, but called me to come in the next day for a “conference”. The only problem it had was that one string kept slipping, but they only needed to measure and tap the tuning peg into the right alignment, no charge. The troubadour has its original levers, which don’t work very well; some of the levers aren’t an exact half step. I’m told they would probably not be able to regulate these original levers. There were no cracks in the soundboard, though the neck was begining to curl a bit (as you mention). I asked in depth questions about this issue and was told that in an instrument this old, because of the nature of the wood itself, there is no avoiding this. They assured me that it would not impede my playing, and that I could enjoy this troubadour for as long as I owned it – the shift is VERY slight on my instrument and hardly noticable.The L&H technician who actually MAKES the harps was the only one to detect this! Despite the levers, another harper & harpist friend of mine played it in a duet with a flutist at church and it sounded beautiful! She was more experienced than I am!

Given this advice directly from L&H, so long as the curl isn’t substantial it should be okay to buy. Of course, it will continue to warp more over time so if it’s bad, you may really want to weigh this decision.

The bad news is that it looks like I am going to be shipping out of the continental US (military), and must leave my Troubadour behind for 3-4 years! ARG! I’ve been considering putting it up for sale since I can’t enjoy it and wanted to get something newer eventually anyhow. Let me know if there’s any interest if your sale falls through before I post it. The harp is ebony, in good condition, and fits in the back of my Honda Civic!
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