I love the autoharp; not only does it sound great on classic Carter Family recordings, but it sounds downright otherwordly in the hands of modern bands like the Magnetic Fields and Xiu Xiu.
I already own and play many instruments, but I’d like to pick up an autoharp to add to the arsenal. I don’t know anything about them, though, and you don’t generally see them in commercial music stores like Guitar Center.
How much should I expect to pay for a decent one? I’ve seen the price range from under $100 to thousands of dollars. I’m obviously looking for one that’s not a complete piece of garbage, but I don’t need a professional, touring-quality one that was carved from virgin maple that the crafter grew himself, if you catch my drift.
Strictly speaking, there is only one brand of Autoharp® — those made by the Oscar Schmidt Co., which owns the trademark. The generic term is chorded zither. Legally, other manufacturers cannot use the term Autoharp.
My mom has an older one that is still in pretty good condition. It needs new strings after all this time (I don’t believe she ever changed them), but if you’re interested, e-mail me. I’m sure she would be willing to sell it, since nobody plays it anymore. It has a case, too.
Sorry for the hijack, but it’s seems like a good a place as any.
I’ve wanted to learn to play the autoharp for a few years now. I don’t want to spend a lot of money on an instrument I wind up not liking/not being able to play. I’d like to get a used autoharp (Christmas is just around the corner), but I’m afraid of winding up with someone’s broken junk that I can’t get to work. I would like my difficulties in learning a new instrument to come from my own problems, not from the instrument itself.
What should I look for in a used autoharp? I don’t live near any music stores, so browsing is out. I see a lot of them on ebay, but I don’t know the difference between a little worn and really broken.