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Tell him he’s right, ha, ha! Way to go, John–you can do some good artwork on that new soundboard when you get it finished.
Good going, John! One tip–try to not have a knot at the string holes! It would affect the integrity of the hole and the tone of that string. You make me think of the men in my family. I grew up with a father and two grandfathers who could literally “fix anything.” I worked along with them and learned a lot. We were poor western North Carolina mountain people, but we got by. My sister and I both earned Master’s degrees, so my family must have done something right, ha, ha!
Good luck on this project.
Best wishes,
BalfourHi Molly,
The little Dusty Ravenna 26 almost has pedal harp tension, since the higher strings are very firm. These harps are sometimes offered for sale as good used harps, and are very reasonable. A lot of beginners start with one, then move on (or up) to a larger lever harp or pedal harp, so used ones can be found. They make good traveling harps for hobbyists and professionals. Gregg’s ideas are also very good, and cheaper, I’m sure. My “cheap cure” is my little emery board, ha, ha!
Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)You might enjoy “Blue Tango” by Leroy Anderson. You could probably get piano sheet music or a PDF of it, and arrange it yourself for your lever harp. Hope you can find other Argentinian tangos!
Good luck!
BalfourI have heard about the Clark Irish harp from Biagio! He would love it!
Good luck making that solid-wood soundboard, John. I have never done that before!
Best wishes,
BalfourI recommend the Dusty 26-string Ravenna. The 34 is my favorite, but the little 26 model is great to take on a trip and has medium tension to nicely maintain your calluses and finger strength. I have a harpist friend who owns one, and she never fails to take it with her.
Harp Hugs,
BalfourJohn, please see the “Tango for lever harp” thread that we have posted comments on here. Biagio responded on that thread!
Cheers,
BalfourHello Sophie and Biagio!
First of all, Sophie, I want to apologize for using your thread to alert Biagio about the other thread. Thanks for your patience here! I also wanted to recommend “Blue Tango” to you. It has been the most often-requested tango during my long career of playing both harp and piano for dancing. I play it by ear, and it is very diatonic. If you do not know it already, I think you will enjoy it!
Biagio, thanks for your response here, and if you think of anything that will help John with restoring that pedal harp, please post it there. I know he appreciates all the information we can give him. It took me 20 years to build my pipe organ, and I had a couple of organists and organ builders who answered a lot of my questions back then. I did not know about Charles Nix then, but he would have been a wonderful help to me, I am sure!
Best wishes, all,
BalfourHello Biagio, my friend! You are missing “all the fun” on the thread “Pedal Harp String Spacing!” We need your input there, if you are interested. Watch all the videos that John Leclerc has posted. You will not believe what 93-year-old Mr. Chaing did to that lovely L&H 85 P pedal harp! Harp Attack! John is trying to repair it.
Harp Hugs,
BalfourJohn, I think Carl Swanson could tell you that. My Camac pedal harp uses black “plastic” dots and eyelets, so that is no help to you for this L&H. Also, my friend, Gregg Bailey, who often posts here, has a L&H Prelude 40 string harp that may use the same eyelets as the 85 Petite 40-string pedal harp that you have. I will see if he will give you this information. Good luck with all this!
Balfour
Thanks for the new video, John! I wish you had a harp technician in your neighborhood. You are brave to tackle this project, and it looks like you have done a great job on the Mercedes! Harps are not nearly as complicated as cars, ha, ha! Those little plastic/nylon/delrin things in the soundboard are called “dots,” and you are correct about the little brass ones–eyelets. These are necessary to keep the strings from tearing out the wood of the soundboard, and they do provide a nice “path” for the strings to go through the soundboard. You can search google for harp builders and suppliers in CA and maybe find one to help you get through this project. Try Robinson’s Harp Shop in Mt. Laguna, CA. It would be nice if you can make this harp playable, but I agree with your wife, it is a beautiful art object, too.
Best wishes,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)
