Sweetharp

[Biagio Sancetta]

Julie, I’m not sure where you are or what peninsula you mean?

[Biagio Sancetta]

Julie if you have your harp by now (I think I read that you do) you can have a case made by Laurie Nielsen at Markwood Strings or by the folks at Colorado case.

[barbara-dixon]

I don’t believe I ever said Chris was ‘very ill’.

[barbara-dixon]

After many email messages (I can not use the toll free number to call Chris as I live in Canada and for some reason his regular number doesn’t work) I finally received a case for my Sweetharp that fit.

[jessica-wolff]

I had to wait more than 4 years for what I call the Etruscan-Minoan banjo (inlays modeled after archaeological finds), a handmade curly walnut openback, but it was worth it.

[nancy-glickman]

what i find frustrating is just not knowing what is going on. when i had a mandolin made for me i noticed on site it said the waiting list was 5 years for a mandolin to be made by this maker. another maker of instruments said you send in a deposit and then just wait, he said you just have to wait but he wouldn’t commit to a timeframe. also the person that told me he was ill was Beverly not Barbara, i got the names mixed up, i must have had Barbara in mind since i have seen her name on this site several times. my mistake.

[kathy-chanik]

Chris Caswell is exhibiting and performing next week at the Somerset Harp Festival in New Jersey, in case anyone would like to speak with him in person and try his harps. Should be interesting to hear what he has to say. And maybe he’ll have some cases and lap bars on hand for purchase.

[Julie Jones]

Thanks, Biagio for all the harp strings information. I live in the San Francisco peninsula but I guess it doesn’t matter if I order online.

[barbara-dixon]

Nancy, thank you for clarifying that it was not me who said that Chris was ‘very ill’.

[barbara-dixon]

I should have added, in this case I did not know if it was true or not, and it was none of my business anyway!

[Biagio Sancetta]

I suppose that it is time to provide an update.

[mary-albers]

I have been waiting for 3 months for the refund promised when I canceled my order for a sweetharp. I had waited more than a year for the order to be fulfilled and delivered.

As has been discussed in this forum previously, Chris Caswell may design extraordinary instruments but his business practices and customer service are terrible. In the hopes of concluding this wretched experience with Caswell Harps I have filed complaints with both the Better Business Bureau of Northern California and the California Attorney General. He has had use of my money long enough.

[nancy-glickman]

will you please keep us posted, i too have waited over a year, but when i heard from Beverly i felt some hope, but i have not heard anything about when my harp will arrive and i also sent in a large some of money. so lets see what will happen after filing a complaint.

[Angela Biggs]

Hi Nancy,

No, my student STILL doesn’t have her harp. I responded to a mass email in late July / early August and expressed my deep concern about the status of her instrument. Chris responded with a call to my student and told her that he would begin the dying process on her harp immediately (she sent in the dying-time payment at the beginning of June) – and that he would *keep in touch more closely* from now on. That was around four weeks ago, and she has not heard from him since. She’s made a few phone calls, but no one answers the phone or returns messages.

I saw an ad for a Heartland Aurora in the Classifieds here last week, and suggested to my student that it might be a good idea to drop the Sweetharp idea and go for the Aurora instead, since the Aurora already exists. (I have a Heartland Sylvan, and love it.) She’s totally stuck on the Sweetharp though, and she’s also worried about the trouble she’d have to go through to get a refund. At this point she’d rather stick it out. I mean, however long it’s going to take, she is a YEAR closer to the end now!

After reviewing the more recent posts in this thread, I’m going to warn her not to send any money for the case, until (unless!) after she receives it. Looks like she’s going to have to have one custom made — what a pain. And expense. At this point, I don’t know if it’s even possible for the Sweetharp to be good enough to repay us for all the time and headache involved in this process.

I’m putting together an annotated bibliography of harp resources and makers for an Intro to the Harp class I’m teaching next spring. I’m warning the class away from Caswell Harps.

[nancy-glickman]

thanks so much ,i want to just get mine only because i sent him the money he requested. i wish i had not started all this though, i was also told mine was coming up for the dyeing process and that was months ago and i sent him the money and have not heard anything since from him, but i did hear from beverly who told me he was ill and other stuff. i just do not know what to do either since i already sent the money and do not know how to get it back. i was thinking of emailing beverly again and see if she has any more news. thanks for your imput. nancy

[Author]

Posts