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Just FYI, I received this email yesterday from Lyon & Healy:
Lock in Current Pricing Before April 17
We are extending our current pricing for a limited timeWe want to share an important update regarding upcoming pricing changes.
Our new price list was originally scheduled to take effect on April 1. Due to the short notice of this change, we want to make sure everyone has a fair opportunity to plan and place their orders.
Because of this, we will be honoring current pricing through April 17.
This gives you additional time to secure your harp at the existing price before the new pricing goes into effect.
If you have been considering a new instrument, now is the time to move forward before the increase.
Invest in Your Instrument with Ease
Financing options available through the end of AprilWe also offer financing options to help make your purchase more accessible:
0% interest for 18 month
7.99% interest for up to 60 months
These financing options are available through the end of April.
I forgot to mention, like the Camac Madamoiselle, the Dusty Boulevard takes the wire strings three notes higher before switching over to gut, which could potentially cause slight initial disorientation when switching over to a pedal harp. It might not be much of an issue, though.
I think the harp centers often have second-hand Preludes and such on consignment.
I agree with Blindharper that the corners of the back of the Boulevard soundbox can be slightly more uncomfortable on my clavicle than a round back like a Prelude.
-Gregg
A couple more thoughts–
You could look for one of the models I listed as a preowned harp if the new price is too steep on, say, the L&H Prelude 40. There also may be rent-to-own programs and other financing options through L&H or one of the harp centers.
Also, the very best pre-pedal harps were perhaps the larger models made by John Pratt of Pratt Harps, as his soundboards were the extended type like on most pedal harps, but he no longer has an active website. He possibly still makes such harps through Summerhays Music, which does still list Pratt Custom Orders as an option on their Harp Showroom webpage and shows a picture of his 36-string Chamber harp. All of his models used pedal-gauge strings.
-Gregg
Hi, Jillian,
Based on what you’ve said, I would recommend a model with pedal-gauge strings. The three pedal-strung models I know of which are considered professional-level are the Lyon & Healy Prelude, the Salvi Ana in the optional pedal stringing, and the Camac Madamoiselle. The first two are strung identically to the same strings on pedal harps. The Madamoiselle, however, takes the wire strings three strings higher before switching over to gut strings so might cause a bit of disorientation when later switching to a pedal harp. My personal feeling is that the Prelude is the model that is meant to be as close to a pedal harp experience as possible.
I personally have a Lyon & Healy Prelude, L&H Troubadour, Salvi Gaia, and Dusty Boulevard with Camac levers, and I would recommend any of these models. There’s also the L&H Ogden. The Prelude is much larger and heavier but is much closer to a pedal harp experience. The Troubadour is still on the larger side but a little less heavy than the Prelude. The Gaia, Boulevard, and Ogden are more compact. There’s also the new Camac Lancelot, which is strung in pedal-gauge strings and is more compact. The bass wires on the Boulevard are lighter-gauge lever wires, however, rather than pedal-gauge wires.
I just looked up the prices of these, probably mostly not including a case:
Professional pedal-gauge lever harps (largest, most number of strings (40), heaviest, and shaped like pedal harps):
-Lyon & Healy Prelude ($6,500)
-Salvi Ana in optional pedal stringing ($7,200, though may be higher with pedal strings)
-Camac Madamoiselle (but gut strings start higher in range) ($6,500)Student-level pedal-gauge lever harps (smaller, a few less strings, lighter, shaped like folk harps):
-L&H Troubadour VI (36 strings)($5,500)
-Salvi Gaia (38 strings)($4,500)
-L&H Ogden (34 strings)($4,500)
-Camac Lancelot (38 strings)($4,900)
-Dusty Strings Boulevard 34 with Camac levers (better than Lovelands)($4,195 including case)Please let us know what you all decide, and feel free to ask further questions. I look forward to seeing others’ replies, as well!
-Gregg
When I allow my calluses to even somewhat disappear, I do find it difficult to keep from going through the awful blister phase, as I end up wanting to push through the burning sensation on my fingertips that SHOULD be the sign to stop for the day!
-Gregg
What better way to create calluses than by playing?
I will say, I have a little 14-string right-triangle “Troubadour” harp device made by Niebisch and Tree Harps of Germany which is strung in pedal-gauge nylon (1B to 3C) and is meant for keeping the fingertips hard while traveling. It’s nothing more than a foldable frame, strings, and tuning pins, as there’s no soundbox. It’s amazing how effective it is for creating calluses by forcing each hand to play such high-pitched, high-tension strings, as you can really only play it one-handed while the other hand holds the frame.
I’ll be curious to see what advice others have on this topic!
-Gregg
Also, when it comes to harps with a small range (less than 4 octaves), I still firmly believe that, if you’re not afraid of double-strung, a double allows for a MUCH greater range of repertoire to be practiced due to the fact that you can simply play the left-hand part up one or two octaves without colliding with the right hand; you just have to get used to the left-hand part sounding higher and overlapping the RH in placement and sound. The unexpected effects can be quite beautiful, however!
-Gregg
Even though something like a Harpsicle/Fullsicle would technically fit in some overhead bins on certain airlines, there’s still no guarantee that it would be allowed on those airlines since a harp of those dimensions is so much larger than the standard 22″x14″ carry-on size limit, as they’re trying to maximize the overhead bin space for everyone, even though the bins are much larger than that size limit. Josh Layne posted a video about this very thing in November 2023 called “Flying with a Harp”; I’ll post a link to this separately in case the forum blocks it.
Again, there are only two “harp” models I have found in my research which are under that standard carry-on size limit and which would therefore be guaranteed to be able to be taken on board as a no-questions-asked carry-on: the MariniMade Travel Harp (available as either a single 22-string or a double-strung 22×2) and the Tremer Mini Luna double-strung 22×2. I say “harp” in quotation marks because the soundbox of the Marini version is vertical, so that one is technically a lyre in construction.
I will post the link to Josh Layne’s video about flying with his Harp-E and the stresses involved in a separate message.
Hi, PassionateCross/Stardust 117 (are you the same person?),
As you may already realize, one of the magical aspects of a small double-strung harp is the fact that you can practice/play much of your favorite floor harp repertoire simply by moving your left hand up one or two octaves as needed, since the hands don’t collide on a double; you just have to get used to the sound of the left-hand part being much higher and overlapping with the RH, but the resulting effects can actually be quite beautiful!
Here is a video of Susanna Victoria demonstrating her Marini Double Travel Harp 22×2 on Facebook; I suspect she’s doing that very thing, playing a floor harp arrangement in the manner described above, and it’s beautiful! I really like how mellow and therapeutic the tone is; it seems like a perfect model for bedside harp therapy! Here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/susanna.victoria.3/videos/1000979771500294
In addition to that particular feature/use of double-strung harps, I also really enjoy the beautiful effects of intentionally playing with the hands in the same range, especially in the range around middle-C, echoing and interleaving/overlapping, even on larger floor double-strung models! There is actually a FaceBook group for double-strung harp, so you might consider joining it for further support or to ask questions, etc.
At any rate, that Marini model (double or single) is the only harp model I’m aware of which is both fully-leverable and fits under the maximum standard carry-on dimensions.
Balfour, I found out that the HC forum system had targeted my account as SPAM, for some reason, so a list moderator fixed it (for now, anyway!).
-Gregg
I should email Salvi to ask them about that, Balfour, as I’m curious! Also, the lever stringing of the Ana apparently takes the bass wires up to 5A instead of stopping at G, while the pedal-tension version switches to gut at 5A in the normal pedal-strung manner, so I’ve wondered if the version with lever stringing has a dot for 5A for the wire instead of an eyelet and if the pedal-strung version has an eyelet for the gut 5A string.
-Gregg
Hi, Passionate Cross! It’s so funny you should ask this right now, because this is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking into lately. Here is what my research shows. The typical carry-on limit on airlines is 22″ x 14″ x 9″, and there are only TWO double-strung harp models I can find which fit under that limit: the Marini Travel Harp (22 strings, available as either a single 22 or a double 22×2), and the Tremer Mini Luna 22×2. The Marini model is much more expensive but allows for full levers, and it has a prettier lower range of F3-F6 (4F-1F in harp nomenclature), whereas the Tremer Mini Luna is pitched up a 5th (C4-C7, or 4C-1C in harp nomenclature) and doesn’t allow for levers, and it has a look similar to a Harp-E, not very elegant at all. Other differences are the fact that the Marini Travel harp has a lyre-style vertical soundbox, but the Tremer Mini Luna has a detachable harp-style soundbox that snaps into place with magnets, and the fact that the Tremer Mini Luna has relatively high string tension while the Marini Travel harp has fairly low tension. Tremer Harps is located in Germany, and MariniMade Harps is in the U.S. I’ve been seriously considering ordering a double-strung version of the Marini Travel Harp with full levers, even though I haven’t flown on an airline in more than 25 years and have no plans to do so anytime soon! But either of these would also make wonderful road trip harps, too. As for the cost of the Marini Travel double, with full Forte levers and all the accessories (including mic pickup), it’s around $3900 before shipping, depending on which levers you get, and that’s if you go with the default cherry wood in semi-gloss coating.
Any harps larger than that, including the Stoney End Brittany (considerably larger than the usual limit at 29″ x 19″), are just large enough that you would likely have to hope that the stewardesses would have room in a closet for it and would allow it, or at the very least that they would allow a larger carry-on than 22″x14″, whether or not it fits in the overhead bin. The Marini Travel harp is 21″x13″ so that when it’s in the case, it still qualifies as a no-questions-asked carry-on!
I’ve asked Alex Marini many questions about the Travel Double model, so I might be able to answer further questions from you if you have any. I also have links to videos and websites of these models, but I don’t know if the HC forum allows links anymore.
I hope this helps!
-Gregg
Hi, Lily,
How are things going with your wonderful Dusty harp?
I was perusing the MusicMakers website, and I discovered that they have a slightly used all-white Jolie 33 built in 2022, and they’re selling it for $3,500. I instantly thought of you! Even if you’re not ready to buy another harp right now, I think you’d be interested to at least see what it looks like. I don’t know if this forum allows links to be included in messages, so just go to harpkit (dot) com (slash) instock. You’ll see 6 harps that they currently have for sale, and the white one is in the 2nd row, far right. You can then click on it for more info. I’ll copy-paste some of the description of the harp:
————–
A customer requested an all white Jolie harp. We built this one in 2022. Unfortunately, it got bumped in shipping and chipped some of the finish where the neck meets the body (see photos). We got the harp back and touched up the damaged finish. We’ve had it around the shop for a while and rented it out. The customer that was renting took great care of the harp and recently returned it and purchased a new harp. So here we are.There’s a harp for every player and if you are the player that has been waiting for an all white harp – your time has come!
The height, balance, tone, and overall feel of the Jolie Harp is captivating. Gorgeous cherry wood grain and clean design elements have made this a very popular model.
33 strings provide a range suitable for a wide variety of music. The tension is just on the high side of medium – not too hard on the hands but tight enough to allow for some aggressive playing and broad dynamics.
What’s Included:Finished Jolie Harp with Camacs Levers
Padded Gig Bag
Tuning Wrench
Spare nylon strings
Free shipping in the Continental US
————Anyway, I wanted to be sure to let you know about this!
-Gregg
Charles,
Why and how is Salvi able to offer the Ana in both pedal- and lever-gauge stringing?
Are both versions of the Ana equally successful? Are the strings the only difference between the two versions? Are Ana owners able to go back-and-forth between the two types of stringing?
-Gregg
One might think that the ROY-G-BIV color scheme would be a logical choice for this, but, if you look more closely at some of the images, you can see that violet (purple) follows the blue, and then pink is between the purple and red strings. I’m sure they came to the same conclusion as I regarding indigo, in that since indigo is basically a dark blue, it would be too confusing to make the “E” strings indigo, since those of us who are used to blue/indigo/black for the F strings would likely mistake the E’s for F’s. Actually, when I’ve researched ROY-G-BIV, I’ve come across information regarding the notion that back when Isaac Newton first came up with ROY-G-BIV, what people called “blue” back then really was what we now call “cyan,” and what they called “indigo” is what we now call “blue.” So, the modern interpretation of those 7 shades would now be:
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue, Violet.
This actually makes more sense anyway, because when dividing up the spectrum, true indigo would be analagous to something like a quarter-tone key on a microtonal keyboard, with the other colors on the white (natural) keys, so ROY-G-BIV doesn’t really divide up the spectrum evenly at all. Actual indigo is too close to Blue and Violet to be easily distinguishable on something like harp strings.
Anyway, I just think those strings look pretty!
-Gregg
