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John, can your son get harp strings through his music store? One word of caution–nylons sound great for the top two or three octaves of the pedal harp, but 4th and 5th octaves really should be gut, and we are talking pedal OR lever gut here. These gut strings are even more expensive than the bass wire strings, but are completely worth it. In pedal harp terms, the First Octave is from your top E string down through F. The next E begins the Second Octave and goes down through F, and this system will carry you all the way down to your lowest string, Sixth Octave A. Your harp only has 7 wire strings, then the guts start on Fifth Octave A. There are only 5 thick gut strings in the Fifth Octave. You can find a string chart for the L&H 85P on-line. I hope this helps.
Cheers,
BalfourHi Fiona,
We loved your post. I have a habit of playing the harp at night, too, and every night I do a personal “concert” for my wife. Sometimes I do them on the piano and organ, too! We got into this habit even before the pandemic, and it sure helped us get through all of that. So glad you found your Ravenna and love to play her so much. Me too!
Best wishes, and more harp hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)John, great job!!!! We really enjoyed your video! Yes, it is beginning to look like a harp. We saw your can of Acetone on hand–that is the best clean-up solvent for contact cement that we have found. You said you are almost 70, and my sweet wife and I are almost 68, ha, ha! Did you find the string eyelets okay?
Harp Hugs from both of us,
Balfour and Carol LynnFiona, that’s great to hear about G4M! It is also wonderful to read about how much you are enjoying “Desi.” The transport bag for the Ravenna is really designed very well, and is “top notch.” Do work hard and learn those Christmas carols. I have a Christmas concert to do Dec. 11th on my Dusty “Cherie” FH36S, and I always think of “a Celtic harp for Christmas!” It was on Oct. 25, 2015 that I found Cherie, and that was indeed “Christmas in October!”
More harp hugs from both of us,
Balfour and Carol LynnHi Fiona!
We are SO HAPPY for you! I owned a beautiful Ravenna 34 for about 4 1/2 years that I used mostly for a gigging harp. When I found my cherry FH36S, I traded in the Ravenna, but Ravenna was a great little harp. There is nothing quite like a Dusty, in my opinion, and I also own a gorgeous Camac Atlantide Prestige concert grand pedal harp.
Hopefully you can get a full refund from G4M. That harp just is not a top quality instrument!
My sweet wife and I are envious that you live so close to Clive Morley Harps! We would have also been like kids in a candy store, ha, ha! We live in western North Carolina, USA, and we are about 3 1/2 hours from the Atlanta Harp Center, which we enjoy going to from time to time. We are having a very beautiful Fall right now in our gorgeous mountains!
Best wishes to you,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)P. S. There seems to be a mistake in the rhythm in m. 21, and it is a little awkward going from m. 21 to m. 22. Just thought I would mention this.
Hello Benjamin,
I just tried it on my pedal harp and it is very playable. Are the bisbigliando chords to be measured exactly, or just ad lib.? You have some neat effects here with the harmonics and “bell-like” sounds.
Good luck with this work!
BalfourJohn, in my experience, soundboards usually pull away from the sides. That is why screws, along with the glue, seem to be absolutely necessary. Both of my grandfathers and my father always said “screws, not nails!”
By the way, your harp is looking GOOD in that last photo you posted!
Best wishes,
BalfourJohn, it would be good for you to have some lacquer thinner on hand, if you don’t already, as a clean-up solvent for the contact cement. It works great, and you don’t need to buy whatever solvent they claim that you need especially for contact cement. I always keep lacquer thinner around, and definitely “not for sniffing,” ha, ha!
Great that your son is a musician. You all will have a wonderful time stringing, tuning, and learning to play this harp, I’m sure! Harps are addictive!
Have a great day,
BalfourAren’t these blues beautiful? I love the Salvi Iris in natural, with the blue accents in the hand-painted soundboard, too!
Have a great harp day,
BalfourI have read this entire thread now, and I wondered what type of tuning pins your current harp has, Fiona. If they are the standard, tapered ones, do you know how to push on them as you tune with the tuning key, to make them grip tighter in the wood? If they are the straight, threaded type, then no amount of pushing on them will help them to grip tighter. It sounded like they may be loose enough to slip back as soon as you take off the tuning key.
Hope this may help, Fiona.
Best wishes,
BalfourHi John!
I enjoyed watching your video. You are very resourceful! Too bad you are not a harp tech–we need more of them. With your skills and attention to getting everything right, you would be a good technician.
I think your soundboard is strong enough to support at least lever-gauge strings. That solid redwood that you have used will indeed probably sound good. When you get far enough along to actually string up the harp, I hope you can find a harpist to tune it and play it. I know you and your wife are more interested in just having it for looks, but it would be so nice to have it playable again! This harp wants to “talk again.” It would have cost more than $10,000 back in 2006 when it was new. I can’t conceive of Stanley doing what he did to such a valuable instrument.
My name is said like BAL-fer, like the English “colour” since it is an English name. It looks like “four” and folks often call me that, ha, ha! Just thought you might like to know.
Best wishes, and you are very brave and persistent with this worth-while project. The harp is saying “thanks, John!”
Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)
