Salvi vs. Lyon and Healy?

[Fairy Reel]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been having some trouble getting my new Lyon and Healy. The dealers

[Evangeline Williams]

The best way to find out is to try and see for yourself.

[barbara-low]

I’m sure the dealer is as frustrated as you are about your harp being delayed. Are you sure the problem is at the dealer level? There may be delays at the factory level that are beyond anyone’s control. I remember having to wait beyond the estimated time of arrival for my harp, but it was worth the wait.

The best way to determine the harp for you is to play the different ones out there. Find the one that you and your body likes the best. Also, have someone else play them for you too so that you can compare their sound from further away.

[anita-burroughs-price]

I am sorry you’re having to wait. Could weather be part of the issue?

Harps don’t usually ship when it is below 32 degrees, I believe. Does

your dealer have a harp you can

[unknown-user]

Delays often happen with harps, but the dealers “not being very nice” is just…not nice. If you are uncomfortable with them, there are other dealers around if you decide you want to stick to L&H. Or buy direct from them. There are a couple of gurls there that are really lovely to deal with.

There are differences between Salvi and Lyon and Healy, but which you like is very much your taste. What I will say about the differences are all very much generalisations – and from a players perspective – mine!

Salvi tend to have a warmer and more focused sound, and a good one has a typically bell like purity in the upper register.

[Fairy Reel]

Thanks, everybody!

I’d love to get the chance to play other harps (especially Camacs and Salvis). I’ve been doing some research and I’m really mainly interested in semi-grands right now. I should however be getting an 85GP (yes, not a semi-grand, but my teacher advised me to stick with the GP). Moving up from the GP in the future, I would be interested in getting a Salvi Orchestra Ex, or Daphne Ex; or possibly a Camac Athena. (I really love that cherry finish!). If we do decide to continue with Lyon and Healy I would probably

[unknown-user]

A few months is nothing. I waited three-and-a-half years for my 23, and it was pretty well worth it.

[Fairy Reel]

I just feel rather lied to, if you know what I mean. I was assured it would be soon…but it wasn’t…why couldn’t they just say that at the beginning? I could have gone with a different harp style. It’s not like it was a custom order or anything…they were already in the process of building it when I called.

Also, why 3 and 1/2 years?

And, what’s the word on Venus? Everyone I know steers well clear of them…any specific reasons?

[rod-c]

Fairy:

I don’t know the details of your situation or where you bought your harp (was it a harp center that carried harps…or the LH factory/showroom in Chicago)?

All I can offer is that I have purchased two harps from LH in Chicago and had nothing but top notch service. My emails were answered promptly as were any phone calls.

[catherine-rogers]

Back in the 70’s there weren’t so many harp companies, and no dealerships where you could walk in and try or buy. New harps had to be ordered from the factory and there was a waiting list, which they told us when we placed our order. We also learned the cost would be the price at time of delivery, not at the time the order was placed. Of course it was higher two years later. I waited two years each for two harps I bought in 1977 and 1979, but at the time there was no choice. Those were standard models and finishes; the wait for special orders was even longer.

No harps have gone out of Chicago for some weeks now as it is too cold to ship them. The extreme cold would damage the finish.

[unknown-user]

It is sometimes hard to feel like you’re being told the whole story, that’s just how some companies do business. What matters most is the quality of the product, in the end.

But as I recall, if you put down a deposit when you ordered the harp, didn’t that hold the price as well? I also don’t think they went up annually in the olden days, like they have since the ’90s.

[catherine-rogers]

Nope, they told us up front that cost would be the price prevailing at time of delivery. It did go up every year but just a little; not as much as in the last decade and a half.

[barbara-low]

Back in the 70’s when I got my first harp, both L&H and Salvi did not offer a price guarantee when you placed a deposit. As I recall, L&H didn’t require a deposit, but Salvi did. Don’t know what their policy is now.

[john-strand]

re – “everyone steers clear of them”

[David Ice]

I certainly agree with John.

[Author]

Posts