Do you agree?

I used to work for a Lyon & Healy retailer. Let me tell you that a harp changes so much in just a couple of months after being built. My coworkers and I would play on the harps regularly to open them up and we would often start out disliking certain harps and then they turned out to be our favorites in as little as 3 months. Others we would love at first and they wouldn’t get any better, or the voice would change in a way we didn’t prefer. I always told them that if I would buy a harp from them, it would sit in the showroom for 6 months before I would buy it. You can also usually tell how the harp will hold up structurally pretty quick. Some soundboards would belly up pretty fast and others would stay flat. Same with necks, they would sometimes slightly start twisting and warping.

Another benefit of my used harp is that it stays in tune for a very long time as opposed to newer harps!

I have had both things happen to me. I bought a brand new lever harp that I had made for me and while it sounded very nice, I was never quite happy with it. I changed out the strings to folk gut and liked it better, but it never was perfect to me. So I traded it in on a brand new Lyon and Healy Chicago 40 pedal harp and I couldn't be happier with the sound of that harp. I played it in the show room and liked it, so I traded my lever harp in on it. I have had it 2 1/2 years now and I am extremely happy with how the sound is developing. It is my forever harp. That said, when I was first starting out, I rented a very large, 38 string lever harp that was used and it sounded beautiful. It was from a local harp maker and was very unique. All things considered, I should have just bought that harp and been done with it, but I thought I would be missing out if I didn't buy a new harp. LOL!!! Live and learn I suppose.

Thank you so much. I was going to soend a few thousand on a new harp and have to wait and save money but now I'm going to look into used ones and buy one even sooner!

Thank you for this!! And reading all the comments is so interesting!!

I bought a new harp this past summer, a Lyon & Healy Style 100 from a dealer. The reason: my existing harp was 65 years old and in need of $17,000 of repair and even at that price the soundboard would still be original and cosmetically it would not be like new. It was beautiful, with a honey color and gilded, but it's new replacement was $58,000! It also had a nice sound. Yes, there is a break in period on a new harp, some of my strings broke prematurely in the summer and it's sound has been improving, in my opinion, but my harp also came highly recommended by an experienced harpist who played it and liked it best out of several I tried. I wanted the experience of having a new harp, that was in perfect condition with a warranty. My harp comes with a five year warranty and a free regulation after a year. An old harp can have many expensive problems. I know of many harpists who have found a new harp after some search, that they have been very happy with, so like someone else said, it's not really fair to harp manufacturers to say that new ones shouldn't be bought! After all, good harps, can also get better with age, if like you say, they are living, especially if they have a loving owner, who is taking great care of them! It's a very personal choice buying a harp. I don't think you can say one is better than the other, new or used, it's the individual harp(condition if it's used) and the preference of the player and of course, for some of us, the price is a big factor!

This little video made me laugh so much because I feel the exact same way! I too have worked for a Harp retailer and played several different makes of new harps. Yes a new harp will be a little “green” at first and improve with work ( breaking in) That’s just the nature of the new harp . However, these older harps with their old wood were just made to a different standard than the ones being produced now. They were not as over built , used smaller gauged strings, have thinner soundboards without veneer all this makes them feel and resonate differently. All my pedal harps are used and or antiques ranging from 1912 to 1984 each has it’s own special tonal quality and place in the development of the modern pedal harp. If we ever get past covid I’d encourage everyone to just go out and try as many harps as you can get comfortable with making adjustments to your technique with different harps some require much less effort to play than others. One is not worse than the other they are just different.

Currently in USA used harps are not easy to find. Lewis Creek currently needs 6-7 months from order date to sending date. When I located a used harp, I waited 2 days to make my decision and it was sold.So, I have ordered my 1st harp from Rees harps, and look forward to delivery in 8-9 weeks. Meanwhile, I will begin learning music theory.

Yes! Absolutely yes, organic yes, yes yes yes! So glad with my harp (a David bouger scnd hand) which is in palissandro and soon 40years old! Old is gold!

I bought a little second hand harp, the brand is Stoney End and I love it when I called to order string from them they looked up the number on it and I found out it is 22 years old. I was shocked the sound is beautiful and it is a pretty looking harp as well:)

Cool! It's nice to know another benefit of buying used!!!

Not going to lie, I was low key disappointed when I tried out the new pedal harps at a showroom. Those brand new student pedal harps sounded nowhere near as good as my 50+ year Lyon and Healy 15 rental harp. Sure the new harps had a much more even sound across all strings, but not as warm and resonant as the old harp!

In a way I do agree: when you buy a second hand harp you know what you are buying, exactly that sound. I have a super fantastic 60 Years old Lyon Style 11 and I'm superhappy with It. The best buy ever. On the other hand someone has to buy new harps, otherwise there will not be second hand harps 😜

The same is true for all wooden instruments. My kantele needed 15 yrs. to come into its voice. I bought a new Native American-style flute, which also took years to come into its voice. I got smart and bought a used recorder, and it is so sweet. Both my harps are used, also.

Hi, Chiara! I very well understand your point. However, when I was buying my first pedal harp 4,5 years ago I tried severals, both new, 2nd hand, and different brands. At last I got to try a brand new acoustic/electric pedal harp an fell in love immediately. I've been in love since and it is beyond my dreams. 🥰 So I guess I was lucky, or that the brand was good.. (I did lots of research beforehand also). I have also seen to that it get it's full service every 2nd year for maintainance. So for me it has been a blast with my "newborn" harp! 😊

Hi Chiara, Can you get a hold of Arpa Doppia and play it for us? And possibly make a review? They are so beautiful! I wonder if they sound as beautiful as they look🤤

I can see what you're saying, Chiara, that makes sense that a harp needs to "settle". However, I would be reluctant to buy a secondhand harp (assuming it's from a sales listing online rather than a shop or harp maker), because there's no way to know how it's been cared for, I don't have a car so getting to wherever it is to try it would be difficult, the only stores that have a showroom with harps are 3+ hours away in Dublin. Possibly they resell used harps, so I guess I'd have to contact them to ask. I've only been playing for 4 months and tried one harp before I knew how to play, so I still have to test drive a few whether it's new or secondhand. Argh! I'm renting a 26-string Callan student harp from my teacher, but I have to decide on a purchase some time soon. It's a scary prospect.

Can you please offer some sources or links to purchase a used harp in eastern Europe?

I want to convince my parents to let me have my a harp since its my fav instrument since I like antiques I am planning on getting a 1809 harp It is very old but it is gorgeous and in beautiful condition and should have definitely settled by now!!!!🤣

Hi Chiara! Thanks for this video. I'm in the market for a pre-owned pedal harp now, and one of the ones I'm considering is from 1976. Would you say this is too old to consider? What's the oldest harp you'd consider buying?

Sì, è verissimo. L'unica cosa che mi preoccuperebbe acqusitando un'arpa usara è che possa aver subito dei danni o avere dei difedi cui il proprietario non mi ha informata e che alla mia analisi possano essere sfuggiti.

I guess this wouldn't hold for carbon fibre harps.

Disagree with this advice. I think pedal harps develop their sound pretty quickly. Also pedal harps have a limited life span of 75-100 years before all the string tension tears them apart.