Time to buy a pedal harp for my daughter. Help!

[eliza-morrison]

Lyon and Healy does not make the Style 15 anymore, nor the Style 17. But there are quite a few pre-owned ones out there. My first harp was a 15 and I used it for 30 years!

[Sylvia]

Actually, I wasn’t trying to sell anyone on the 15, but merely bringing up the question of transporting a harp, which will surely become important. I didn’t think of it AT ALL when I bought mine. It’s just a blessing I couldn’t afford the Princess Louise, which was the one I wanted.

Both my harps were made for me. Back then, the waiting list for used harps was always three years, and LH didn’t keep lots of ready made harps around. ALL I thought about was getting a harp! I would have been happy with anything….and I’ve been very happy with my 15….she’s 43 now, and I wouldn’t part with her.

I think LH pre-owned harps have some sort of guarantee, so I wouldn’t worry if I were buying one.

[Tacye]

A few disconnected thoughts to muddy the water even more…

If someone is selling a used harp you like the sound and price of can you get it checked out by a technician? Does your daughter’s harp teacher feel knowledgable enough to help? It may well want a service and change of bass wires (factor the cost in to your plans). Or maybe the technician who last serviced it will remember it and be happy to vouch for it.

Why does size matter?
Firstly, running out of strings for repertoire is a nuisance and will depend on what type of music she plays and how fast she advances.
Secondly, sound and volume – different harps have different sounds, and volume matters in an orchestra. I am carefully not saying bigger is better – or even always louder (the extended soundboard gives more bass resonance, not necessarily volume). However, the nicest straightboard harps I have met have all been older instruments.
Thirdly is the size of the player, which I find less convincing. The modern huge beastie came into being I think in the tail end of the 19th century. Before that the harp to play (large men included) was a 46 string, straightboard Erard Gothic, itself introduced in the 1830s as a size increase to the Grecian model, a lightly built 43 string instrument. If you are visiting a harp showroom I am confident the largest harpist there will happily play the smallest pedal harp to demonstrate how it can be done comfortably.

I went through several pedal harps as I learnt and am glad I did – a 41 string, a 46 straight board and then a CG. As my playing developed, and my ear, each time I could afford to move up I chose a harp very different from what I would have chosen previously. I liken this to learning to ride on a school horse rather than a race horse.

[diana-day]

Hi, Tacye;

Having ridden both school and race horses –I can’t resist a response to the analogy. You really can’t learn to ride on a race horse, but you can easily learn to (briefly) fly, and abruptly land from one. 🙂 And unfortunately, there are a lot of school horses who can teach you the same lesson. Learning harp is a bit safer…

Diana

[eliza-morrison]

If ease of transport is a big issue, bear in mind that Salvi and Venus models tend to be a few pounds heavier than Lyon and Healys. For instance, a Lyon and Healy Style 150 weighs 80 pounds; a Salvi Diana is 88 pounds; and a Venus Aria or Classic concert Grand, 86 pounds. Doesn’t sound like a significant difference, but I really notice it!

[Anonymous]

I have just posted a bunch of used pedal harps (Venus and also L&H) to the Madison Folk Harp Society classifieds page (I think the Venus is actually located in Illinois). If it’s helpful, here’s the website: http://www.madharpers.org/harpclassifiedsandharpshoppinglinks.html

[allyson-rider]

Well, folks, after a very full day with Natalie and my daughters harp teacher at Lyon and Healy, she ended up choosing a style 150. In the end, both comfort in playing the harp and sound won out. For her, that was the one that spoke to her. Natalie was great in helping us.

[Gretchen Cover]

Congratulations on the new harp! I hope your daughter and family have many years of happiness with it. Have you thought about taking up harp, too?

[eliza-morrison]

Congratulations, and may it bring her years of joy! How blessed she is to have parents who are so supportive of her dreams.

[kay-lister]

How wonderful! OK, time for some pictures. Natalie was great to deal with when I purchased my harp. Many, MANY years of happy harping for your daughter!

Kay

[eliza-morrison]

I agree with Kay…please post pictures!

[HarpAficionadoBlair]

I am not a harpist, but my daughter has been playing harp for 9 years, since 9 years old, and I am her “roadie”. I am a former professional musician and am very familiar with stringed instruments. My daughter has played in school orchestras, in regional symphonies, at over a dozen weddings, and even performed in Carnegie Hall this past March with her high school wind ensemble. We have gone through many harps, as owners and renters. She prefers the overall sound of Lyon & Healy (she rented an 85 concert grand for a year and loved it’s sound; she owns an older Prelude and loves it), but she is petite and found it hard to balance, pedal and play without quite a bit of upper back pain after her hour or so long gigs. She is a bit smaller than your daughter (5’3″, small hands, and has a size 4-1/2 foot!). She heads off to college this fall, and needed a permanent performance harp before she goes, so she has tried out over 15 harps in the last 6 months for sound, string spacing, size, portability, volume, and appropriateness for application. Oh, and did I mention PRICE! College is not cheap!

She finally decided on a used Venus Prodigy, 44 string, weighs about 70 lbs, and fits in the back of an SUV (not the Odyssey that we needed for the 85CG). And, if push came to shove, she could move it around by herself or with perhaps minimal assistance of another. It was under $10,000 and, if we had purchased this after her Prelude lever harp was outgrown, the Prodigy would have fit every application that she has used her other harps for thus far. It has a very full sound, more similar to a L&H than a Salvi, and it has one of the largest extended soundboards (wider than the CG) made for a harp this size. String spacing is a bit closer, and pedals are closer, which has made her playing speed and smoothness of pedaling much better.

They sell for under $13,000 new, and are completely made in Chicago by W&W Musical Instruments. If you do go to L&H, stop by there, too, before making your final decision. Good Luck!

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