Bass Wire Dilemma!

[rel]

Hello there,

A few months ago, I took the pedal harp plunge and purchased an L&H 85 GP from one of my teacher’s old students. Shortly thereafter I had it regulated and all looked good, but the technician recommended I replace the bass wires. My teacher wanted to show me how to do it myself, so we started at the bottom (7th octave D). Three hours later, we still couldn’t get the wire out. Turns out, the wrapping had embedded itself in the hole. After a long and stressful journey, we FINALLY got the wire out, but couldn’t get the new wire in! I connected with the technician who said it would likely take some wiggling, but if the wire could fit cleanly through the front of the soundboard (it could) it should be able to come up through the back. Fast forward to today, with much wiggling, I was able to get the new wire in. Hurray! BUT after pulling it all the way through, the wire is too short… I included a pic for reference, but basically it barely makes it through the tuning pin, even with the cotton washers pulled all the way flush to the inside of the soundboard. I watched a few YouTube videos, all of which emphasized the importance of leaving plenty of slack before you start twisting the wire, so I’m hesitant to try tightening it. Part of me is hoping that this is normal for 7th octave wires…

Has anyone had this problem? Is it possible I have a faulty wire? Any help is GREATLY appreciated. Let’s just say I’ll be leaving wire changes to the pros next time around…

Thank you in advance!

Best,
Ari

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[catherine-rogers]

I would definitely have your teacher take a look at this. Perhaps the wrong wire was put in that package; compare its diameter to the adjacent E. They should be very close in width/gauge. If the wire really is too short to use (which your photo indicates), you should return it to the vendor (I would call them first; you may not be the only customer with this problem). There should be 4 to 6 inches of wire past the tuning pin when it passes through the hole (before winding it on).

[charles-nix]

Not normal at all. Yes, you need slack–enough for two to three turns around the pin depending on how deeply the pin is set. That’s probably about the width of three or four fingers.

I’m curious why the wire was so hard to get out. Is the nylon button in place in the soundboard?

But to the wire, I wonder if the very old 7D wire package actually has a 7E or 7G wire repackaged in it somewhere along the line. There should be plenty of wire in excess–maybe 6-8 inches. Can you lay a piece of the old 7D next to it and see if they are the same diameter?

And a wire change shouldn’t be a big deal. The toughest part for most people is finding a tool hard enough to cut the excess wire off close to the pin without leaving a razor ready to slice a finger or a cover.

[rel]

Thank you both so much!

Charles, I took your advice and upon further inspection realized that the wire had a narrower diameter than that of the old 7D lying next to it, which leads me to believe it was the wrong string in the package. It was a pretty old one that I believe my teacher has had around for some time, so maybe that has something to do with it? Still strange, though.

As for why the string was so hard to get out, we think the wire wrapping on it had become lodged in the hole. The nylon button seems to be in place. The only way we were able to get the old wire out was by cutting the string and leaving about 4 inches poking out of the soundboard, then unwrapping the thinner wire exterior until it was unwrapped all the way to the soundboard, at which point we could wiggle the embedded portion out. My teacher said she’s never seen anything like it in a lifetime of harping, though the tech who we FaceTimed said it’s not unheard of.

Between that and the weird short wire, things have been pretty wacky for my 7D, ha!

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