Loose rivets??? on pedals

[marti-hall-powers]

Any of you who have had this problem, please tell me what you did about it.

The section of the pedal that flips up when the harp is being moved is loose on

both my harps and so it flops up and down if you happen to hit it a certain way.

I have been told this is a rivet problem and can only be fixed by the harp

manufacturer.

[dawn-penland]

I can tighten mine with an allen wrench.

[carl-swanson]

Marti- the brass pedal on harps older than 20 years or so is held to the steel pedal bar by means of a large bronze rivet. The rivet is inserted and then the two ends are mashed out to lock the rivet into place. Over time they seem to get either too loose or too tight.

The fix is to have a qualified repairman remove all the pedals from the instrument, drill out the bronze rivet, and use a nut and bolt system where you can control how tight or loose the nut holds the pedal. I do this repair on a regular basis. After I have removed the bronze rivet I coat the hole with graphite grease before inserting the bolt. This system works very well.

[carl-swanson]

Dawn- yours are the newer kind that can be adjusted. You have to be very careful not to over-tighten them or the bolt will snap. That’s because one half of the piece, which threads into the other, is very thin and can easily break. Your teacher has the old type on hers. The bolts that I had made for my harps and which I use to fix other makes of harps are much sturdier and would take a lot of work to break.

[andy-b]

What brand of harp do you have, Marti? On Camacs, you can adjust this with a flat-head

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