Camac Sharping Levers - the newest of the modern generation of levers, the Camacs have a smooth action, firm lock and excellent tone. The Camac levers do not displace the string front-to-back (toward or away from the player) and the side-to-side displacement is extremely small, even less than the old Loveland levers. Camac levers are ideal for those playing in E-flat (Eb) tuning because the strings remain all on one plane and the tone that comes off an actuated lever is accurate and of the same quality as strings which are not sharped. Red and blue cuffs around the neck of the handle clearly distinguish the C and F levers without getting in the way. The machining of the levers is top quality so they are both quiet and feel silky on the hand. The Camacs are machined from solid brass with a nickel-plated finish which is quite attractive. The handles are stronger than those of some other levers so that you will not have to worry about twisting or breakage.

One of the real advantages of this new generation lever is that the levers are not as sensitive to different string dimensions, as are some older generation levers. This means that you can change string dimensions or string types without having to change the levers themselves. Additionally, the act of changing a string is easy with a Camac since the string does not have to be worked or threaded between lever parts.

Another important advantage of the Camac lever has to do with thumping. When a string gets older it becomes more stretched and, therefore, thinner. Because the Camac lever, unlike the old Lovelands, is not as sensitive to the diameter of the string and sharps firmly regardless, the sharped string will continue to be voiced properly. With old-style levers which are diameter dependent when a string ages and thins the lever is not fully engaging the string and the string thumps when the lever is actuated.

Regarding the actual construction of levers, past generation levers, like the Robinson and Loveland levers, are attached to the harp using bent sheet brass and using a single mounting screw. This method of construction allows the dissipation of significant energy when the string is vibrating. When a lever is vibrating substantially it is sucking energy and venting it directly into the air. Because a given plucked string only generates a finite amount of energy, if the energy is put into the lever it is not available to generate sound. New generation levers, like the Camac and the Truitt, are machined out of solid brass. The greater mass and added stiffness in the frame of these levers prevents them from absorbing much of the energy generated by the string. This means that more energy stays in the string and is available for use by the soundboard. Translation - because new generation levers do not vent as much energy, a string which is sharped is going to have virtually the same tonal quality as one which is not. This is essential to modern lever harp professionals who are keeping their harps tuned in E-flat (Eb).

As of 1 January 2006, we have selected Camac levers as our standard lever on all Rees Concert line harps. We do this because we feel that they are the best levers available anywhere at this time. We do continue to offer Truitt levers as an option. Camac levers cannot be installed on double harps at this time because they cannot be made to work on the off side of a harp.

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