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Harp Care Advice
Advice on caring for your harp with information about storage, tuning, repair and general maintenance.
How Should I Store My Harp?
Always store you instrument out of direct sunlight, which could cause damage to the polishwork and soundboard, as well as possible warping of the column.
You should also protect your harp from extremes of cold or heat, the former of which may cause moisture in the wood to freeze. To prevent heat damage, we recommend that you store your instrument away from radiators and other heat sources.
Finally, to prevent accidental knocks or scrapes occuring, you should place your harp out of the direct line of traffic, preferrably in a protected corner.
How Should I Transport My Harp?
If you plan to transport your harp, we recommend that you protect it with heavy duty covers during transit and take care to move it gently, avoiding any sharp knocks. You should also take care when moving a folk harp to ensure that you lift it rather than drag it along the floor, as the latter action may break its legs.
In addition, when laying your harp in the car, always see that the mechanism discs or levers face upwards with no weight on them.
Finally, to protect from extremes in temperature, ensure that you do not leave your instrument in an overheated car during the day or in a freezing cold one at night.
How Do I Adjust the Mechanism of My Lever Harp?
Folk harps employ either butter knife blades, hooks or semi-tone levers as transposing mechanisms. These may be adjusted if lack of pressure on a string is causing buzzing.
The semi-tone lever acts in a similar way to the butter knife blade but has the addition of a semi-tone post, which may be bent towards the string.
See the picture below for an example of semi-tone levers on a folk harp.
It is advisable with folk harps to turn the blades, hooks or levers into the open position when the harp is not is use to
prevent constant pressure on the blade or lever.
Adjusting Butter Knife Blades on a Lever Harp
Adjusting blades and hooks involves bending them fractionally towards the string. Do this with great care, however, as old brass becomes brittle and will snap very easily.
See the picture on the left
for an example of butter knife blades on a folk harp.
Adjusting Semi-Tone Levers on a Lever Harp
The semi-tone lever acts in a similar way to the butter knife blade but has the addition of a semi-tone post, which may be bent towards the string.
See the picture to the right for an example of semi-tone levers on a folk harp.
It is advisable with folk harps to turn the blades, hooks or levers into the open position when the harp is not is use to prevent constant pressure on the blade or lever.
How Do I Adjust the Mechanism of My Pedal Harp?
Mechanism adjustments of pedal harps will depend on the style of the instrument. In fact, some pedal harp mechanisms require very little regular adjustment.
For general care and maintainance, however, we always advise annual servicing by a qualified technician.
Adjusting Old Erard Harps
Discs on old Gothic and Grecian harps are not adjustable with a screw and are instead only adjustable by altering the length of the rods and shimming the discs.
N.B: Do not bend the forks as they are liable to snap. If in any doubt, contact us for advice.
Adjusting Modern Concert Harps
The mechanism of a pedal harp is very reliable and will not require as much attention as that of a folk harp. It is advisable, however, to check every few months that the forks are screwed in tightly to the discs as they will be prone to snapping if they have worked loose. Also check that the disc screws are tight, to maintain the regulation of the harp.
If buzzes occur in the natural or sharp positions, check the position of the forks on the string and, if necessary, slacken the screw and turn the disc to increase the pressure of the forks on the string.
It is important to remember that if too much pressure is applied not only will the vibration of the adjusted note be wrong, but also the regulation of the subsequent octaves will be put out and buzzes further up the instrument will probably occur.
See the image of harp discs above. Only the disc in the middle is correct, the discs on the left and right are both
wrong.
Changing Pedal Harps Disks
All disk sizes are different, so you need to state the harp model, the note and the position of the disk (natural or sharp) when ordering.
How to change a disk:
1) Slightly slacken the string so it is not in the way of the disk.
2) Make a note of the rough position / angle of the disk pins.
3) Unscrew small the black screw in the centre of the disk.
4) Unscrew the disk - it is threaded onto a shaft that connects
to the action links.
5) Screw the new disk on as far as it will go by hand, then wind back until the
pins line up with the original position.
6) Screw in the small black screw; this will lock the disk in position.
7) Try to see if the disk is correctly regulated - if the disk is too loose, it
will not pinch the string resulting in buzzing and untrue semitones - if too tight,
then extra pressure is placed on the disk pins and notes may be over-sharpened.
8) You only need to rotate the disk by a few degrees to make a big
difference.
How Should I Take Care of My Harp's Pedals?
First, when the harp is not in use, make sure that the pedals are all left in the flat position with all the strings in the open position. If this is not done, unnecessary force will be put on the disc and they will become more prone to breaking.
If transporting the harp at any time, take care that the pedals do not get bent in transit.
Be aware that if pedal felts become worn, buzzes will appear in the natural and sharp positions. This is due to the rods becoming effectively lengthened and therefore not turning the disc forks on as far as they should.
To Re-Cover Pedals
In order to re-cover the pedals, it is necessary to remove the pedal box (the tuning key should fit the protruding nuts). If you do not have access to a vice it will be necessary to have the assistance of someone to help lie the harp down on the floor, preferably on carpet, resting on the column and to hold the harp steady while the pedals are re-covered.
Once the harp is in position as described, cut off the old felt with a razor blade and place a small wood block under each pedal in turn and follow the diagrams to the right. As you face the bottom of the harp, start the binding on the left side of the pedal arm, from underneath, then continue on to the right side and repeat. The felt should come over the top three times and be glued on the fourth. Make sure the binding is tight. Animal glue is the most satisfactory glue for this but contact glue such as Evostick will also suffice. Make sure that gluing instructions are adhered to. Cut off excess felt and shave the edge to remove the step using a razor blade.
Remove the blocks and refit the pedal box starting at one end and fitting one pedal at a time. Make sure that the bolts are tight, but do not over-tighten. If the thickness of the felts replaced are the same as the originals there should be no need to adjust or regulate the instrument. The felt should be hard wearing as soft materials compress and will alter the regulation. It is also important that the felt is cross-stitched.
Supplies Available For Re-Covering Pedals
Clive Morley Harps offers seven lengths of special harp felt for the re-covering of pedals and also a single length special hardwearing Teflon transparent tape (which will extend the working life of pedal wrapping) for £15.00 plus postage and handling.
Please contact us for more information.
How Should I Clean My Harp?
For the brass action work, only dust. Never use polish, as frequent polishing will gradually remover the lacquer.
On the casework, a domestic polish may be used in small quantities.
Clean any grease marks off the soundboard and remember that sunlight (see How should I store my harp?) can damage the harp's polish and cause discolouration.