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Have you already asked at the Salem-based Harp Connection? They advertise lever installation as a service.
The tension would be increased by 2.93%. But A-465 is more like a semitone, which means 11.7% higher tension. I agree: see what the luthiers and technicians say about it. Where are you located, that organ pitch can be that high? Holland? (thinking of the 4-manual Schitger in Zwolle)
What is your objective, Frank? To become a go-to tech who can regulate levers for others? I would expect that to entail a study of the half dozen or so different levers: Performance, Camac, Loveland, Jordan, Universal, and so on. And you’ll have to ask each customer how old the harp is because if it’s not settled yet they may be wasting money.
A certification body may be connected to a school for luthiers who make harps. You might, however, especially if you ask L&H, end up with the certification body for those who regulate pedal actions, with their discs and forks, a bit overkill for an aspiring lever technician.
A year ago while going over my order for a harp Dwight Blevins and I discussed soundboard wood. Thin solid spruce might be preferable on a low tension harp, such as my Cox Gothic, but the higher tension Melody 26 sounds fine with the birch plywood. I had read this link first:
http://www.blevinsharps.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6_33Best of luck in your project, c k. A handful of us X-harpers will be interested in what you come up with.
If it’s a Ravenna 34, it’s easy to reply that there are even smaller ones, lap harps, and show their heights with your hands. At least they didn’t call it a lyre – I’ve gotten that at the bookstore open mike night!
Good point — it may have been totally tongue-in-cheek. OTOH, I have wondered if it might be possible to rig up a pedal with some kind of cable to run up to a particular lever that needs a lot of changes. (Of course, a lever harp purist would consider that cheating.)
My decisions were made based on advice posted here. Blevins seems to be the best deal, for which recommendation I owe Zen Sojourner.
Blevins makes the Avee 34, specified at 40″ high X 9″ wide, weighs 12 pounds. 34 strings, with a range of C6 up to a. (But if I were looking for a harp of that range I would prefer their Tamar 31 at 46″ high by 12″ wide for its bigger, fuller tone.)
On the forums I am used to the screen name is usually some kind of handle, so I went by Goth Cox (after my 1980 James Cox Gothic harp) but it got a little strange being addressed as “Goth” while others were going by perfectly good names, especially names of prestigious harpists.
According to the tiny owner’s manual packed with Mid-East harps, you can slide the bridge pin in or out of the neck to ajdust the amount of sharping by the lever. To decrease the amount of sharping, adjust the bridge pin by pulling it out of the neck slightly, (using pliers) so you decrease bending of the string by the lever. It’s a bit like the fine adjustment for Loveland levers, only your bridge pins do not screw in.
Mid-East’s levers and the bridge pins upon which they depend are placed with such imprecision it might require a machinist to add or remove metal to get the intonation right. If you are truly satisfied with the tone, then keep it as an unlevered harp. Markwood strings will help there. Maybe you could get some Universal levers from Music Makers (try just one to see if you can get it set up).
If ever you get a harp made in a 1st-world country, you’ll be placing your Mid-East back on the market.
Teva, I’m not clear on whether you found an instrument yet, but your budget figure will buy any lever harp Dwight Blevins makes.
Did you want to replace a broken harp string with the same gauge of nylon? I asked the same question about my Melody 26 and the reply came back “direct from Dwight, if you don’t want to
wait, yes, any nylon .028 string will work
“Of course, if the original was color-coded for C or F you’ll have to figure out how to mark your makeshift replacement.
Asymmetry in placement of sound sources and reflective boundaries, to prevent standing waves, has widespread use in both musical instruments and loudspeaker enclosures. Cancellation is not the only effect of excessive symmetry; selective resonance of certain frequencies or pitches can also result, impairing the instrument’s clarity.
(BTW, a put-down coming from a MIT student does not necessarily have substance, but I tend not to sail through their races.)
