Regulations (not Rules)

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Why don’t we compile a complete list of harp regulators, where they work, their fees (in general), their qualifications (if any), and a rough idea of their schedule? Wouldn’t it be great to have a comprehensive list in one place? After all, they don’t all come from Lyon & Healy.

The ones I know from personal experience are: Peter Wiley, Ed Galchick, Jeff Lewis, Ivan Gardner (?), Karen Rokos, and I have heard of Jim Buxton, Richard Turner, Tom Bell, maybe a couple of others, and Jim Pinkerton, Dale Barco who are not working now for different reasons. We probably shouldn’t get into rating them, but I think it would be fair to mention their strengths if you are aware of them. If you have their contact information, perhaps include that.

[Evangeline Williams]

Kurt..for some reason I am forgetting his last name at the moment….from Venus Harps.

[unknown-user]

I would LOVE a list like this!!

[barbara-brundage]

>Jeff Lewis

Is there a Jeff, too? I know Mike Lewis, but not Jeff. Where is he?

VIctor Roman from Tallahassee (husband of harpist Mary Brigid) does regulations, too.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

Yes, Mike Lewis, I meant, and of course, Carl.

[Sherj DeSantis]

In the Rochester/Syracuse, New York

[carl-swanson]

It’s such a different world now. When I started doing regulations 30 years ago, there were no more than 3 or 4 places to turn to in the United States to get your harp regulated. Dale Barco was working for Salvi and doing road trips for them. I don’t think Lyon & Healy had a road technician then. Sam Pratt was repairing and regulating harps in New Jersey, and there was me. I did a fair number of road trips over the years and every single trip was done at the request of the harpists in one city or other. I never arranged my own road trips. Now there are many technicians who do only regulations(no rebuilding) and who have their own circuit that they plan on their own. I never get requests to do road trips any more and that’s fine. It’s a much better world now for harpists all over the country.

One word of warning though. Regulation is not hard to do and all of the technicians that I am aware of are competent regulators. However, there are one or two regulators who tell people that they can do major repairs and their work is incompetent and appalling. They’ve cheated many people out of money for repairs that were incorrectly done. So be very careful when any technician tells you there is something wrong with your harp and that they can fix it. Get a second opinion. Research that technicians work before handing your harp over to him for major repairs. And make sure that he tells you, in terms that you can easily understand, what is wrong with the instrument and what he is going to do to fix it.

[lydia-weaver-haywood]

I recently had my harp regulated by Kurt Berg from Venus Harps.

[unknown-user]

Carl,

Ever thought of a road trip to Tasmania??? I have lots of vegemite just waiting for your brekky…..It’s nice on toast…And we are near to quite

[tony-morosco]

Unfortunately I haven’t had a pedal harp in many years and the person who did my regulations when I did is no longer with us (the late Mr Don Henry).

My lever harp is in need of a good lever adjustment and I know that the only dedicated harp shop in the area, Harps Etc…, has a regulator come in once a month on the last Friday of every month,

[Briggsie B. Peawiggle]

Tom Bell recently regulated my Camac Athena and did a BEAUTIFUL job on it. He also changed over tuning pegs and added Camac levers to an old Troubadour I I have and he turned it into an elegant little instrument. I highly recommend him. In addition, he is a really nice guy and dependable.

June

[marguerite-lynn-williams]

Chris Bain is located in Chicago but travels

[barbara-brundage]

Folks, just a suggestion:

Be kind to your favorite regulator and don’t post their email with the @ symbol here, unless of course you think they probably don’t get enough spam.

Try something like “Ed Galchick can be reached at harptweak AT sbcglobal.net” instead.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

A side question to this is, how much do you think you should have to pay for a regulation? I am used to paying under $300 for a house call, yet some regulators charge more, plus add on an extra huge surcharge for a house call. I don’t think I should have to pay extra. It’s a convenience if the harps are all brought to one place for the regulator, but I don’t think they should expect it to always be so. I’m sure there are many besides me who can’t or don’t want to do that.

[carl-swanson]

Let me add one thing to what I said above. I don’t mind doing regulations or regulation trips. If someone asks me to do a regulation trip and wants to set it up with other harpists in the area, that’s fine.

Saul, as far as your question goes, I don’t want to say what someone else should or shouldn’t charge. Whenever I do a regulation trip, I try to have the harpists bring their harps to one location so I don’t have to waste time traveling around as well as setting up all my equipment and then repacking it after each harp. I always charged one flat fee per regulation and didn’t charge extra to cover traveling expenses, meals, etc. That way, everyone knew way in advance how much the regulation would cost. My advice to everyone reading this is to make sure the regulator is up front with you about whatever fees he is going to charge. There should be no surprises when the regulation is done. I know of one regulator who was always very evasive about how much the regulation was going to cost, and then after it was done, present a bill that was 4 times what it should have cost! I’m not kidding. At a time when on-the-road regulations were costing $150 to $200, he would present a bill of $800!! And on top of that demand cash!

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