Harp Notes

Hobgoblin Music Shop

June 2004

Bristol is home to one of the Hobgoblin Music stores, and not too far to travel from Dartmoor, especially when combined with a visit to my lovely Goddess~Daughter.

On the website Bristol states it has a few harps on display which was certainly a draw for me. One thing that I was told constantly and totally agree with now is when looking for a harp, try and play/touch as many different types as possible. So a trip to Hobgoblin was declared.

Once in the shop, T immediately went off to try out some of the many guitars, bouzoukis and other stringed instruments out on display. One thing you can't fault Hobgoblin for is their open attitude to testing any of the instruments on show. I needed some help getting the various harps down off the high shelves though. When I finally managed to get someone to give me a hand, it became quite plain that none of them had been touched for some time - I wasn't really expecting them to be in tune, but the deep layer of dust that covered all of them was a shock.

The main makers seemed to be Sherwood (an early incarnation of Border Harps), Stoney End and the rosewood Pakistani harps marketed under the name of Glenluce. It was my first encounter with the rosewood harps, although I'd seen them many times on the net. Needless to say, they lived down to my expectations, and the phrase "get what you pay for" seemed very apt. 'Nuff said.

The Sherwood harps on display were early versions of Mick Saunders work from Border Harps. These ones had no sharpening levers but small curved hooks. Although I was offered a tuning key for the strings, apparently as I found out some weeks later, I should have also been offered a turning key for the hooks. Not surprisingly I found it very difficult to position them with my fingers, and I was put off them quite rapidly.

The Stoney End harps were beautiful though, and even out of tune the tone was fantastic. Whilst I loved the high end design style and the light weight, I balked at the price which I thought excessive, that plus the fact that they are imported from the States. However, I loved the tone and was close to ignoring my conscience and stretching my credit card limit . . . . when a large crack was pointed out to me and that sealed it - along with the attitude of the staff who were unfortunately not at all interested.

One good thing did happen at Hobgoblin though - another customer walked in with a small lap harp based on an early medieval design. Thanks to my knowledge of various luthiers (hey, I knew all those hours of internet research would pay off one day!!) and T's german, we were able to answer his questions about the maker and later on, send him information about authentic replacement strings. It was a shame that the staff couldn't help, even if they had been inclined to do so.

But it wasn't a completely wasted visit. I decided that Border Harps were a definite possibility. I still liked the idea of supporting a UK luthier and whilst the turning hooks were not for me, I knew that sharpening levers were offered as an alternative. The clarsach seemed too large for what I wanted but the knee and possibly Wye designs were viable options. It was time to make more enquiries . . .