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Cautionary Tale – Broken Tuning Pin

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Home Forums Harps and Accessories Cautionary Tale – Broken Tuning Pin

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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  • #73206
    martin-solomon
    Participant

    What a shock – this morning I tried tuning my low F (6th octave) on my Camac Melusine, and the metal pin snapped off!

    Luckily, Telynau Vining Harps in Cardiff, Wales, rescued me on the phone – I had to bash the jammed-in piece of broken tuning pin very hard with a hammer until it came out – very scary.

    If anyone has a stiff-feeling tuning-pin, then DON’T just leave it like I did. Instead you should loosen it by turning it back and forth a bit with the tuning key while at the same time pulling the pin OUT ie towards the tuning key,

    Bear in mind that I am no expert and I may not have explained it very well. Also, I think the above only applies to tapered pins – I believe that threaded pins behave differently as they are not held in just by friction.

    Martin Solomon

    martin@martinsolomon.com

    Bristol

    UK

    #73207
    catherine-rogers
    Participant

    So sorry that happened, Martin. A few years ago a couple harpists in my area had tuning pins that were breaking when they tuned (the same one more than once). These were on bass wires. It turned out they were putting on the wrong gauge wire (too thick), not their mistake but because the wrong wire was in the package. That is probably not what happened to your harp but that was the first time we’d heard of that.

    #73208
    jessica-wolff
    Participant

    I had a tuning pin break when my brother helpfully attempted to turn it against its wishes. The tuning pins were rusted and wouldn’t move. The tuning pin was eventually replaced (and all the other pins derusted) and the harp technician remarked, “Boy! Your brother must be a pretty strong guy!”

    #73209
    carl-swanson
    Participant

    Martin- Your explanation of what to do is just fine. The tuning pins are tapered, with the small end sticking out of the neck on the string side. Sometimes rust can make them get too tight. Sometimes climate changes- expansion and contraction of the wood-can make them too tight. In all cases, if the pin is hard to turn, then back it out the way you describe. You can back it out and then push it in a little to adjust the amount of “hold” the pin has. If it’s in really tight, you may have to take a hammer and hammer the small end of the pin(where the string is) to push the pin back thereby loosening it.

    #73210
    Miriam Shilling
    Participant

    I’m always afraid of things like this happening while on a job.

    #73211
    louise-vickerman
    Participant

    Same thing happened to me a few years ago while I was tuning the 6th Oct F on my Salvi at work, snapped right off! I kept the tuning key with the permanently wedged in end of the tuning pin as a souvenir of my other-worldly strength that day! Luckily my stage manager & his well stocked tool box was able to extract the broken pin without further incident!

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