[william-weber]

It is true that Early Music Shop’s line of harps are listed on the Mid-East Web site, and their frames are of rosewood, a dead giveaway. My impression was that they are positioned as a sort of “upscale Mid-East”, for people who want a spruce soundboard, a compact round backed soundbox, and levers that work (whatever “full cam levers” really means.

[william-weber]

A would-be student of the lever harp needs functional levers, of course, so a Mid-East instrument would be unsuitable. The Mid-Easts have their place, and it’s mostly with those who don’t mind getting a fixer-upper. (Just today I repinned the rickety tuning key, but it took a metal lathe to make the new brass pin.) My Caitlin’s tuning pins haven’t slipped yet, but their fits are so widely variable it is obvious how crude a creation it really is.
It may be they are wising up in Pakistan: the newer ads feature some with Spanish spruce soundboards.

[william-weber]

To give you some idea of my expectations from a harp, I kit-built my first one back in 1980. It’s still playable, despite a shocking tear around a mortise/spline joint.

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