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34 String Harp Choices
I am hoping to upgrade to a 34 string harp within the next few months. I currently have a 26 string SE Fullsicle. I have it narrowed down to 3 choices. I do not have a harp store anywhere nearby, so I am having to order online and hope for the best. The 3 options I am considering are Dusty Strings Ravenna 34, Dusty Strings Serrana, or Musicmakers Ballad harp. I had carpal tunnel surgery when I was only in my 20s because I was a full-time sign language interpreter at a university, so I need to be conscious of string tension as well as budget. I have spoken with Dusty Strings and Musicmakers, but I’m wondering if anyone has any input. Thank you in advance for any advice you may have!
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27 Replies
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I don’t know anything about these harps, but if you are looking for a harp with light tension strings who might check out the Lyon & Healy Drake. I have one and I love it. I can play for hours without hurting my fingers or having problems with my arms.
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Thank you very much for your feedback, Christina! The Drake also looks to be in my budget. I will definitely add it to my short list of considerations! I do know that Lyon and Healy harps have an excellent reputation.
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I was reading on another page someone reviewing her Drake. She says she loves it, but in the lower register she finds the carbon strings to be floppy in comparison to the lowest register which has strings of a different material. Do you find this to be the case? My SE Fullsicle is VERY floppy from C3-C4 (it’s lowest register). Are you familiar with Harpsicles at all to know if it’s similar or, even if you aren’t, do you find it to be floppy in that range or just not quite as firm? She said there is a huge jump in tension in that part of the Drake.
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I tried a couple of Harpsicles harp and I found their strings to be very floppy – probably the floppiest of all the harps that I’ve tried. I hope Drake would do better than that!
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It must be the floppiest. I even call it my Flopsicle lol
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Ha ha!!!
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I have a Harpsicle. The tension is much lighter than the Drake. I first was a big shocked when I got the Drake because for me it was high tension. But now I love it and it’s just right for me.
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I can see why it was a shock after you’ve become used to the Flopsicle! The upper half of the Fullsicle is fine. Not floppy at all. Do you find the top part of the Harpsicle similar to the Drake, just that the Drake has that resistance all the way through the range of the harp or does it have even higher tension than that? It’s so hard to gage these things online and I very much appreciate your time!
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The Drake has higher tension on all strings. I do love my Harpsicle though, too and I just turned it into an electric little harp by adding a little pickup and connecting it to an amp and an effect pedal.
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How funny! I am planning on doing the same thing with my Harpsicle! I love effects pedals and it seems like it would be awfully fun to play around with them on it, aside from just the amplification which I think will improve it a lot. Not the tension, of course, but the protection should be much better. I’m glad to hear you’re happy with having done that!
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I also put pickups in my Flopsicle (What a good nickname!😆).
And I have a sound processor ZOOM G1X four with a keyboard amplifier with it.
It is really good fun to try different sounds or even just to amplify the natural sound of the harp.
I’m trying to find the “Andreas Vollenweider-sound”, but haven’t succeeded so far…
(Tips & tricks are welcome should anyone know how to get this sound)
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Regarding tension – something I was reading about on a completely different forum (not on this site) is that when harp makers are talking about tension, they are referring to the static (stationary) tension that the strings have on the body of the harp whereas players are thinking in terms of how much effort it takes to create a sound. In other words, dynamic tension or – more accurately – resistance. So when you see something listed as “light tension”, they are likely not referring to resistance, but the static tension on the harp. This is why something that is listed as having light or low tension can actually have quite high resistance/dynamic tension and it leads to a great deal of confusion when luthiers mean one thing and players mean something else but we’re all using the same word.
i watched a review on YouTube about the Drake made by a highly respected and extremely skilled harpist. She said it is not light tension (from a player’s perspective). She is a pedal harpist so she said she liked the tension very much. She is Italian so her English is a bit broken and the way she said it was, “I love this tension because it is what I play most gladly”, inferring that it is high tension, closer to a pedal harp. And “In my experience, I wouldn’t call it light tension”. *She is delightful. I’m not commenting on her English as an insult. I adore her. She is one of my absolute favorite harpists*.
Here is the review. If you don’t want to watch the whole thing, her comment on the tension is roughly at 2:50. She has such personality and the video is less than 4 minutes long so if you have the inclination, watch the whole video. You might just have discovered a new favorite if you aren’t already familiar with her. https://youtu.be/JRVAo4nDuis
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I know her :-). I guess I’ve watched this video before I bought my harp. Since I don’t have a harp center nearby and it was also a problem with Corona when I decided to buy a 34 string harp I had to inform me in the internet. I can play the Drake for hours without hurting my fingers or arms, so for me the tension is exactly what I was looking for. I have never played a concert harp or any other harp, so I don’t know how other harp strings are.
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Isn’t she wonderful? I love the way she plays. So loose, carefree, and joyful. Her playing style totally fits her big warm and silly personality 🙂
Thank you SO MUCH for responding again, Christina! That you can play for hours with no difficulty makes me very optimistic about the Drake. Now if I can only get Lyon and Healy to call me back or answer my email! I’ve been trying for days.
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Ha! Right after I typed that “if only Lyon & Healy would call me back or answer my email” I finally got a hold of them. They’re sending me an invoice to review. Yay!
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I own a Dusty Strings Crescendo and a Musicmakers Cheyenne. The string tension is definitely lighter on my Musicmakers than on my Dusty. I know a number of Ballad owners who are very happy with it, so I think you might like the Ballad if you wanted something with lighter tension. I much prefer Camac levers over Loveland levers. I would recommending paying the extra money to get Camac levers if you ended up going with a Ravenna. I love both of my harps and I think both companies are wonderful to deal with!
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Thank you, Victoria! I definitely planned on upgrading to the Camac levers if I go with the Ravenna. It’s only a little over $200 more and I can get a case later on. I think the Camac levers are especially important now that they don’t have the ash neck and pillar so the default color currently is black. Black levers against a black background seems like it would be awfully difficult to see them easily.
I also like the action of the Camac better, having researched this topic to death.
Upgrading to a 34 string is a big investment for me, so I’ve done nothing but research, research, research for a while now. Even before I could afford it I was researching it quite a lot. Now that I have the means, the choice is SO difficult!
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It is hard, isn’t it? And such a big investment too so it is definitely something we want to consider carefully! I hope you will find something that you love and want to play all the time! 🙂
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It’s REALLY hard! 🤯 Much harder than when I was just thinking about it but didn’t yet have the funds to do it.
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Perhaps you have already made your decision, but I would like to mention that Stoney End has a Marion 34 string harp that has light tension also. That is what I own, and I am very pleased with it. It is pretty light, too: only 24 lbs. All their harps have lighter tension, and the quality is good.
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I wish I had seen this, but I put down a deposit on a Dusty Strings Ravenna. It doesn’t have light tension. It’s in the middle tension-wise but if I find it is too much, I should be able to sell it for a different harp. Dusty Strings seem to be very well-known and well-loved in the harp community. I also play the hammered dulcimer and Dusty Strings makes some of the best dulcimers out there so I was familiar with them as a company.
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Hi Nina;
The truth is, the tension I of the strings is not important. The tension in your hands is what can cause problems. When you do it correctly, your hand should simply close into your palm, and make a beautiful sound. Using zero tension in your hands. The tension of the strings is irrelevant. I am living proof this is true. After playing for many years incorrectly, had to go back to relearn proper hand technique. Very important.
Can’t go wrong with a Dusty String harp.
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That’s an EXCELLENT point!
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And now that it is 6+ months, how are liking your Ravenna 34? I’m torn between Dusty Strings and Music Makers
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I am thrilled with everything about my Dusty strings harp. A dream harp at a reasonable price!
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Thanks!
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I have read that the Drake was developed as a prelude to playing a pedal harp. Pedal harp strings are spaced differently and require more force to play, and their lever harps are deliberately similar. Other lever harps are different. Wire-strung harps require almost no force; you don’t have to bring your fingers into your palm when plucking. They have the tightest string spacing and are usually diatonic without levers. I’m told the levers are too hard on the strings.
Speaking of strings, you can always upgrade your strings! If Harpsicle uses cheap, floppy strings, find better! That’s what guitar players do. I hate carbon strings and upgraded the strings on my ukulele. It sounds like a different instrument now.
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