Salzedo harp

[califa]

I found a 33 years old Salzedo harp for sale, haven’t played it,
it looks like good condition from the picture.
what is value of this harp now?
is it sound better than style 23?
what is weakness of this harp?
do you recommend it?

[Gretchen Cover]

I rented a Salzedo for about 18 months prior to getting my new harp. I learned to play on a 23. The sound is very individual with harps so you cannot say the Salzedo sound is better or not than a 23.

The bigger issue to me is the age. When I sold my Salvi Aurora, which was 35 years old, the harp needed to be re-rivted. The harp was purchased by a beginner adult so probably in her lifetime, the work will not need to be done. However, with a harp that age, you don’t know necessarily from a photo if it needs a base repair, new neck, new soundboard, needs to be refinished, etc. That depends on how the harp was taken care of, how much it was moved, how it was played. I would advise you to get a harp tech or someone experienced to check out the harp. You can contact Lyon Healy to find out how much the harp sold for when it was new. You can check past sales and ask other harpists what the current value should be.

[carl-swanson]

One big difference between a Salzedo model and a 23 is the overall weight. The Salzedo model is the heaviest model that Lyon & Healy makes. If you are on the short side, it will be heavy against your shoulder as well as heavy to move in and out of a car.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

It may be heavier, but it is also lighter than many other harps, and has usually got a big sound to compensate. If it was made in 1983, it is probably of good quality, though possibly not as good as more-recent harps. If it belongs to Jennifer Hoult, then it is a fine harp. That is about when they resumed making them, and there was quite a bit of variation in sound from one to another. The two I knew in that year were quite different from each other. It is possible it might need a new neck or re-riveting, but it is likely well put together, otherwise. It is well worth up to $16,000, considering possible repairs. If it is much less, it may be a bargain. But buying a harp from a photo is fairly risky unless it has been inspected.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

These harps have a pretty big sound, and by this age, it should be full-bodied in all registers. You would want to keep the sounding board, if you have it rebuilt at all. The string spacing may be a bit different.

[Author]

Posts