solid or ply soundboard?

[Anna Dalton]

I am a *very* recreational player (never outside the living room!) and have decided to get a nicer small lever harp with more range and better sound than the little guy I have now.

I am looking at 29 to 30 strings, and wanting to stay small enough to sit with the harp in my lap.

How important is it to get a solid spruce top? My guitar and mandolin playing husband is deadset against the birch ply top. I can’t convince him he is comparing apples to oranges…is he?

Thanks in advance for your help-I’m way out of my depth!

[william-weber]

A year ago while going over my order for a harp Dwight Blevins and I discussed soundboard wood. Thin solid spruce might be preferable on a low tension harp, such as my Cox Gothic, but the higher tension Melody 26 sounds fine with the birch plywood. I had read this link first:
http://www.blevinsharps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_33

[jennifer-buehler]

Try your best to play before you buy and buy the one you love, regardless of soundboard!

[poppy-rose]

I have the 27 string salvi Juno, with ply wood sound board, and it sounds great. I love the back pack style transport case it comes with. It has quite a high string tension. Especially for a small harp.

[Anna Dalton]

Thanks so much for your replies.

The Blevins Cameo harp is the one I am interested in. Cindy played it for me, and it sounded beautiful, even over the phone! She was confident that a spruce soundboard would be a mistake for this small harp. She explained to bracing required would negate any advantage the solid top may offer.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play the harp before I commit to it.

If I were buying a horse, I’d be okay-I’m on a steep learning curve-it’s kinda fun.

[sherry-lenox]

Try googling “harwood vs plywood for harp fingerboard” and you’ll get some good discussions.

Follow the links and you’ll ultimately find that there are lots of different opinions. It will be helpful for your husband to read some of them too.

[Anna Dalton]

Sherry-thanks for the tip-I’m off to google.

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