Totally out of the blue, my daughter just asked me whether I knew anyone selling one... she's 13 and already plays guitar, ukelele and a bit of piano (and sings), so it's clearly something she's come across and thinks looks interesting, rather than 'a substitute for a proper instrument'.
I know very little about them, other than that they're mostly seen as 'a substitute for a proper instrument'... I had a quick look on Ebay and they seem to come in two varieties - antique ones in various states of disrepair with small numbers of strings and chord buttons for around £50 or less, or new ones with larger numbers of strings and chord buttons for around £500 or more! Which was something of a surprise - presumably there is a small but dedicated market for proper ones.
Anyway, I can't afford £500 and she doesn't want me to - although she would like something decent if possible. So the question is, is there anything worth having for around £100? I don't mind something old I have to do some work on if it can actually be fixed - some time ago I worked on an antique chord-zither ("no dad, that's not quite the same thing..."
) which wasn't repairable because the wood was just too fragile and no matter how many splits were glued, new ones appeared as soon as it was tuned up...
She's clearly done some research, so I don't want to appear too ignorant - she did mention 'three rows of buttons', which I think are major, minor and 7th chords, but I may be wrong. Of course that seems to only occur on the £500 ones
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Comments
Mine is this kind of layout but different shape and colour
I suppose it fits into the "antique" category you mention above - it needs a couple of dampers refitting i think but I've never had the guts to take it apart.
I'm on holiday at the moment but I'll try and remember to take some photos of it in case it's of any curiosity value.
Here's a video of me playing it in fact!
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
There's one here for £375 https://redcowmusic.co.uk/product/oscar-schmidt-os10021-autoharp/
You might find it cheaper elsewhere
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
A couple of my friends play them at get-togethers.
Here they are around 1:12 during our Speyside Sessions album recording:
blobb's one must have sold in the shop before I called them, but I finally found a nice one for a good price online, and it arrived today...
It's an RBI ChromaHarp, made by Tokai Gakki (yes, that Tokai) in Japan in either the very late 60s or early 70s - the booklet it came with is dated 1968. It's in exceptional condition for its age, including all the original strings which are only very slightly tarnished, a couple of very nice booklets, and the remains of the original polystyrene box packing pieces - although sadly the box itself is missing. A really nice piece of history... my daughter is very happy!
No tuning key included so I've had to order one (they're expensive!) and it currently sounds like a 'prepared instrument' avant-garde piece , but it's not *that* far out and I think it will sound really nice when it's properly tuned.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Bugger to tune though.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
To be fair, I was quite regularly tuning it into different keys.
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
Bandcamp
Spotify, Apple et al
Looks lovely, hopefully it's fun to set up and play
soundcloud.com/thecolourbox-1
youtube.com/@TheColourboxMusic
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Is the tuning key different from a drum key? I have a vague recollection of tuning some similar instrument for a friend and just using a drum key.
It’s a year younger than me even if it was actually made in ‘68 . It is a very nice-looking one though, also not like me!
The key is a 4mm square section - drums are 1/4”. It needs a much bigger handle too, the tension on these pegs is pretty high and as Cirrus said you need extreme accuracy turning them - it’s basically like tuning a piano.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
How is the body of the thing constructed to withstand the overall tension - has it got a steel frame like a piano?
No - all maple.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein