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Depending on what the finish is you might want to read up about steaming dents out of wood and see if you think it worth trying.
It had a pickup for each string – I have no idea about capability for doing more interesting things than sounding like itself only louder, but that it did very well! It doesn’t seem to have made it on to their website, but I am sure they would answer questions.
If trying to import a harp look out for VAT and import tax – it makes the idea look much less attractive.
I have tried the Pilgrim Spectrum – it is as well made as all their harps, and available with concert stringing. They also have an electric accoustic Clarsach and I find their Clarsachs pretty portable and not much trouble on the bus.
If you play gut/nyon with your fingers pointing very classically downward and your thumbs up you can cut your nails at a slope so the inner corners are short, but there is still the point for wire slightly off centre.
Sylvia, we do know quite a lot about the harps played by blind harpists, considerably more recently than medieval. This one for instance wouldn’t count as not very big!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/paintings/the-blind-harpist-john-parry-d-1782-116882
Or this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Byrne_%28musician%29I would expect passing gigs to be uneven in many cases – if someone has lots of calls they will be likely to want to pass some on. Perhaps to someone who does fewer gigs so is likely to be free, but much less likely to have double bookings to pass back.
The blades I am most familiar with have threaded shafts, but those look like Caswell blades and he advised soap: http://www.caswellharps.com/Page25/Page31/page65/page65.html
When I was learning my harp strings had pen dots to mark the sweet spot for harmonics (in flat, natural and sharp at one stage). It saved much frustration! I do still put more discreet marks on at need.
You really need to judge the instrument individually – I have seen some makers using blades quite recently, but the harp in question may be old and there is a great difference between blades as installed and well looked after and blades after decades of use as a student hire harp.
Blades were state of the art up until some date I can’t remember but think 1970s and people were playing small harps before then, and very well too and not just in one key. They are somewhat slower to engage than good levers and although peope did write music with fast blade changes I would prefer decent levers for that. However, they do wear out and some were better than others to start with. If a blade harp has been through heavy wear, particularly by students, the holes may have worn loose and the blades wobble, sound bad and don’t make clean semitones. Conversely if it hasn’t been used recently some may be ridiculously stiff and need gingering. If they are very worn or you just don’t like them it is perfectly possible to plug the holes and change them to levers.
I have occasionally come across someone calling hooks blades. Hooks (in this context) work just like blades, but because they are not solid and have more give to them they only give a convincing sound on very light tension instruments.
I have played larger Dusty Strings harps in gut so they may have tried the Ravenna too. Stoney End is another make with nice harps and I changed my nylon strings for much higher tension brass, so am sure gut would be possible.
Harmonics do vary. If a string is worn or uneven it will really mess them up but changing the string does not always help – I have a 4th A that has always been a bit on the reluctant side. Different harps need to be played in different ways and harmonics really show this, some harps will only give harmonics once you have found the right way to coax them out and then you will wonder what the problem was. Some less resonant harps I have never managed to find decent harmonics on.
You can use a pair of pliers on the tail end to pull the knot really tight before putting it into the harp. A drop of superglue, so long as it is totally dry before the string goes near the harp, may help to hold the toggle put until the knot it pulled tight on the harp.
I fear most or all of those may be too difficult – they would have been beyond me when I was working for grade 6. I can’t think of any concerti I could have managed well at that stage in my learning.
I suggest you get hold of a copy of Pratt’s Affairs of the Harp as the section on rescuing harps when no repair man is available might give you useful tips. Do not go anywhere near that mechanism with brass polish as traces left behind can hasten corrosion.
For your 3rd question, can’t you tell from the broken neck? Some pins may have worked further through with time, but you should be able to work out what used to happen.
