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Venus pedal harps are wonderful. In fact, they are the ONLY pedal harps that I have bought in many years (I have another one on order as I write this.) Many people do not realize that Venus harps are based on old Lyon & Healy designs from the 1930s and 1940s.
Venus harps are very attractive and they have many, many styles from which to choose. Their harps have a beautiful tone…..in fact, the Venus tone sets them apart from their competitors, in my opinion. The company owners also take a personal interest in every harp ordered and supervise the entire process.
Having said that, harps are as individual as automobiles. What I might find enticing in a harp, another harpist may abhor.
I recommend (1) going to an AHS conference and playing every pedal harp on the floor and decide for yourself and/or (2) go to Chicago and tour both the Venus factory and the Lyon & Healy factory, and play the harps at both places.
Then, make your own decision.
Darhon
Venus harps are the BEST….they are the only pedal harp I buy!
When in doubt, and if a harp will likely be your ONLY harp, I always recommend a 46 string model. It’s large enough to play most anything, but not quite as cumbersome as a full concert grand 47 string.
In fact, I have another Venus 46-string harp on order as I write this….
Darhon
If any harp teacher would insist that their student purchase a very specific model of harp, I would RUN, RUN, RUN as fast as I can.
All major pedal harp manufacturers build good instruments (Salvi, L&H, Venus, Aoyama, Camac, Horngacher, etc.) Each manufacturer has a distinctive styling, string spacing, tone, balance point, hardware, action, etc. A lot of it amounts of personal preference.
As others have advised, the best thing is to go play a number of different pedal harps and see what “feels” right to you. What is right for one harpist is not necessarily right for another.
Also, living in Europe, you must consider that if you purchase a US-made harp, you will have to pay to ship the harp back to the US should it need major repair – which could be a major expenditure. For that reason, you may want to consider a Camac or Salvi.
Personally, I am a fan of Venus harps. But since they are built in Chicago, it may not be realistic for a European to purchase an instrument whose factory is so far away, since there may not be a regulator available in Europe.
Darhon
I use the easy-adjust folding bench…..I think it’s around $59 and I bought it from Melody’s. I also bought the backpack carrier that fits it (from Sylvia Woods, I think).
It’s the ONLY harp bench I take to gigs because I can wear the backpack and wheel a harp at the same time to schlep my stuff into the gig. It has pouches on the outside for strings and things.
Not all 46 string harps are created equal. You have to know the manufacturer.
The range of the Venus semi-grands are high F to low C, whereas the L&H/Salvi are ranged from high G to low D. I have needed the low C several times, but never the high G.
That’s one of the reasons I bought the Venus – I liked the range better!
Darhon
My advice is to buy a 44-string harp. You can play most everything on this size instrument. There are only a few orchestral parts that need the full 47-string range. All of the major harp manufacturers make something in the 44 string size now. It’s a nice portable pedal harp. Unless you plan to do a lot of orchestral work, I really cannot see spending the money to buy a full-size honking orchestral harp. Actually, most of the pedal harps played around 1900 were 43-45 strings.
My first pedal harp was a 40 string harp – it was just too small to play a lot of things. But the 44 string suffices for nearly every venue. I highly recommend this size harp.
There is only one harp that I would say is an exception to that rule and that is the Salvi Orchestra – it’s a scaled-down 47 string harp, only as big as a lot of the 44 string harps, so it’s very portable for a full grand harp.
I would not bother buying the 40-string – go with the 44 string. It will make a good “back up” harp or second harp if you decide later that you want to spring for the full 47-string grand.
Darhon
Dear Harp Column forum readers:
Due to the precarious US economy and the cost of shipping harps, it is
not the current policy of any pedal harp company to offer a “30-day
guaranteed harp trial.” Perhaps that was informally true decades ago,
but is it not a policy now. Therefore, please forget that I posted this
misleading information.Venus (or any other harp manufacturer) will NOT permit a customer to
send back a harp simply because “they don’t like it” and I did not mean
to imply this. I was referring to serious snafoos like if a harp
arrives with structural defects, or you ordered a walnut harp and a
company sent an ebony one instead. All reputable harp companies would
certainly “make good” on their own goof-ups of this magnitude. But as a
consumer, you are obligated to make them aware of such an error in the
first 30-days after the harp arrives.All pedal harp manufacturers do have warranties that cover specific
structural or mechanical problems that may develop during the initial
warranty period, such as a neck cracking. I think the largest pedal
harp manufacturers all offer a five-year warranty.If anyone needs more clarification, please e-mail me privately off-list at: harp@nycap.rr.com. Thanks.
Darhon
All of this brouhaha about which is the best pedal harp is wasted energy!
All pedal harp manufacturers have made some wonderful harps as well as
some “duds.” As others have pointed out, beauty is in the eye of the
beholder. All companies’ harps have a characteristic “sound” – some
people find it pleasing and others find it annoying. I have played
every brand of pedal harp on the exhibit floors at harp conferences and
all of them were wonderful in their own way.I love the very consistent tone of the Salvis from top to bottom – they
are wonderful harps for recording artists. I’ve owned three Salvi harps
in my lifetime and they all held tune incredibly well – a particular
outstanding feature of Salvis. However, as others have pointed out, I
found that they lacked projection with the exception of the Diana – I
love that harp!I currently play on Venus harps. They are wonderfully well constructed
and have a great tone. The company owner takes great pains to make sure
you receive the style and finish you desire. They allow you to try out
the harp for 30 days – if it’s a “lemon” or was not made to your specs,
you can return it. I believe that Venus harps are the best value for
the money. Many of you may not know that Venus harps are actually
designed from old pre-1940 L&H designs and the craftsmanship is
based on L&H. harp building techniques.I have no feelings about L&H one way or the other. However, I think
the pedal harps are the most “boring” harps visually; they really don’t
offer that many design variations. Salvi has them beat head-over-heels
in terms of their beauty of design, interesting lines, etc.As far as people on this list complaining about the “personalities” of
some posters…..really, isn’t it time we got over ourselves? The world
is full of a variety of personalities. The mark of a mature adult is to
be able to accept the personality quirks of others, learn to ignore
them, and get on with our lives.Darhon Rees-Rohrbacher
I have two Venus pedal harps (Traditional and Protege) and love them. I previously had a Salvi Sinfonietta. I think the Venus harps project better than the Salvi in an orchestra situation; however, Salvis have a warm tone are a very even from top to bottom.
I think harps are very individual. Every company builds a few lemons, and no manufacturer builds perfect harps 100% of the time.
I think the thing to do it to go to Chicago and try out Venus, Salvi and Lyon & Healy pedal harps and decide for yourself.
Darhon
