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Help with new harp damage
So I just did a two day round trip drive to check out harps in person instead of ordering online untested. I found a brand new Dusty Strings Serrana that I loved. The one leg was sticky to deploy, but I had no problem getting it. Only the seller and my boyfriend couldn’t do it, but when I tried it was fine. She insisted on letting her son look at it despite my repeated assurances that it was fine. Besides, I wasn’t going to use the legs anyway. He was being really rough with it and it was driving me nuts. He is also the person who put in in the case. When I got home and opened it I found two bright white marks on the finish, right on the front of the neck in the most prominent place possible and it looks terrible. I’m extra frustrated because I didn’t want him messing with it. So my choices are to spend more money and time to do a physically difficult and taxing drive to return it or keep it and try to get rid of the marks.
Does anybody have any suggestions on how to safely get them off? I already tried using my fingernail gently and it won’t come off
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6 Replies
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I don’t know for sure that that is what caused it. The lighting was not great. I just can’t help but feel that it did. Either way, it’s really disappointing. I burst into tears when I opened the case. My lighting is good and I saw it immediately.
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First, contact Dusty Strings and ask for their advice. The Serrana’s neck is Finland birch with burgundy lacquer. Your post asks about how to get the white marks off, but is it possible the marks are actually where the burgundy lacquer was scraped off to reveal the light birch color beneath? Either way, Dusty Strings probably can explain the best way to touch it up, and they might be able to tell you an exact match for that burgundy color.
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Second, you have a brand new harp, and you picked it out in person. That’s so special. It was in stock; you didn’t have to wait the typical 10 – 12 months for a Dusty order. I just got my new harp last week, and I know how exciting — and stressful — a harp purchase can be. Don’t let cosmetic damage spoil what should be a joyful experience with your new harp. I bet you’ll be able to fix it really well, following the manufacturer’s advice. Be sure to report back and let us know how it turns out.
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I did contact Dusty Strings and they weren’t very helpful at all. They said they use a spray lacquer and won’t send me a tiny sample. I was surprised that they weren’t more helpful. It was very frustrating. If I had a sample I could use a very fine brush and cover it better. It won’t be perfect, but better than what it is right now.
It’s definitely not the Birch underneath. It’s bright white, but won’t come off when I try to gently scrape it with my nail. I tried uploading an image, but the server timed out. “Learning the harp .com” said they’re having some issues with that at the moment.
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Maybe you could cover it with a little swarowsky sticker or something like that. I know how you feel. Getting something new and not in perfect condition is annoying. I hope you can find a good solution for the problem.
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The annoying part was that I didn’t want them messing with the leg to begin with. It made me VERY uncomfortable. I kept saying it was fine and they ignored me. I said over and over that I had no problem with getting it out, but she insisted her son look at it and her son was being SO ROUGH with it, didn’t fix it anyway, and there’s a felt ring that goes around the leg that fell out when he was messing with it and didn’t put it back so it’s missing. I contacted her about it and she says her “son says he put it back, so it’s there”. It isn’t. I can SEE both legs and it is not there. I know it’s not there because the leg is fully visible inside the soundbox and I can see the felt ring on the one leg, but not the other. He isn’t a harp technician or anything. He just flopped it on the floor with the neck and pillar facing down and pointlessly fiddled with it. I was cringing the whole time.
If I made the marks, it would be on me, but I hate that they were doing stuff to it that I repeatedly asked them not to and it got messed up because of that. It’s just very frustrating.
Thank you for listening to me vent about it 🙂
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I like the crystal idea! Maybe I’ll make a little design with a few. I have a bunch because I bought some to mark the levers on my little SE Fullsicle. It was $7 for about 500 of them. The adhesive is surprisingly good, yet doesn’t leave any residue. I already put some blue and red ones on the tuning pins of the Serrana so I won’t make a mistake about which pin I’m on in a sea of black pins.
I COULD return it and get a gently used Crescendo from her for the exact same price. It’s in perfect condition. I picked the Serrana because the tension was kinder to my hands, but the Crescendo was lovely as well.
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