I just traded a shakuhachi (japanese end blown flute) for a hand made William Rees lap harp. It has levers on every string and plays perfectly in tune and has a great sound.
The shakuhachi was worth 300 dollars.
Is this a good deal? Anyone familiar with Rees harps?
William Rees is a very well-respected maker of harps.
In addition to “Harpsicle,” they also make other, high-end folk harps as well as pedal harps. I’d say if the harp is in good, playable condition, you got an excellent trade. A Harpsicle with full levers (aka a “Fullsicle”) will set you back around $700, and Ree’s higher end harps can get very pricey.
Here’s their website:
http://www.traditionalharps.com/ReesHarpsMainMenu.html
You might want to have the instrument checked out, just to be sure, but I’d say if it tunes (and stays in tune) and doesn’t have any warping or cracking anywhere that you got a nice bargain.
BTW, you will want to ascertain exactly which model you have, as strings are specific to the harp, and you usually can’t substitute strings made for a different harp. Browsing the Rees site, and perhaps contacting Rees for more info on your instrument, should help you figure out which model you have. Typically you have to buy strings directly from the manufacturer of your harp, or from a store that specializes in a variety of harps.
Congratulations on your new baby!
Redwolf
while I don’t play harp, I do know William personally, and his instruments are of very good quality. I’d say as long as the instrument is in good shape, you got an excellent deal.
Thanks for the good news! I checked out Rees’s site and I believe I have a “Morgan Meadow” Harp without any fancy ornamentation.
I’ll contact him and find out exactly.
Missy,
I checked out your website. Funny, because I’ve be wanting to get a mountain dulcimer for my wife to play to accompany my irish flute. (the harp is for her as well, but being a former classical pianist turned irish flutest , I have fun plucking away)
Can you recommend a good mountain dulcimer to start out on?
Thanks again,
Lee
Lee - if you check our site further (under the links on the left of our home page), you’ll see that we are hosts to Sweet Woods Instruments - aka harpmaker here on this site! (he also makes harps, but since you have one of William’s, you can instead get a dulcimer from him).
Dave makes a great “student” dulcimer that’s wonderful for someone just getting into playing, along with some fantastic custom work. I think we are up to 10 dulcimers made by Dave that we own…
If you haven’t already done so, take a look at www.everythingdulcimer.com Lots of great articles, TAB, and a good discussion board. You’ll even recognize a few names there!!
If you have any questions, feel free to pm or email me - or contact us via the website.
Wow! Sounds you got a ‘heckuvadeal’!
I have a small harp, actually the prototype that a friend made a few years ago. Unfortunately, there is no-one around to teach me, but I love it. Also unfortunately, he no longer makes them. It’s simple, with no levers, nylon strings, and no ornamentation, but it is pretty in its simplicity and it sounds wonderful (at least to my harp-challenged ear 
)
Post a pic of your new harp when you get a chance!
As far as playing goes, while having a teacher is certainly ideal, you can go a long way toward teaching yourself as well…there are good books and videos out there.
Redwolf
I’d love to post a picture, but my digital photos always come out as to big a file for posting. Do you know how to lessen the file size of a digital photo?
I’ve been playing classical/jazz guitar for almost 18 years, so I was able to pick the harp up and start playing arpeggios with the left hand and improvise simple stuff with the right hand. the chords invert in the same shapes as the piano. I gather that you should pluck the string more towards the soundboard than the top. I’ll look into the books and videos you mentioned on another thread (in which I was inquiring about the harpcicle, if you recall–thanks for your advice there too)
At this point in my life, I’ve spent almost two decades playing some of the hardest piano music ever written, by that of Chopin, Bach, Debussy. It just doesn’t “do it” for me anymore. There is something about irish folk music that just brings me to my knees. Something that touches the core of the human existance far deeper than the most complex prelude and fugue. When I lean into my flute, it’s like singing that I’ve never been able to do. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always appreaciate classical music, and am glad for the understanding of music theory that it has given me.
I think C&F is the greastest musical resource I’ve ever found.
Thanks much for helping out.
BTW I have some of my flute playing on “clips and snips” in the flute section under my name, Lee Stanford. I’ve only been playing ITM for a couple years, so any critique is welcome, if you want to check it out. I know this is a string instrument section of the forum, but I would like to gather advice from all kinds of ITM players.
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/12-06/PartingOfFriends-LeeS.mp3
http://www.tinwhistletunes.com/clipssnip/Audio/12-06/GarretBarryLeeS.mp3
I actually purchased a program, Quick ePics, to do just that, but I use a lot of photos online, so it is worth it to me. They do have a Free Trial version. I love it! It greatly reduces file size without deceasing quality too much. 9e, if I don’t take a decent pic to begin with, it’s another story. 
)
http://www.missionpeaksoftware.com/freetrial.htm
Thanks, I’ll give it a try sometime this week. I have to pick up some rechargeable batteries first.
Lee
Your camera probably came with some basic photo editing software. Typically all that’s needed is to chose the “image” option…one of the drop downs will be “resize.” Cut it down to about 512…that’s about perfect for internet posting.
It’s really important, with the harp, to get the hand position and posture correct, to learn to place your fingers correctly in advance, etc.. Otherwise you can do yourself an injury…and you’ll find it harder to progress to more complicated tunes or accompaniments, particularly those involving cross-overs or long reaches. If you don’t have a teacher, I STRONGLY recommend you get something like Sylvia Woods “Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp” (book AND video), and really study hand and arm position, advance placing, etc. Don’t just wing it…you’ll develop bad habits that will ultimately lessen your enjoyment of this wonderful instrument.
Redwolf
Lee, I know William and his work. If the harp is in good condition, you got a very good deal.
The comment about strings is important. Harps are much more sensitive to changes in strings sizes than other instruments. In fact, using the wrong size strings will usually void any warranty that is on the harp.
One other suggestion; when tuning, work up in octaves. For instance, do all the c’s first, then f’s, then d’s ..etc.
This allows for a more even tension across the soundboard. Believe it or not, even a small 32 string harp can have close to 1000 lbs tension on the board.
Wow. That’s amazing. I spoke to Gary Rees yesterday. My wife’s mom sent her a harpcicle fro christmas. It got cracked during shippingso they’re making me another. They are really nice people.
next to the harpcicle, the beauty of the meadow morgan (or morgan meadow, whatever it’s called) really shines. Gary told me that the meadow morgan with the new type of levers sells these days for a little over two grand. mine is worth around 1200 dollars. So for trading a 300 dollar student shakuhachi, yes thats a “heluvadeal!”
I’ll be sure to tune it the way you mentioned. That makes a lot of sense.
Much appreaciated
Lee
That’s really a wonderful deal. Amazing that the person who made the trade didn’t seem to value it very highly. Good for the harp, though…it will be much happier with someone who will love and cherish it.
Now that you and your wife are on your way to becoming harpers, here’s a link you may enjoy:
The forums are a fount of information. They’re not as active as Chiff & Fipple, but the people are just as friendly, and a lot of harp-specific stuff gets discussed (including dealing with overuse injuries). I particularly find “amateur harpists” and “beginning in the middle” to be useful.
The only thing that irks me there is the assumption on the part of some of the regulars that the lever harp is simply a stepping stone to the pedal harp. In reality, they’re very different instruments, with a different following, and not everyone who plays lever harp hopes to “move up” to pedal (or would consider it a “step up.” That’s rather like saying the cello is a “step up” from the fiddle!). Still, there are enough of us folk harpers over there to keep things interesting.
Redwolf
And to keep the builders of folk harps busy. The folk harp community has been steadily growing for a long time.
I started building instruments since the early 90’s and was given the nic “harpmaker” back then. While the bulk of my work nowadays has been Mountain Dulcimers, I am slowly getting back into harps. Thanks for the link to that harp forum