About me

Hi... Jamie here, owner & operator of The Harp Dude

Originally from Birkenhead, England, i now live in rural Victoria, Australia

After travelling the world for many years & picking up various skills along the way (& my wife)... We decided to settle here in Victoria, Australia...

Less than 2 years went by & we were to find ourselves burnout in the Black Saturday Bushfires left with nothing but each other...

After struggling for a few years to rebuild & maintain our craft business, which we ran together successfully for several years before the fires,

we both decided we'd had enough & we would each try something new...

So one day i found a cheap Harp in an op-shop & there started my journey as The Harp Dude...

I bought a couple of blues harps & immediately noticed the difference in the sound quality

I was hooked...

I was lucky to stumble upon a huge collection of harps, of many brands & models, from a deceased estate & thus my apprenticeship began

It was intensely absorbing work & therapeutic too, taking an old gunked up, beaten up harp & restoring it to almost new

I started doing repairs for local players & got some great feedback

So i decided i would make a small business & see how my efforts might be rewarded selling my wares at local markets & fairs

To my surprise things went pretty well from the start & i suppose the rest is history

I now have a range of vintage harp's fitted with my own Australian hardwood combs which i developed after looking at the problems

found in standard wooden combs

I also have brand new out of the box hohner  harps 

All of my harps old & new go through a standard set of improvements to create a harp with superior airtightness & playability,

comfortable in the hand & expressive warm tone

I would like to offer options towards a complete custom harp, whatever plates, covers, comb you would like, i will build it

 

The Harp Dude endeavours to assist the music makers, to keep on making music...
All Repairs, Restoration, Cleaning, Tuning & any other works, undertaken for Diatonic & Chromatic Harmonicas...

Service includes:
All parts cleaned & sterilized with eco friendly products
Tuning check or retune to alternative tuning
One free reed replacement, $10 each for extra reeds

Use the Contact form for pricing include brand & model

Optimization/Customization
Flat sanding & sealing of comb
Embossing
Reed profiling
Nail replacement with ss screws
Replacement handmade Australian hardwood combs
Use the Contact form for pricing include brand & model

I also have restored/recycled old harp's for sale
These all have a standard set of adjustments
Flat sanded & sealed comb or replacement hardwood comb
Flat sanded draw reed plate
Basic optimization reed work
Just Intonation Tuned
If your looking for something or trying to get hold of a certain harp use the contact form let me know what brand & model

& how you would like it set up & i'll see what i can do


Alternative tunings available

Every Saturday at St.Andrews Market, St.Andrews, Victoria, Australia
Every Sunday at The Arts Centre Market, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
all IS good...

Peace & Love...

The Harp Dude