Finding a Harp Repair Person

In the life of every instrument there will come a moment of truth. Some instruments will have more than others but eventually, all come to the moment of reckoning - the moment when they need to be seen by a professional repair luthier. This is a dangerous time for your precious harp and, therefore, a time to be an especially cautious consumer.

Lots of people believe they can repair harps. Some of these really can but most cannot. Certainly, the best choice is to have the lutherie that built your instrument perform any necessary repairs. In reality however, this is not always possible. The second best choice is to have another lutherie that also builds harps, of at least the quality of yours, do the work. Again, realistically, most harpers are not close to any quality luthiers so, most people are still stuck.

The third option is the most widely accessible and, if properly researched, can usually be trusted to yield excellent results. Local music stores across the country do have instrument repair shops. Most of them are guitar repair shops. Take a note: no matter what the guy in the ten-year-old, black, A/C D/C T-shirt tells you, he is not the right person to repair your harp. The other kind of repair shop specializes in classical strings, namely, violins. Provided a violin repair luthier has a good reputation for quality and timely work on violins, he or she will usually have all the requisite skills necessary to work on a harp. If you have concerns, ask for references and call around. You might even call the conductor or director of the local youth symphony, or other classical musicians you know, and see where they have their work done. The bottom line is that if you can find a good violin repair person, they are generally at least as skilled at making a repair as anyone except the person who originally built your harp.

Repair work is an art of its own. In many ways, it is more difficult to fix an existing problem than it is to build the instrument from the lumber up. Experienced stringed instrument repair shops are an invaluable resource. As a courtesy, and without any representation or endorsement of any person or shop listed, we will include a listing below of repair shops with whom harpers and harpists have had good experiences. Should you wish recommend your local repair person to the world, please [E-Mail Us] with the name and complete address of the shop, the phone number, the name of any contact person and a brief listing of the type of work you have had done.

One final note: David Kolacny has written an absolutely excellent book, Trouble Shooting Your Lever Harp - What To Do When The Repairman Is 1,000 Miles Away. Trouble Shooting is a tremendous addition to the harp community and we think every harp player should have one. If you are not already in possession of this book, we do carry them in our Accessories Catalog and are more than happy to ship one right out to you.

Trouble Shooting Your Lever Harp, by David Kolacny - $11.95 (plus $1.50 shipping and handling within the US and Canada)

Listing of Stringed Instrument Repair Shops

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