Do they break often? Are they difficult to change?

Although not a common occurrence, pedal springs can break at the most inopportune times. Having a back-up isn’t a bad idea. You don’t need an entire set of seven springs, but one left and one right could prove useful. They don’t take up a whole lot of room in your gig bag, they’re lightweight, and they offer peace of mind when you’re in a pinch. Warning: Pedal springs exert a tremendous amount of force and you should be trained by a technician for the correct way to install them.

This has happened to me at a gig at least twice! After the first time, I started carrying a right and left pedal spring in my gig bag. Now, if I suddenly find a pedal isn’t working, I keep my fingers crossed that it’s a spring (quickly repaired) and not a rod (a real pain). You still have to take the base off the harp, so take the harp somewhere that you can lay it down. It isn’t easy to pop a spring into place, especially if you have small hands. I have to use pliers, as the springs are very stiff. You’ll need to be careful, but it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to get you up and working again. 

You are at a gig and a pedal spring breaks. Really? Are you sure it broke? It might have popped out of the “pedal spring stud.” One end of the spring attaches to the pedal lever and the other to the stud. In either case you have practiced changing out a spring. You did practice, right? I do not mean to scare you too much, but it is just as likely the pedal spring studs can also break, in which case only a technician can make the repair. Pedal springs fail only after decades of fatigue. If your harp is less than 40 years old, it is highly unlikely for a spring to fail. In my personal experience with springs, it’s the ones 60-plus years on that worry me. 

Okay, okay, so the B spring broke, you have a left pedal spring, a pair of pliers, gloves, safety glasses, and have practiced installing a spring. Will the event be halfway or almost over when you finally get the repair done? To complicate this more, every spring has a secret adjustment made by the regulator when installing it. This adjustment keeps the pedal biased inward to the notches. A spring off the shelf has a strong tendency to bias the pedal to the flat position—it does not like to stay in sharp. So no, I do not think carrying a right and a left pedal spring is worth it. 

To prepare for the unexpected and for a deeper understanding of your harp, I suggest you do a YouTube search on “Harp Doctor Peter Wiley.” One of the videos on my channel discusses changing a pedal spring. They are tricky! •

I recommend Carl Swanson’s book, A Guide for Harpists. Chapter 10 explains how to replace a pedal spring. If you are familiar with this in advance, you’ll know what to do if the problem should arise.