let's talk inexpensive harps

[pcake]

a few years ago, i had a mid-east heather harp with a rosewood body. i got it because my shoulder was too painful at that time to play guitar or bass, and i've always liked hearing harps. once i could play bass again, i was like "what harp?", and i sold it a couple years later.

fast-forward to recently. i got an inexpensive instrument they're calling a lyre harp all over amazon.

once tuning was a little stable, i found myself playing it a lot. i mean, a lot. i've been really enjoying it, i don't use proper harp hand position - i use guitar and bass hand position, and i'm enjoying playing it a lot. but i'd rather hear nylon harp strings with colors on the C's and Fs, and I'd love to have sharping levers to change keys quickly without retuning. so much that i ended up ordering another inexensive harp due to arrive on friday. same as my previous harp but with better sharping levers and a walnut body.

i seem so far to be playing a mix of songs i played on guitar or bass along with some classical piano songs my dad played. i don't think anyone will be asking me to join a band anytime soon, but i'm having a blast.

anyone else here play a less expensive harp - say, $700 or under? bonus points if you play a cardboard harp from a kit or an aklot

 

[bholder]

I like harps. I have a big Peruvian harp, really nice, but I never play it.

 

[Dave TB Killer]

I would love to have one. Put a piezo in it ant plug into some little boxes and an amp.
A few weeks ago i found a Harmonium sitting next to a dumpster. It was a cheaper one and had been sitting in the rain all day so I left it alone. They are cool to play too.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

Not a harp, but a Kalimba...

NKD - Tinkling in my hand

 

[pcake]

Not a harp, but a Kalimba...

NKD - Tinkling in my hand

dude! how long did you play it to do that to your thumb?

 

[Michedelic]

a few years ago, i had a mid-east heather harp with a rosewood body. i got it because my shoulder was too painful at that time to play guitar or bass, and i've always liked hearing harps. once i could play bass again, i was like "what harp?", and i sold it a couple years later.

View attachment 4475056

fast-forward to recently. i got an inexpensive instrument they're calling a lyre harp all over amazon.

View attachment 4475082

once tuning was a little stable, i found myself playing it a lot. i mean, a lot. i've been really enjoying it, i don't use proper harp hand position - i use guitar and bass hand position, and i'm enjoying playing it a lot. but i'd rather hear nylon harp strings with colors on the C's and Fs, and I'd love to have sharping levers to change keys quickly without retuning. so much that i ended up ordering another inexensive harp due to arrive on friday. same as my previous harp but with better sharping levers and a walnut body.

i seem so far to be playing a mix of songs i played on guitar or bass along with some classical piano songs my dad played. i don't think anyone will be asking me to join a band anytime soon, but i'm having a blast.

anyone else here play a less expensive harp - say, $700 or under? bonus points if you play a cardboard harp from a kit or an aklot

You should look at Rees Harpsicle…
https://harpsicleharps.com/
Affordable, portable, wearable(it comes with strap buttons, and a standard guitar strap will do), but it does feel like it's made from popsicle sticks at times, just don't toss it around like a beat-up P-bass, and it will do fine. You have to add an aftermarket pickup, like a Fishman. My wife has had a couple of them, but then moved up to the Salvi Delta, although that's going into four figures on the price(that's nothing, her Camac Blue electro/acoustic pedal harp was up into five). If she ever gets another mini, it will be a Camac, like wildwoman D H-C is using…


Did you know that there is an actual harp store, on Westwood just north of Pico? Almost under the GC on the corner. That's where she gets all her maintenance done. There's all sorts of unexpected things that can be attempted with the instrument, from looping and other effects…


…to avant-garde weirdness…


Now, my sweetie may not have played with Steve Vai, but she did play on this track, although it ended up being buried in the mix as a certain someone didn't want his piano part to be outshined…

But we traveled halfway across the world for her to participate in this, which was a lot more interesting…

 

[dalkowski]

 

[BarfanyShart]

I bought this old auto harp on ebay for around $100, and was pleased to find that I only needed to buy one string and a tuning key to get it in working order.

 

[mexicanyella]

a few years ago, i had a mid-east heather harp with a rosewood body. i got it because my shoulder was too painful at that time to play guitar or bass, and i've always liked hearing harps. once i could play bass again, i was like "what harp?", and i sold it a couple years later.

View attachment 4475056

fast-forward to recently. i got an inexpensive instrument they're calling a lyre harp all over amazon.

View attachment 4475082

once tuning was a little stable, i found myself playing it a lot. i mean, a lot. i've been really enjoying it, i don't use proper harp hand position - i use guitar and bass hand position, and i'm enjoying playing it a lot. but i'd rather hear nylon harp strings with colors on the C's and Fs, and I'd love to have sharping levers to change keys quickly without retuning. so much that i ended up ordering another inexensive harp due to arrive on friday. same as my previous harp but with better sharping levers and a walnut body.

i seem so far to be playing a mix of songs i played on guitar or bass along with some classical piano songs my dad played. i don't think anyone will be asking me to join a band anytime soon, but i'm having a blast.

anyone else here play a less expensive harp - say, $700 or under? bonus points if you play a cardboard harp from a kit or an aklot

Any chance of a quick sound clip of you playing the lure harp? Never seen one before; looks cool!

 

[steelbed45]

I took a semester of harp in college as an elective - best .5 credit hour ever! (I played Greensleeves for the final)

I think I'm going to look into some of these options - thanks for the thread!

 

[Bajo Clarkko]

Harp you say?

Check out Emily Hopkins on YouTube. She demo's effects pedals, and does some REALLY cool stuff.

I particularly like her cover of "Dance of Pales" from the Castlevania video game.

 

[micguy]

I play one gig where a woman sometimes plays a harp. To get the thing there, she has a HUGE SUV (it doesn't fit in a normal car). The thing costs more than the SUV - probably several times more. Seeing "inexpensive harps" in the thread title gave me a chuckle.

 

[lucas303]

I would love to have one. Put a piezo in it ant plug into some little boxes and an amp.
A few weeks ago i found a Harmonium sitting next to a dumpster. It was a cheaper one and had been sitting in the rain all day so I left it alone. They are cool to play too.

Make sure to check out Emily Hopkins' videos...she uses all kinds of effects through her harp. For example:

 

[Michedelic]

Make sure to check out Emily Hopkins' videos...she uses all kinds of effects through her harp. For example:

Harp you say?

Check out Emily Hopkins on YouTube. She demo's effects pedals, and does some REALLY cool stuff.

I particularly like her cover of "Dance of Pales" from the Castlevania video game.

Yeah, well, Zeena(see above)has been doing that sort of thing for decades, as well as Deborah(and my better half), plus a few others. As far back as January, '18, I saw Laura Somogyi(also, see above)demoing boxes in the EQD booth at NAMM.

 

[roller]

 

[Deleted member 165050]

fast-forward to recently. i got an inexpensive instrument they're calling a lyre harp all over amazon.

View attachment 4475082

I want one! I always wanted to try celtic harp but they are not cheap and apparently are difficult to master. On Amazon, you say...

 

[WestyBassBob]

View attachment 4475305

I must be a demon then. If you've ever met someone who plays accordion than you know. It's the ultimate party instrument.

 

[Michedelic]

I play one gig where a woman sometimes plays a harp. To get the thing there, she has a HUGE SUV (it doesn't fit in a normal car). The thing costs more than the SUV - probably several times more. Seeing "inexpensive harps" in the thread title gave me a chuckle.

Oh yes…my wife subscribes to the equivalent of Bass Player, the Harp Column, and there's always an article on the best SUV for the job; it seems that the Toyota Sienna gets a lot of thumbs up. We have a Toyota Tundra truck, and I built a sort-of ambulance gurney, similar to what's in the old Frankenstein movies, that tilts the beast into the cargo area. But that problem is satirized here, featuring Joanna Newsom, who had quite a run of popularity with her Kate Bush-like freak folk…

 

[dalkowski]

I must be a demon then. If you've ever met someone who plays accordion than you know. It's the ultimate party instrument.

I know Larson published that cartoon many many years before accordions became hip.

 

[WestyBassBob]

I know Larson published that cartoon many many years before accordions became hip.

I'll just say that my epiphany with accordions predates their being "cool". I still remember it. 1995 at Cliff College in England. Some old fat dude was visiting. Had an accordion and started playing. Oh man. What a time! And there wasn't a drop of alcohol or drugs involved (well maybe some caffeine)