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Thanks for asking this question. I have been a vegetarian for 24 years and am heading towards a harp with gut strings and that was a bit of an “issue” for me. I am not hard-core (I do wear leather shoes) but was wondering about the gut for the strings. Of course, anyone who has ever had sutures from a surgical procedure has probably had gut used (and silk sutures too).
sorry…someone asked about the Princessa in a different ‘thread’ and I posted it here. The Chamber harp is the creme de la creme of John Pratt’s harps but his Princessa is a newer model and he is making it with both a straight and an extended soundboard.
check out FaceBook and search for Pratt Harps….you’ll see he has a pictures of the Princessa with both a straight and an extended soundboard. He was just at the harp conference in Tacoma, WA.
actually, the Silhouette is a lever harp and I just read your post more clearly and you stated pedal harp….sorry! Though the Silhouette is quite cool—I saw a woman playing it on the main street downtown a couple of weeks ago.
You might want to check out the Lyon and Healy harp called “Silhouette”….it is exactly what you are describing.
Other than it being beautiful, simple and classic, it can serve as your wedding ring also and you won’t need to wear two (which so many women do not do……they end up putting the expensive diamond in a jewelry box and just wearing their wedding band after a few years.
Also, I heard of a woman whose future betrothed gave her the choice between a new harp or a diamond ring for their engagement…….guess which one she chose!
If he wants a lever harp and looks, feels and sounds like a pedal harp than he should look at the Pratt Chamber harp (made by JOHN Pratt—not the one made by his brother, Carl). In my opinion, it is the by far the best made and as close to pedal as you can get and still have levers. The craftsmanship is impeccable and he uses Camac levers which are considered the best. Good luck and happy playing once you get it!
What kind of harp is it? Not many celtic harps are 5 feet! I know that the Pratt CHamber harp is 63″ tall and John Pratt (the maker of them) is working on a harp cart for them.
I think not getting too “activated” about this response would be the first thing. If you are getting activated, it is really YOUR issue with your fees. The cleanest answer I can think of that is not flippant and does answer their response would be, “Time is a commodity. I have spent a lot of time to learn to play beautifully–just like a surgeon spends a lot of time going to medical school. My instrument costs as much a down-payment on a house. Musical adds a dimension and depth to an event that is priceless.” People make choices every day…they can choose to have live music and they can choose not to. Ultimately, it is their choice and whether or not they choose it is not worth taking personally.
You might want to consider a lever harp that is as close to a pedal harp as you can get without being a pedal harp. The Pratt Chamber harps look like a pedal harp with the extended soundboard and they sound an awful lot like a pedal harp. They use concert spacing and concert, pedal harp strings–often with L & H strings. Same tension as a pedal harp. 36 strings, Camac levers….beautiful workmanship.
