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The recent problem with transporting harp Dusty harps from the US to Europe, is that the already high trans ocean shipping costs have skyrocketed. This means that these nice priced US harps have become high priced harps in Euro
I had another look at the ‘slightly damaged’ harp again and now I found some additional information (at the bottom with a brown coloured background).
I’m shocked to read this: “The harp was rented by a school – at it looks as if the base of the harp may have got damp / wet at some point in the rental – as there is some rust to the metal fittings on base plate and black laquer looks patchy. The soundboard has slightly bowed upwards at the base – so if the bottom 6th C string is plucked very hard, it can buzz against the pillar. Otherwise seems OK.”
To me this looks like recipe for serious problems later on. Biagio surely can explain better what these problems may be. Already if the bottom C-string is plucked very hard, it can buzz against the pillar. So, what would happen if the soundboard bows further upwards because of some process caused by earlier moist problems? The point is, the there is some rust to the metal fittings on the base plate, but, for me, even a bigger red flag: the black lacquer looks patchy. I’m afraid this means there was no single mishap with a glass of water or something, but a moist problem of longer duration. And I’m afraid this may have an effect to the glue that hold the (high quality) ply together and/or to the glue that between the soundbox and the soundboard. It may even have had an effect on the ply itself.
So, I would stay away of that second hand Dusty Ravenna. Now, I did have a look at other nice entry harp possibilities at Morley’s. I saw they sell Salvi harps too, and they have several of them in stock. If they speak to you, select the best one in sound (identical harps may still sound differently) and have the levers checked and adjusted (in the past Salvi there seemed to lack a quality control on the fitting of the levers, and though I heard they have improved, I would still have them checked before I would buy).
Perhaps the Salvi Mia 34 or the Salvi Titan 38 are still (almost) within your price range. Or you might consider their rental options e.g. “Buying Your Hired Harp
Lever Harps
At the end of the first three months’ rental period we would offer a credit of three rental payments.
At the end of the first year, we would offer eight months’ rental payments.
At the end of the second year, we would offer twelve months’ rental payments.”Salvi lever harps are decent harps
I would, without any hesitation, return the Gear for Music harp and go for a perhaps second hand Dusty Ravenna as its sound is richer and more balanced and the harp is built well and, at least in theory, has fully functional levers. As Clive Morley is a trusted and respected harp shop, the fact that they say the second hand harp has’slight damage’ would’nt make me too nervous, and besides, you get the chance of inspecting it as the shop is not too far from where you live. Ask them if the damage is only cosmetical or perhaps also structural. Perhaps some of the levers may need new blades if they are used a lot, but you could fix that later on. Of course, you’d be willing to ask the shop about the condition of the levers.
You say the Dusty costs a lot more than before, could it be that before you saw a Dusty with Loveland levers and now one with Camac levers? Camac levers are great, but Loveland levers function adequately too and are significantly cheaper.@ Balfour, in addition to what I wrote above if you’d want to try out nylgut strings, take care that you get pretty recent ones. The point is that Aquila, that makes to strings, has improved them a lot since they brought them on the market. So, if you get nylgut strings made about let’s say 10 years ago (I don’t know when the second generation came on the market), you’ll end up with strings that look and sound quite different from mine and I’m pretty sure you won’t like those strings.
Hi Balfour, I put nylgut meant for pedal harps (from Camac, but made by Aquila) on my L&H Prelude (which is built for pedal gut). It has about the same diameter as the corresponding gut strings.
At the site of Aquila one can buy nylgut in every length and diameter, also for the very highest strings where Camac would put nylon.
As to the sound, generally, I really like it. They sound a bit brighter than gut, and a lot warmer and richer than nylon strings. They almost sound as rich as gut in the upper and middle register. However, from middle C downwards, the sound gets gradually duller and duller.So, frankly, in general, I wouldn’t advise it for use below middle C. I guess this has something to do with strings needing a longer length to sound well and I think the lower strings of the Prelude, though a rather big harp for a lever harp are a bit too short for having pedal nylgut below middle C. Yet, everyone’s ears are different and I can imagine some people finding the sound of the nylgut G below middle C just fine. The nylgut strings can be bought from Camac including the A a bit lower than middle C and I guess they wouldn’t sell it these very low strings if they’d sound horrible on a pedal harp.
Anyway, the strings are dirt cheap (anyway, if bought from Camac France) and they seem to last forever. They are also much less sensitive to differences in humidity. They do take ages to stay in tune (with lots of tuning) and I think you’ll have to wait for a week or two before they start sounding nice.If it’s a new harp (you write it was not used), just call the shop and they ‘ll be able to tell you.
In Europe the Salvi Ana is usually strung with lever gut, but in the US with pedal gut.
Until perhaps already more than ten years ago, Salvi Ana’s were also strung with pedal in Europe.
You could call Salvi’s customer service and mention the number of your harp (it’s inside or on the bottom of your harp) and they’ll probably be able to tell you which strings you should use.
Otherwise, use a caliper from a DIY-shop and measure the strings which are still on it and any decent harp shop can tell you which strings you need for your harp.
As to (pedal tension) nylon strings, they just doesn’t sound as rich as gut. If you chose for nylon or for nylgut/silkgut, you can’t just buy any nylon strings, you need to buy the strings that are meant for your harp.@ Alison, unfortunately, it happens a lot that one’s message disappears after it has been edited. A long time ago, I mentioned this several times to the contact person of the site, but that didn’t help to solve the problem.
@MOCAM1993, you wrote e.g.: “I’m feeling really frustrated that my repertoire is made up almost entirely of nursery songs! I am trying to trust the process, especially in the critical first years, but I’m very frustrated that I’m not learning music I actually like.”
I think a student should be enthousiast or even a bit excited after most of one’s harp lessons, even when the actual exercising of a new technique or tackling a difficulty was hard. In your message, I read no enthousiasme at all. And, even worse, your are ‘trying to trust the process”. “Trying to trust” sounds so much different from “trusting”, but I may be wrong whether you really mean this big difference.
You also speak of “I also have been doing a lot of quizzes for sight reading which I hope will allow me to begin playing more music on my own. Right now, I have to really think about it and write in the notes on my music.” Frankly, I think it’s so much better at this stage of your learning to have the support of your teacher for the pieces you want to study. By the way, writing the notes in your sheet music is generally considered to be a bad habit which will hamper your advance later on.
You also speak of the “critical first years”. May I ask how long have you been taking harp lessons from this teacher?
Frankly, I wonder whether your teacher hasn’t shown you Pamela Bruner’s series “Play the Harp Beautifully” I-III), as it contains a lot of folk music and is very suitable for adult learners. For the first 2 Volumes there’s a DVD available.
It’s a well-known method.I like Pamela Bruner’s books Play the Harp Beautifully I-III (You may like to start with Vol. II)
I can also can heartily recommend you some youtube (free!) playlists of Josh Layne. Especially:
* Basics! Learn to Play the Harp
* Fundamentals/technique
Also, you may like to follow his Harp Tuesdays and Slow Motion Mondays. And you will find much more treasures there waiting for you.I’m sorry that I can’t post links here, or the silly software of this forum will delete this post.
Hi Lisa, congratulations with your beautiful Salvi Anna Deluxe. I wish you many happy years of playing this wonderful harp.
The Ravenna has a full and rich sound and carries surprisingly well. Also, it’s comfortably stable while you play it.
The harpsicles, also those special editions, score significantly lower on all points, though I think they are really nice for camping and picknicking or to play while laying in bed. Balancing the harpsicles goes much better when you use the optional, special Harpsicle adjustable stand. Yet, I think you’ll prefer your Ravenna in practically every respect.
Why would you need a lighter harp? Buying a harp cart might be a better idea if carrying the Ravenna 26 in a rucksack is too heavy for you.
There are lighter harps with a much better sound than the harpsicles, but they are much pricier and still sound a bit quiet. Think of the Lewis Creek Nightingale, the Lewis Creek Jessie or the Lewis Creek Ultralight.
I don’t expect any problems for small adults, but you may like to know that Camac has a version of the Telenn model, especially meant for small children. It has got light gut strings.
Have a look here: https://www.camac-harps.com/en/harps-en/lever/telenn-small-hands/Yet, I think that as an adult you would be able to play on any harp.
I’ve got very small hands too. Just ask your teacher to show you how tenths can be grasped without a struggle, even with very small hands.
To start with, as you practice, the ligaments between your fingers wil learn to stretch. This will happen very gradually, think of a matter of several months or even longer. The older you are, the longer it will take before you can grasp tenths, but it can be done, even when you would already be in your sixties!
Also, you could learn to grasp a tenth by pushing with your thumb the highest string you need to grasp to the other strings and then grasp the other strings with the 2nd and 4th finger. The position of your wrist can also help. Your teacher can show you this.
When playing a tenth in a broken chord, you could start by grasping the 4th and 2nd finger at the same time and while playing, move your wrist in the direction of the string your thumb needs to grasp and then grasp that string.
As to the wire strings, they are a bit further from each other in L&H lever harps than e.g. in Camac or Salvi harps. I still can play tenths on a L&H Prelude, but prefer to play them on my other harps.
I think, you should be able to discuss your worries with your teacher now, even when it will still take some time before you’ve reached the level in which you play tenths.
Hi Balfour, the Dusty FH36S has 36 strings with the C 2 octaves below middle C being the lowest. And I completely understand you want all strings levered, as so would I!
But, the Prelude has 40 strings with two strings below the lowest C of your Dusty and 2 strings above the highest of your Dusty. And these 4 strings that are not on your Dusty don’t have levers.
Am I right that you seldom or never miss the 4 strings that a 40 string harp has and your Dusty doesn’t?
