Pedal Harp String Spacing?

[John Leclerc]

Got this from L&H west.
We sell and distribute the eyelets for Lyon and Healy Harps through our shop in Utah.

We have stainless steel eyelets – which look brass in color, and we also have the Nylon Dots for the bass wire notes.

The eyelets we have come in 3 sizes and are $3/each.

$3ea, kidding right.

[balfour-knight]

John, I just checked on Robinson’s Harp Shop. It says 0.55 doz. in brass, sm, med, large, and ex large. The brass-plated steel ex large ones are 0.75 doz. L&H must be mistaken about the huge price of theirs! Even $3. doz would be high!

Since you now know that L&H uses nylon dots, you could get that length of nylon rod you told us about earlier, and just make your own, like the 6 you already have. Too bad you don’t have 7 of them!

Concerning how many eyelets of each size you need, I would suggest the following for your 33 gut/nylon strings: use sm, med, and large. Starting at the top end of the harp, I would use 11 sm, then 11 med, and finally 11 large. I think the ex large would only be used if you did not have the dots. Indeed, you could install ONE ex large eyelet for your top wire string, number 34 going down. If you used the brass-plated steel, this eyelet would be strong enough for the smallest wire string on a pedal harp, the note G in the “5th Octave.” The solid brass is softer than the steel, and the wire string might pull through it, or break it.

If Carl Swanson is reading this, or any other knowledgeable harp builder, please let us know if I am wrong about these eyelets!

John, I hope this helps. My very best wishes to you,
Balfour

[balfour-knight]

John, here are some pedal harp string gauges in inches, not millimeters!

Top E–.022 “First Octave E”
2nd oct. E–.030
3rd oct. E–.039
4th oct. E–.053
5th oct. E–.075
Lowest gut string, 5th oct. A–.091

On pedal harps, each string is a different gauge. Let me know if you need these sizes for your other strings. I would use nylon strings for the top 2 or 3 octaves, then use gut for the 4th and 5th octaves. The actual diameters of the wire wrapped strings are smaller than the large gut strings! There is a big difference between gut 5th oct. A and the next note down, G in wire!

[John Leclerc]

Good info thanks
I found a site on the net that has all the eyelets cheap! they have a eyelet guide and explains all the dimensions, very helpful .
Will reuse dots I have and buy nylon rod for 7th one.
https://www.rcfastener.com/documents/StimpsonEyelet_Online.pdf

[John Leclerc]

Just got off the phone with Phyllis Robinson in San Diego, told her the story on this harp and we had lots of laughs lol, she is sending the 33 eyelets in different sizes for free! is that nice or what!
would not accept any money.
So next will find a piece of nylon rod 10mm round, should be easy.
Getting closer to being done!
As far as the stings ,before I buy any, will put the soundboard under tension using weed trimmer line, fishing string etc, I even have a bunch of strings in a package that came with Clark harp. make sure it can hold up.

[John Leclerc]

Found the 3/8 nylon rod online, $1.47 for a foot of it lol.
Also bought a Forstner drill bit for cutting precise clean holes for inlay dots $8.47
Not bad!

[balfour-knight]

John, I thought Robinson’s Harp Shop was the way to go. They have always been so nice to deal with, and also their associates–Vermont Strings and North Shore Strings. We are so glad for you!

I only wish that they could provide pedal harp strings! They have all the gauges of nylon strings that lever harps use, but since each string on the pedal harp is a different gauge, they don’t supply enough different sizes. For example, here are the gauges of the First Octave pedal harp strings:
E–.022
D–.023
C–.025 Red
B–.025
A–.026
G–.027
F–.029 Black
Notice that occasionally, two are the same gauge, like C and B above. Robinson’s could supply .022, .025, .028, etc., but not the other required sizes for this octave of strings. It is the same for the other octaves, unfortunately.

When you try the weed trimmer, fishing line, etc., see if the gauges are close to the ones I posted for you, and you and your son can tune them to the approximate correct notes to check out the tension. From what I have seen in your videos, I think your soundboard will indeed be strong enough to support pedal harp tension, but to be on the safe side, you could always go with lever-gauge, as we have said before. The only way you will know for certain is with actual harp strings, though. I know they are expensive, but that is something we harpists have to accept. Even fine guitar and violin strings can cost plenty!

I looked at that website–Stimpson Eyelets. I had no idea there were so many different sizes and kinds of eyelets–wow! Glad Robinson’s came through for you, because I would not know what to order from Stimpson–so many choices, ha, ha!

Harp Hugs,
Balfour (and Carol Lynn)

[balfour-knight]

That’s great about getting the nylon rod and Forstner drill bit! I love my Forstners, and they drill flat-bottom holes when you need them. Good going, John!

[balfour-knight]

So glad your son can get the harp strings, John. Standard pedal harp strings are easier to find than lever harp gauge strings, I have found. For example, the Atlanta Harp Center sells D’Addario nylon and bass wire strings for pedal harps, but not in lever gauge! However, they also sell Premier Gut strings which can be had in pedal gauge and also in lever gauge. I recommend these for their pure tone and long lasting ability. They are expensive, but they come in long lengths, enough to make two strings in the higher octaves. You will see that the 5 strings in the 5th octave are the most expensive, but they last for many years.

Good luck with all this,
Balfour

[John Leclerc]

Question on dot inlays? why only on 7 bass strings? on my 1920’s Clark harp all strings have inlay dots not eyelet’s what would happen if I used dots for all strings? Video #12

• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by John Leclerc.

[John Leclerc]

In the meantime I found this unusual instrument, who knew?

• This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by John Leclerc.

[balfour-knight]

John, I don’t know of any reason that you could not use dots on all the strings. I guess the pedal harp makers think the smaller eyelets just look better going up to the top of the harp!

[balfour-knight]

John, I watched your most recent video and you are on the RIGHT TRACK! I see exactly why you want to use the dots for all 40 strings. You can use the Forstner 3/8″ bit to correct where the small holes are out of line. You would not be able to do this with the small eyelets. The 3/8″ holes will be large enough to completely eradicate the small holes which are out of line. Bravo for figuring this out!

I also enjoyed seeing the other video about the harp guitar! Cool instrument!

Best wishes and harp hugs,
Balfour

[John Leclerc]

Thanks feel better doing it this way , would have been a lot easier if I would have had the right template in the first place , at least it will be strong!
Now to cut 40 dots and shape them correctly, fun.

[balfour-knight]

John, I was going to ask “are you having fun yet?” ha, ha! Working on musical instruments has always been very rewarding to me, so I hope you experience that with this project. I wish I could be there to play and hear that harp after you get it all strung up and finished! NC and CA are just too far from each other!

[Author]

Posts