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I sold a harp just like this last year. I bought it new and it was excellent from the first, perhaps because it was a higher end model and that was an anniversary year for Lyon & Healy. I paid a qualified harp technician for an appraisal, which gave me a base price from which to decide what I would accept (always lower than appraised value) so I could place an ad. The best place to list a harp for sale is the Harp Column website classifieds. My harp found a very good home with two fine harpists to play it, which is what was most important to me.
Sylvia Woods has it at http://www.harpcenter.com
The stiffness of the pedal movement can be addressed somewhat by adjusting the springs. Ask your harp tech about this.
When I’m feeling flush in the wallet (not often!), I also look at harp playing clothes and shoes. The favorites wear out and aren’t easy to replace. Or I put funds aside for a regulation, always a good idea.
I might be able to see taking slightly (but only slightly) less pay for something very last minute, but I can’t understand soliciting for cut-rate work. What do these harpists do if they get a later offer for full pay? They’re already committed to the cheap job. Do they cancel? That’s not nice. Why would anyone deliberately drive the pricing down? Makes no sense.
I had the old metal levers on a Troubadour III replaced with Loveland levers and they work well. The trick is you really should have a harp technician do it because it will mean drilling new holes in the neck and each lever will need to be regulated. There’s the cost per lever (depending on the type you want) and the cost for the labor.
If the neck is not warped, it should work well. If the neck is very warped, it’s probably not worth it because it will be difficult, if not impossible, to get a good regulation. On the old (I through V) Troubadours, the neck and column are one piece; replacing it would mean replacing half the harp; not cost effective. The new Troubadour VIs have a neck separate from the column.
Do some sight-reading every day. Start with easier pieces and work up to more difficult ones every day. You may not be as good as you would like by exam day but you may be surprised at how much you will improve. It’s like everything else you learn to do on the harp: it comes with practice.
Also, are you sure you are seeing as well as you should? If you wear glasses or contact lenses, are they suited to the work you are doing? Not being able to focus quickly on the music will impede even the best reader.
She should consult her audiologist. There are different aids and different adjustments depending on the needs and preferences of the user.
Lyon & Healy did make a silver-looking 23 for the AHS conference in Denver in 1988. It was white gold (because silver tarnishes). All the metal–the action plates, the pedals, etc.–looked silver. May have been mirror polished steel; not sure. The wood was matte finish ebony with a natural color soundboard. It had a marvelous tone; I remember hearing Harvey Griffith play it in the exhibit hall. Only wrong note for me was the decal on the soundboard, the standard 23 design that has gold or coppery highlights. If only they’d done that bit in silver. But overall, it was gorgeous.
I understand Camac has made their Oriane (usually gold) in white gold but I haven’t seen it. It may have been in Vancouver at the WHC. Anyone know?
For pedal harps, string spacing “should” be fairly standard. One does occasionally find wider spacing in some much older harps.
Lyon & Healy, Salvi, Venus and Camac all make very good quality smaller pedal harps. I like the Camac Clio because of the lighter weight, but you should try as many as you can find to see which you like best.
If you consider used harps, Lyon & Healy has some models no longer being made which might suit: the 15, the 17 and the 100 which was originally a semi-grand but is now available new only as a concert grand. Happy hunting!
I personally doubt it was ever published, but why not contact Robert Maxwell? He’s in New York City.
You already have plenty of humidity. That is not what causes strings to squeak when you play. Usually it’s because your fingers are too clean and dry. Try running your fingers through your hair before you play, or put some lotion on your hands but be sure it’s thoroughly worked in and not sticky before you touch the strings. You don’t want any residue on the strings because it will attract dirt. Never put water or anything liquid on the strings; it will cause them to fray.
Either Howard or Carl would do an excellent job. You can’t go wrong with one of them. Although I love Lyon & Healy harps, I wouldn’t send your particular harp to them only because they have a tendency to try to rebuild the really old harps with new parts which are not appropriate. They will switch out your disc hardware such as the adjustable nuts for newer ones. They did that to my teacher and she called them on it; made them return her original adjustable nuts (they were tapered); there was nothing wrong with the original parts. It was just their policy to do that. Also modern style soundboards are not right for antique harps. Carl and Howard know what is best for vintage instruments and preserve the harps’ structural integrity as far as possible. You can trust them.
However, Lyon & Healy do fine repair work for “modern” harps. They have done great repairs for my harps, but mine were built in the 60’s and 70’s.
