Restoring an antique harp yourself – dumb idea or not?

[Darcy Bell-Myers]

I’ve been considering the idea of restoring an antique harp myself. I’ve done some wood working and some simple oil gilding, but know nothing about the mechanical parts. My husband thinks I’m a little bit nuts. I am nuts about those lovely, old harps but can’t afford one yet. My plan is to buy a fixer-upper and pay for the more difficult parts of the restoration (making a new neck for instance) along the way, doing the rest myself.

Some questions:

Is this really a dumb idea? Would I be seriously in over my head? Should I just keep saving instead, even if it takes a few years?

What do I look for in an old, used harp or look to avoid?

Are there any good references out there to help me?

I have a lovely little Camac Clio that I play every day and take on gigs. I’m actually really happy with it. I’d just love to have one of those curly wurly harps someday too. I’m thinking a L&H or Wurlitzer semi-grand.

Thanks in advance for your advice, I am still a novice when it comes to harps.
Darcy

[carl-swanson]

Trust me Darcy, you don’t want to get involved in restoring an old harp. Leave that to the people who know what they are doing. Over my 30 years of restoring harps of every make, I have seen many well meaning but awful repairs done to old instruments. Even with the best of intentions you will make a huge mess of it. Save your money and have it done right by someone who knows what he is doing.

[Tacye]

If what you want is a great playable harp you would almost certainly be best off saving up to buy in the restoration work.

[Bonnie Shaljean]

I second what has been said above (i.e. don’t try to do it yourself).

[Diane Fisher]

I have a hundred plus year old Browne & Buckwell that, at the least, needs a new sound board.

[Darcy Bell-Myers]

You know I have already done a little gilding on the Clio. The original Clios had gilding striped along the curve of the neck, along the base and in a few other places. As it’s gotten more costly to make them, Camac seems to have stopped doing some of the gilding. So I went ahead and put it where it traditionally was, according to photos from their website. It does look good and adds a nice touch. I was surprised that it wasn’t too hard to do.

[Darcy Bell-Myers]

By the way, I live in Minnesota. It’s not too far to drive to Chicago so I know that I could work with Lyon & Healy or Pat Dougal there. I guess I just have to keep saving up and try not to be too impatient! (hard for me sometimes).

Thanks everyone for your comments and advice, I truly appreciate it.

Darcy

[Dwyn .]

Diane:

I’m sort of passively poking around for a second antique pedal harp (have one already).

[Evangeline Williams]

Many restorers won’t do just the major parts of a restoration (ie a new neck)-they will only do the whole harp.

[carl-swanson]

I should elaborate on my original post. If you are a novice who knows nothing about harp restoration, then you need to depend on the good advice of a trusted repairman. You can’t make the diagnosis of what the harp needs and then decide to have the repairman do just what you decided it needs, because you think you’re going to do the rest. Let me try to give you an example.

Let’s say you have an old beat up Erard in unplayable condition with a broken soundboard. If you call me and tell me what you’ve got and that you want me to put a new board on it, I’m left with many questions and am going to insist on examining the instrument first hand(not just photographs) to decide if it can be restored and how much work it needs. I’m going to look for worm damage, wood rot, and anything else that will mean that the harp can’t be played. I’m going to want to know if the baseframe and baseboard are in good shape, if the neck is too warped to use, or has any structural cracks in it. I’m going to want to know if the action has broken or missing parts which will be very expensive to replace. So you see, as a novice, you can’t possibly know all of the things that need to be addressed. In addition, the work has to be done in sequence, with the cosmetic repairs done last. Otherwise they will likely get damaged when the rest of the instrument is being worked on.

If you want an antique instrument to play, you need to pay a good technician to look at the instrument BEFORE you buy it, and then plan on having him or someone else who knows what they’re doing do all of the work.

[catherine-rogers]

The points Carl listed can also wisely be applied to any used harp one is considering buying, antique or not.

[carl-swanson]

Thanks Cathy.

[Darcy Bell-Myers]

Thanks so much, Carl. I understand better now. My husband compares my harp enthusiasm to people’s love for old sports cars. I suppose you wouldn’t buy one of those without having a mechanic or car expert look at it either. It’s easy to forget the myriad of working parts that make up a harp.

Darcy

[unknown-user]

To restore an antique harp yourself ?

[Harp Museum]

Diane,

We would be interested in knowing more about your instrument.

[Author]

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