My name is Paul Best, I'm from Northern Ireland, and I am an enthusiastic learner of the Irish harp, not
too skilled yet but improving (Slowly), and an incurable harp fanatic,. I own a 34-string Pilgrim
Ashdown Harp with which I am very pleased indeed (Pilgrim Harps, based in Surrey in England, make
superb instruments which, although not cheap by any means, are ones which I highly recommend,-
how's that for a plug?) and I am now looking for a small easily portable and not-too-expensive lap
harp,ideally with 26 strings (C one octave below middle C up to G) which can be carried anywhere,
mainly for practicing on, possibly as a travel harp. Does anyone know of a harp maker/supplier where
I could purchase a 26-string harp with a good tone at reasonable cost (say under 500-600 pounds
sterling), preferably from Ireland, Britain, or even Europe, as the cost of shipping one from America
might be quite high.(Just how high?) I heard about an American Harp maker, Dan Speer of Argent
Fox, who makes harps at very low cost, around $440 for a 26-string. (I think that's under 300 pounds
sterling) and I would be interested in hearing some opinions about his harps.
Thanks
Paul R Best