Swapping levers on a Troubadour?

[diane-michaels]

Can the original u-shaped levers on a L&H troubadour be replaced with modern ones? Any idea of the cost?

[catherine-rogers]

I had the old metal levers on a Troubadour III replaced with Loveland levers and they work well. The trick is you really should have a harp technician do it because it will mean drilling new holes in the neck and each lever will need to be regulated. There’s the cost per lever (depending on the type you want) and the cost for the labor.

If the neck is not warped, it should work well. If the neck is very warped, it’s probably not worth it because it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get a good regulation. On the old (I through V) Troubadours, the neck and column are one piece; replacing it would mean replacing half the harp; not cost effective. The new Troubadour VIs have a neck separate from the column.

[carl-swanson]

All good advice Catherine. I would only add that the cost will be the cost of the levers plus the labor of installing them. Whatever lever you decide to use as a replacement, it will have to be positioned exactly where it needs to be and then a screw hole needs to be drilled to hold it in place. If the neck and/or column are warped beyond a certain point, then any make of replacement lever might not be an option, because the string has to pass through the lever at a very precise distance and that may not be possible with a warped neck.

[Carrie Witherspoon]

Hi Diane, I had Camac levers installed on my Troub. I by a harp technician. I’m sure price is decided by what levers you choose and who does the work. Yes there are new holes drilled, but you can’t see the old holes unless you look really closely. It made an old unusable harp playable again, and it has such a beautiful voice. I also had oversized pegs put in so the thing would stay in tune since they all slipped.

[jessica-wolff]

You might recapture part of the cost in harp strings. Those old Troubadour levers really chew up strings.

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