Changing bass wires

[Donna O]

Sonya, below is a link to a very useful site on how to change wire strings. I used it to change my wires the first time I did it and did not have any problems. I was terrified to even start at first. Go slow and wear eye protection. I think it took me about 3 hours the first time. Remember the cut ends of the wires can scratch your harp so be careful with them. Hope this is helpful. Actually once you loosen the string you can use a good wire cutter and cut the string near just below the bridge pins.

http://www.harptech.com/Articles/Strings/Strings.html

[Andelin]

Sonya,

I was a little nervous at first too, since I had never changed them either. :). There are a few good youtube videos that show how to change the wire strings. Watching them a few times helped me feel more confident. Changing them was actually not as hard as I thought.

Be sure to cut off the top end of the old string (after it is unwound) so you aren’t trying to pull the bent part through the soundboard. You will need more than plain scissors to cut them. The guy who does “harp Tuesday” has a fancy tool he uses but I just used something like this: http://t.harborfreight.com/7-inch-diagonal-cutter-40699.html

Good luck, And let us know how it goes. 🙂

[balfour-knight]

Thanks, Donna and Andelin! I was too busy to get on line until now, so I just found your posts. Those are all wonderful tips. One more–be sure to start with the highest, thinnest diameter wire string, which is the easiest one. Just take the old ones off one at a time and install the new ones the same way, so that only one is off the harp at any one time. This is better for the entire wood frame of the harp, as Biagio said, less warping and flexing of the soundboard, etc. As you work down, your “learning curve” gets better so you can deal with the longer, thicker wires. If this is a pedal harp, the lowest strings can be more dangerous, like coiled snakes, my sweet wife said! (I do get her to help me hold the loose ends of the strings to keep them corralled.) Do wear eye protection, and rubber gloves would also help. I have the scratched fingers to prove it, ha, ha!

Good luck, Sonya! Those videos are great, too.

Best to all of you,
Balfour

[Gretchen Cover]

Sonya, you do not have to change your bass wires prior to a harp regulation. The gut/nylon strings must be changed at least two weeks prior to a regulation, that is, if they really do need to be changed. Harps don’t need new strings to be regulated. I had the harp tech change the wires when I had my harps regulated. I bought the wire strings prior to the regulation but some techs provide them. If you can change the wire strings yourself, bravo. I took the easy way out:)

[Sonya Wiley]

THANKS to everyone for your tips and advice, i will check out the videos!

[Sylvia]

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=changing%20a%20wire%20harp%20string

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