[Harp-L] What to do with a Bahnson Overblow Harp?

[Björn Giesler <bjoern@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

I just resubscribed after a long absence from Harp-L and harps. So  
hello everybody, I'm Björn from Germany, and a funny thing happened  
to me today.

I can't believe my luck -- I just bought a Bahnson Overblow harp from  
a local dealer. And really cheap, too!

He had no idea what he was selling (told me that the previous store  
owner bought it and the thing had been gathering dust for a couple of  
years on the shelf), and I had no idea what I was buying but I was  
pretty certain I'd never seen a Golden Melody with a slider. Of  
course, they didn't let me test the harp at the store so I wasn't  
sure what the slider did. He ended up offering it to me for less than  
a new Golden Melody costs since it was obviously "an antique". Well,  
I got home and looked on the net and figured out I have a Bahnson.  
Hooray!!

Now that I have it, though, I'm wondering what I should do with it.  
Should I play it, leave it on the shelf, or even sell it to a  
collector? Plays like a dream, by the way -- super airtight, loud,  
full tone. But I've read somewhere that due to the slider possibly  
snagging with the reeds, these things are easy to break. How much of  
a value would I risk breaking if I played it? What do you guys think?

Regards,
Björn