New harp issues

[ninagrace]

I just bought a new Dusty Strings Serrana harp from a small dealer. One of the legs was sticking a bit, but I could get it out just fine. However much I said it was fine, she insisted on having her son take a look at it. Well, not only did he not fix it, he scratched up the paint on the neck in the process. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s how it happened. No one including myself noticed it before that and he put it in the case so I didn’t see it until I got home. It was quite a drive that took two days to get there and back. There are two bright white marks front and center. It’s not the wood underneath, but it also won’t come off. Does anybody have any suggestions? I already called Dusty Strings and they couldn’t help.

I also noticed after I got home that one of the strings sounds very dead when the lever in engaged. Unfortunately it’s the E above middle C which means it’s almost always engaged. What can I do to fix it? It sounds terrible. It’s not buzzing. It’s just dead sounding with no ring to it whatsoever.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

(My camera flash is hiding the second mark, but it looks identical to the one you can see – just a bit smaller.)

[ninagrace]

Ack…it didn’t upload the picture. Sorry. I don’t know how to change that to make it work.

[Sara Prazenics]

I’m a bit confused. Is the mark on the sound board? On the legs?
Is the string a nylon string?
Have you contacted the dealer?

[ninagrace]

It’s on the neck just above the pillar
No one has been very helpful. My only option is to drive it all the way back which is another two days and a hotel room. I wish the picture uploaded. He put it so the front of the neck and pillar were facing down on the carpet and fiddled around with it for about 10 or 20 minutes, but it didn’t make the leg any better and I wasn’t worried about it anyway since I could get it out and wasn’t going to use it much regardless.

[ninagrace]

The strings are nylon. The lowest strings are wrapped, but that dead E is a nylon string. The rest sound fine with the levers engaged. It’s just that one. A few levers need regulating. They a bit off, changing the pitch by more than a half step, but that’s easily remedied. I just don’t know how to fix a dead sounding string/lever. They’re Loveland levers which some people aren’t fans of I know, but they seem fine mostly.

[charles-nix]

The dead string can be either string or lever. If a Loveland is not very firmly fastened to the neck, it will cause the string to be dead. Most people install them with a hex socket head machine screw, usually requiring a 5/64″ ball end hex driver to loosen/tighten. There are many other fasteners available now, so Dusty may have changed to something else.

Using the appropriate driver, tighten the screw fully. HARD. As hard as you can turn with the typical small handle driver, without bending the driver shank.

The other place Lovelands can be loose is the nut that tensions the handle movement. It must provide enough friction. The lever should be just shy of feeling hard to move. Lovelands do not flip easily and freely, like, for instance, Truitts. If they move that easily, they will be loose enough to absorb sound, and the string will be dead.

Much less likely, but worth a careful look are that the lever body is parallel with all the others, and that the groove in the handle exactly meets the string as it is moved without pushing the string sideways.

Loveland levers were the absolute best when they were developed 30?? years ago. Their design is surpassed by several other makers–some of whose levers cost 3-4 times as much. They are not as “transparent” when engaged as some of the others, but some others also have different design weaknesses. On a light tension (and budget-minded) instrument like the Serrana, they are perfectly fine.

If it is not the lever, there is the tiniest possibility it is a string flaw. Nylon strings used on most lever harps are extruded and used as they come from the extrusion die. (Pedal nylons are “rectified” or ground to more perfect consistent cylinder shapes, with “in-between” diameters available, and a more matte finish.)
Modern extrusion is very consistent in diameter, but one occasionally finds strings that ring false, trying to play more than one note, because of varying diameter along the length. If one of those varying places just happens to hit where the lever closes, I can imagine causing a dead string. But I think something loose on the lever is FAR more likely.

Regarding the finish, a photo is needed to tell for sure. If it is on the column, that looks like a piece of carbon fiber tubing. If it is bare tubing, a car wax/polish should take it off, unless it is a deep scratch. If it has finish sprayed on the tubing along with the wood of the harp, it can either be 1) a white mark _on top of_ the finish, or 2) an abrasion _of_ the finish layer itself, or 3) a dent/scratch/crackle _through_ the finish. Each cause requires a different method of repair.

Regarding lever regulation, IMHO, the harp should be delivered properly regulated, either by the factory, or by warranty service from the dealer. No regulation (or tuning) is perfect. But if the harp is very carefully tuned with all levers down, then checked with double octaves played (three strings spanning two octaves) up the scale, and it all sounds good, then you should be able to raise _all_ the levers, repeat the test with octaves, and those will all sound good as well. That requires all the levers to be accurate within about 1-2 cents, and is a “worst case” for checking regulation. Under normal use, if each lever raises the pitch within 3-4 cents of a semitone, you should be fine, and you probably shouldn’t try regulating further yourself.

[ninagrace]

Thank you VERY much Charles for your detailed and thoughtful response. I tried uploading a picture, but the file size was too big and I don’t know how to make it smaller. The damage is on the finish on the wood part of the neck – that burgundy lacquer Serranas come with. It doesn’t look like the wood underneath. It’s much too bright white to be wood, but won’t come off and I don’t want to be aggressive with it and make it worse. Dusty Strings can’t ship a tiny sample of lacquer due to shipping restrictions, but suggested getting a high-quality art marker that matches the color as closely as possible. I’m a portrait artist, so I’m fairly comfortable with doing that but before I tried it I wanted to check on here to see if anyone had a good solution they have tried that worked. There are also a few scratches on the carbon fiber pillar, but I can only see them in raking light. They’re there, but not hugely noticeable. Regardless, it’s all extremely frustrating.

As far as the levers and regulating them, I absolutely agree they should have been correct to begin with. I meant to bring a tuner to check and forgot it. Being so far from home I couldn’t go back and get one. This harp shop was in somebody’s home, not a music store. Anyway, I naively took it on faith that a new instrument would be fine so I didn’t worry about it once I realized I had left it behind. I should have asked to use one of theirs and I’m kicking myself.  Also kicking myself for capitulating  about “fixing” the leg which didn’t get fixed anyway. There is also a felt pad that goes around each leg and when he was messing with it, it fell off. When I got home I saw that it was missing and I contacted the seller who insisted he put it back on so it’s there – but it isn’t. I can clearly see both legs and there a pad on the one and not the other. I asked Dusty Strings if they would please send me one which I THINK they’re going to do. I ordered tools to adjust the levers along with a stand. Because those felt pads aren’t sold normally, the person I spoke with said he ought to be able to include one but no guarantees.

I also agree that if they’re just a bit off just to leave them alone. But there is at least one that is too off. The A above middle C. I have it tuned to E-flat major so when I tune that string to A flat and then engage the lever, every red light to the right of center is lit up and is just a single step or less from being into B-flat territory.

[charles-nix]

That’s disappointing to you for sure. Touching up finish is different depending on which of the three possibilities I mentioned is causing the mark. The easiest way to get a smaller photo is to take it originally in lower resolution, which you do on the phone’s camera settings. I’d suggest trying the highest resolution that will load. Surely 1280×768 or thereabouts is small enough.

Basically if it is _on_ the surface, you remove it with a solvent that won’t harm the finish. If it is an _abraded_ surface, you polish it out with wet fine sandpaper and polishing compound. If it is a _damaged/cracked_ surface, you either flood the cracked area with a new compatible finish, or refinish, or cover it over, such as with an art marker, or a shellac burn in stick in a matching color.

The scratches on the pillar can probably be removed by rubbing, maybe a lot, with a paste car wax that has a “cleaner” in it, which is actually a very fine abrasive polish. If the scratches are worse, automotive polishing compound (I use 3M from an auto body supply store) will work.

But don’t try anything on the neck scratch until you are sure of what it is. if the finish is cracked/damaged, polishing compound will lodge in the cracks and look even worse.

The other option is a professional harp regulator. Lever harps generally tend to run $180-$250 depending on the regulator and size of the harp. Some technicians would also possibly be able to repair the finish.

You mentioned lights on your tuner. Do not attempt any regulation with a tuner that relies on such a system, nor a needle. They are far, far too inaccurate. You need a true strobe tuner, which used to mean $400-$1000, that will indicate well below 1 c accurately and in a readable fashion. Fortunately, there is a low cost app for Android and Apple both that will do this, called Airyware Tuner. I have three of the expensive strobe tuners from years past, and they mostly sit unused; all of our tuners have switched to Airyware. If you’re going to regulate, download and pay for the Pro version (<$10 the last time I checked). You will want the “strobe” option turned on. Any of the “tunings” will be fine: Harp, Piano, any chromatic instrument. Watch the movement right or left of the strobe pattern in the background, which is much easier to interpret than the direct numerical readout to 0.1c.

[ninagrace]

Thank you Charles! You are a wealth of information! I’ll download the tuner app you recommend today or tomorrow. I’m a bit sick today so I might wait until tomorrow.

The damage looks like it’s on the surface
There isn’t a dent or anything like that and I will definitely try the car wax trick on the carbon fiber pillar!

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