Previously Owned Harps

Lyon & Healy, Style 23, No. 5766

This gorgeous style 23 gold was built in 1967.  It has a brand new soundboard, edged in curly maple and walnut beading, and also a new, structurally reinforced baseframe. The sound is already full and rich, and will only improve as it is played.  The gilding is in very good condition.  This is a rare opportunity to own a superb instrument in great condition.    
For Sale: USD $31,500

Wurlitzer Semi-Grand, No. 1145

This is a semi-grand instrument with 45 strings.  The high serial number suggests it was probably made in the 1930's.  It has had some major repair work done in recent years: a new soundboard and neck in 2010, as well as an action overhaul.  It is in excellent condition.  
For Sale: USD $16,500

Swanson La Scuola Concert Grand,  No. 217

This concert grand instrument was built in 2005 and belonged to an excellent professional harpist who took very good care to keep it in showroom condition.  It has a beautiful resonant sound, regulates perfectly, and the pedals are soooooo smooth! It's a visual stunner, with simple, elegant lines that are set off with just a touch of gold here and there.       
For Sale: USD $18,900

Wurlitzer Orchestral Grand, No. 769

Wurlitzer built some of the best harps that were ever built.  This straight soundboard concert grand, with 47 strings, was one of their standard models.  It was probably built in the 1920's or earlier ( the Wurlitzer serial number list has been lost) and had some major repair work in recent years. It is in excellent condition. 
FOR SALE: USD $17,500

Lyon & Healy Salzedo Model, No. 9534

This harp was built in 1984, when the original owner was a student at the Cleveland Institute, studying with the legendary Alice Chalifoux.  Alice liked the instrument so much that she tried to convince the student to sell it to her!  The student kept it, and it was her working instrument for 40 years.  Now retired in Europe, she has asked us to sell it for her.

This harp was well played for many years by one excellent harpist and has the sound to prove it: a large, robust, and gorgeous sound typical of so many Salzedo Model harps.  It is in excellent condition, both structurally and cosmetically.  At the original owner's request, we put a new neck on the instrument just this past year.  Everything else on it is original.  The design of this harp, a collaboration between Carlos Salzedo and Art Deco designer and artist Witold Gordon, is probably one of the most outstanding designs in the history of musical instruments.  This harp comes with transport covers.

For Sale: USD $24,900

Lyon & Healy, Concert Grand, Style 85, No.13859

This harp is 27 years old and is being sold by the original owner.  She was a child when her parents bought it for her, and the harp was an important part of her childhood.  Her life has taken her in a different direction, and with a busy career and children of her own, she has decided someone else should own and enjoy it as much as she did.

The harp is in beautiful condition, both structurally and cosmetically, and has a wonderful full sound.  The owner had a gorgeous decal and gold striping added to the soundboard, and a small gold crown placed at the top of the column, adding elegance to the simple, streamlined design of the instrument.  It would be an excellent instrument for a student or professional who is serious about the harp.

The instrument comes with a blue transport cover, column cover, base cover, and a brown cloth dust cover. There is also an excellent cart.

For Sale: USD $18,450

Lyon & Healy Style 22 Gold, No.3021

This harp was built in 1927, making it almost 100 years old!  It was rebuilt sometime in the 1950's, receiving at that time a new neck and soundboard, and possibly an action overhaul and reguilding.

The soundboard and neck are both in excellent condition. The action works smoothly and quietly.  The gilding is in excellent condition overall, with only a few tiny areas in the middle of the column that have chipped.  From 5 or 6 feet away, they are unnoticeable and could be easily repaired by a good gilder.  The finish on the rounded body and other natural wood areas has the lovely patina of age and is in excellent condition.

For someone who loves the classic look of the old Lyon & Healy instruments, this harp is one of the best examples that we have seen.  It is stunning to look at and comes from the greatest period of Lyon & Healy's building history.   

The harp comes with two covers: a red cloth cover and a Chicago cover, and a harp cart.

SOLD USD $24,900

Swanson Harp, Concert Grand, Fully Gilded Empire, No.240

This gorgeous instrument was built in 1999 and has belonged to the same owner since then.  She owned two Swanson harps: this one and a La Scuola. The Scuola was her working instrument, going out all the time for the jobs she was playing.  This one, the Fully Gilded Empire, stayed at home and was the one she practiced on. It was very rarely moved.  As a result, it is in perfect, showroom condition.

It has a gorgeous sound that is the result of an excellent Grandjany-style harpist playing it for 30 years. The pedals  are sooooo smooth and the regulation is perfect.  The neck and soundboard are like new.  If you love elegant gold harps, this may be the instrument for you. These beautiful instruments don't come up on the market very often. This is a unique chance to buy one in perfect condition!

This harp comes with a heavy cloth cover, a column cover, and a boot.

SOLD: USD $24,500

Lyon & Healy, Concert Grand, Style 30, The "Princess Louise," No. 5963

This harp, built in 1968, was designed by Sam Pratt, the first president of the harp division at Lyon & Healy, and was named for his wife Louise.  It has the square back body, a revolutionary design at the time, that has proven, over many years, to make the instrument very strong and stable, as well as resonant.  The owner was a professional harpist who sometimes used it as a second gig instrument and sometimes as a rental.  It's in excellent condition structurally and looks great, too.      
For Sale: USD $13,900

Swanson Concert Grand “Art Nouveau” No.170

This harp is a totally unique one-of-a-kind instrument.  It was a special commission by a harpist in Boston. It was designed and hand-carved by master wood carver Will Neptune. He and the harpist designed it together, and it was completed in 2004. The carving on the column and pedestal is of a quality that one no longer finds today. It is just dazzling. The harp is completely hand-finished in a French Polish.

It has all of the features that make the Swanson harp so unique and dependable, including the front action plate that extends into the kneeblock.  This feature was done by Erard over 100 years ago and greatly strengthens the neck, as well as making the regulation and tuning much more stable.  No other company does this today.  The pedals are incredibly smooth, another feature unique to Swanson harps.

The harpist who commissioned this wonderful instrument sadly died, and now it is available for someone who wants an absolutely unique instrument. It is in excellent condition, both structurally and cosmetically. It is perfectly regulated, and the sound is wonderful.

For Sale USD: $84,000

Lyon & Healy style 11, No. 8042

The style 11 is Lyon & Healy's most expensive standard model, with carved Art Nouveau motifs and several different tones of gold, giving it a classic, understated elegance.  This one was built in 1979 and everything is original on it. The soundboard and neck are in excellent condition, and the action works smoothly and easily.  It has a big, beautiful sound that you would expect from a 45-year-old instrument. 

The background story of this instrument is one for the books!  It was "rescued" from the estate of a "hoarder," who did not take good care of it cosmetically. The gilding needs repair work, and it will be up to the new owner to decide what they want done with that.  But structurally, this harp is in excellent condition and plays and sounds great.

This harp is available with a rent-to-buy option only in the Northeastern United States (within 250 miles of Boston). 

For Sale USD $25,000

Wurlitzer Orchestral Grand, No. 1517

One of the great tragedies of harp history is that the Wurlitzer Company stopped making harps in the late 1930s.  That makes this harp one of the rarest of finds: A Wurlitzer Concert Grand harp in extraordinary condition.  It was made in the early to mid-1930s.  Lyon & Healy replaced the soundboard in the 1950's, and that board is in superb condition and has a gorgeous, big, resonant sound.

One of the newest trainees at Swanson Harp Company, Matthew Narkevicius, bought this harp several years ago. Frankly, it was an unplayable wreck.  Many of the decorative panels on the lower part of the column were missing, and the remaining ones were warped and cracked. Matthew re-carved all of the panels, exactly replicating what was there originally. He did a dazzling job!  He also replaced the neck and re-riveted the action. He cleaned, polished, and re-lacquered the action plates, and the brass hardware (discs, adjustable nuts, etc.) was gold-plated.  The action looks brand new.  He refinished all of the natural wood parts of the harp (body shell, pedestal) and stained the new neck to match those parts exactly.  The gilding has been repaired and has the patina of age that perfectly matches the look of the original gilding.  

This is a rare opportunity to own a magnificent example of one of Wurlitzer's best instruments. 

SOLD RECENTLY USD $40,000.