[Lorelei]

Hello. I’ve got one of these Smartwoods and I love it. The sound is so bright and clear and it feels like the notes just leap out of the strings and sound like magic. I upgraded from a 22-string Heather harp, which is a reasonable first harp, but having tried the 29-string Minstrel back then, I wouldn’t have had it because the lower notes were so heavy and clunky. The Smartwood traditionally goes down to G but I restrung mine so that it goes down to F which helps with a lot of repertoire and has worked really well (maybe mitigates just a bit of the brightness). I wouldn’t make it myself as I’m hopeless with woodwork but the stringing I did wasn’t too tough (as long as you can tie good knots!). They seem to be really good value and quite tough and apparently there is a reasonable trade-in market. In the future I may want something that goes down to bottom C but given my bad back and small car I wanted something light and easy to lift which it is. I hope you’ll get chance to try one out and maybe fall in love like I did!

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