where do pedal harps go when they die?

[tenthousandclowns]

what happens to pedal harps when they retire or give out? Do the actions usually wear out before the bodies? Do people keep them around to look at usually? It seems like there are way more harps being made than being sold as ‘for looks only’… I would like to try to build a small pedal harp for touring with (36 strings or so) by removing the bottom octave or more from an action and building a new harp around it… any thoughts?

[Sidney Dharmavaram]

My observation has been they get spray painted and put on display at JCPennys. 🙂

[Biagio]

Try asking a pedal harp restorer for parts, such as Carl (on this list) or Howard Bryan:

http://www.oldharpsmadeyoung.com/

Biagio

[Tacye]

It takes a lot to make a harp not worth repairing or rebuilding. A corroded mechanism can do it, or all the wood gone with woodworm. This is an example of a harp that needs rebuilding around its mechanism:
https://www.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/Catalogues/mi140618/lot0766.html

How were you thinking of removing the bottom octave from an action? They need the main action block at the top of the column/base of the mechanism.

[paul-knoke]

If you’re interested in a really small pedal harp, the Fischer 5-pedal “school harp” might do the job:
https://www.fischerharfen.de/en/fischer_schulharfe_mod_93

[tenthousandclowns]

wow I like that fischer harp… i had never seen one before. How can we get them to make it double action and seven pedals?

I’m not sure how hard it would be to connect the rods to a higher octave of mechanism, I assume a custom part or two would have to be machined for each of the 14 linkages.

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