Broken metal ring

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This topic has 6 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 5 months ago by r-pista.

Viewing 7 posts - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

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August 29, 2009 at 7:38 pm #75291

isaac Brooks
Participant

I have a Venus 44-string harp, and this Friday the D below middle C sounded really flat, which never happened that low an octave. When I came back later the string had broken right where it exits the soundboard. The metal ring around the wood there is broken, so that the string was leaning on the bare wood.

Looking over the harp, there are a lot of other places where strings are frayed right there at the bottom, mostly with the lower gut strings. One of the other metal rings looks like it’s broken, but it hasn’t come apart yet.

How bad is this? I live in Israel, so harp technicians aren’t exactly around the block.

September 2, 2009 at 10:23 pm #75292

barbara-low
Participant

Well, I know it’s not good for the string to be resting on the wood. The metal eyelets that are broken/cracked should be replaced. You may want to contact Venus and let them know what’s going on with your harp and the strings. Hopefully they can send you replacement parts and offer suggestions on how you or a skilled luthier can replace them.

October 25, 2009 at 12:11 am #75293

isaac Brooks
Participant

Wow! Venus was incredible. Just based on having seen this thread, they contacted me, and offered to send me a whole set of grommets (as the rings are apparently called) at no charge! All the way to Israel! It seems grommets used to be simply brass, but they now make them gold-coated, and my humid climate could be causing problems.

I just feel a need to write this, in case someone gets a bad impression of Venus from the first post. I would never have dreamed that they would search me out to help.

October 26, 2009 at 11:59 pm #75294

barbara-low
Participant

Glad to hear of the excellent service you received from Venus. Grommets/eyelets break on all brands of harps, so your experience isn’t unusual. I’ve got one that’s splitting that needs some attention.

October 27, 2009 at 2:20 am #75295

Dwyn .
Participant

My 44 string Venus Cherub has nylon inlays for the bass wires and nylon grommets for all the other strings.

October 27, 2009 at 1:26 pm #75296

bernhard-schmidt
Participant

Brass grommets brake easy…I believe it is not the best solution.

Regards

November 13, 2009 at 1:32 am #75297

r-pista
Participant

I recently had the same experience with a LH 85 belonging to my orchestra.

This can sometimes occur from consistently tuning to high (unfortunately starting pitch in my orch. is 442) which puts a lot of tension on the eyelets and soundboard. The replacement parts are very inexpensive and you should be able to put them on yourself. I’ve never had a problem with my 30 which has plastic eyelets where the strings enter.
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