Pedal harp strings: Savarez or Bow?

[Bonnie Shaljean]

Carl, I thought they’d allowed for that in their gauging, which is supposed to be slightly thinner to compensate. Anyway, I have used the composites for ten to fifteen years or more, on: a newish concert harp (about 6 years old, so obviously not 10+ years for that one), a Pilgrim pedal harp made in the mid-80s, an oldish Lyon & Healy made in the mid-60s (which has had Savarez on it for 15 years); plus a number of lever harps, one of which is pretty frail but has been strung this way since the mid-to-late 90s (like the Lyon-Healy) and is not moving at all. Trust me, all these harps are fine. I do not, however, use it on my 1837 Erard Grecian (original board), because it’s out of period and I also have that one strung much more lightly, in gut.

Anyway, I’m under the impression that they had calculated and allowed for thickness-vs-tension issue, but can’t supply chapter & verse at the moment. I most certainly DID take this factor into account, however.

[Tacye]

I haven’t yet used most of the spare BB strings I bought recently so realise it would be a good idea to label the packets just incase I do have a duff one in there. (Hi Bonnie, I don’t have anything to add UK wise.)

As for the string choices, my pedal harp only has one Savarez KF on it – the 5th A was just a bit too tubby for my preference, but I didn’t want to go as bright as wire, which some harpists use. I attribute a lot of this to the thickness of the string, which makes it stiffer to bend and is why low monofilament nylon sounds so dire.

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I find the Pirastro nylon strings to be more durable, to have a pleasing surface texture and they react pretty well to weather. They also come up to pitch faster when you put them on. D’Addario strings are fine, but these are a bit better. Most of them come in double or triple length or more, so it makes up for the cost. I used to get them in heavy gauge, which meant a string could last for two years. They are not too bright in tone, have very pure, liquid harmonics that linger nicely. They sustain very well and are extremely responsive to touch, far more than gut strings. I really hate to hear gut strings above the third octave now, it mutes the harp, the harmonics are poor in quality, and the notes don’t sustain, which means the entire balance of the instrument is shifted to the bass.
If I want a gut-string tone on these nylons, I only have to play lower on the string with a sharp attack. I have tried gut strings, and it mutes my harp. The least-noticable place to switch from gut to nylon has turned out to be between 4th octave d and e. Going up, it is not noticeable at all. If prices continue to rise, I will probably go lower with the nylon, out of necessity. Note that I only use silver and copper wire strings, so I have full brilliance in the bass. The colored strings are just not acceptable.
So, the last thing about the Pirastro strings is that they are just a tiny bit thicker, and so they last longer and have more body to their tone and response.

[paul-knoke]

In an earlier post, I said that I had recently restrung a customer’s harp with Savarez gut strings. I learned today that, under professional use, all the Savarez strings are unraveling and fraying badly. They lasted less than a month. Unfortunately, Savarez does not have a policy of replacing defective strings.

In better news, it appears that the latest batch of Bow Brand strings is back to their usual quality.

[Bonnie Shaljean]

Can anybody tell me when the Bow Brand problem started? I haven’t bought any very lately, but am now regarding my spare string packets with cold suspicion and wondering which of them contain time bombs. How long did the defective period go on for?

[Saul Davis Zlatkovski]

I guess you’ll find out by using them.

[Bonnie Shaljean]

Yes, I guess so too. But it would actually be more helpful if I could get some idea before that becomes necessary – which means a timeframe to judge whether they’re likely to be faulty or not – so I can get onto the shop and arrange to return them against credit if need be. I would prefer to avert the problem rather than just lose out. And it will be easier to do that with UNused strings.

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