Lever harp strings

[Jennifer Erickson]

I heard somewhere that on a lever harp you are supposed to use the type of string it was designed for. If you don’t the harp can be damaged. How can it be damaged, in what way? My lever harp was originally designed with nylon in the second octave but when

[barbara-brundage]

What people mean is that you should use strings okayed by the maker. Lever harp strings are not standardized at all, not like pedal harps. Some harps use pedal harp strings, some use much lighter stringing than that. It’s not so much a question of gut v. nylon as that you can damage a harp by putting, say, pedal harp strings on a harp not designed to cope with that much pull.

In your case I think you have a harp that uses pedal strings, right? A L&H, wasn’t it? No worries about damage in that case.

[dave-lynch]

The particular overall string tension and feel is part of the design criteria of the harp.

[Author]

Posts