Regulation after replacing pedal leathers

[jaydg]

Hi, me again 😉

I think the mum of the student whose 4 yr old Pilgrim Malvern I’ve recently bought, must have been mistaken about it having been regulated in the summer. At any rate, the pedal ‘felts’ weren’t done.

So I have two problems.

1. I struggle to notch the G# from my playing position (which I have tried altering, re height and distance). I can just do it if I stand up. The A# is difficult, but not quite as bad.

However, the leather on the A pedal has now torn. So I can’t use it at all.

I can buy the same rubber/leather ‘felts’ from Pilgrim (eek, the cost!), but after I fit them, they’ll be less compressed, so making the G# even harder to get?

So then will I need to adjust something else? Where the rod attaches to the pedal? At the moment the harp tuning is fine. Can the springs be adjusted to be less strong?

(I’ve ordered Carl Swanson’s book, but it’ll be a while til it comes).

I’m about 5 hours from Pilgrim Harps, and the ‘harp doctor’ who travels is apparently in Stockholm at the moment.

Any help much appreciated. Thanks.

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[charles-nix]

Hard to say without seeing the harp–but was the string “noise” you mention in another post on Gs. Because it sounds to me like the G and A mechanisms are having to overly stretch the lower wires at the sharp disc. Perhaps this is to get the pitches on those strings sharp enough to be in regulation.

Appreciably bending a bass wire will make for a pedal hard to notch right at the last. The harp also could be badly regulated, or not have the rod (overmotion/undermotion) adjustment done at all–and that should be the first thing done in a regulation after felt/leather replacement.

If the leather/rubbers were fine, there is no reason to expect the regulator to replace them–or the customer may not have wanted them included. On my harp, which is felt, I only replace the felts if I see enough wear that I don’t think they will make it to the next regulation. Replacing the felt (or leather) immediately means much more work regulating, which will not last, because it will change as the felt (or leather) packs in.

Do you have undermotion/overmotion? You say the “tuning” is fine. But how is the “regulation”? If you tune notes in Cb major, then change to C# major, is the harp still “in tune”?

While waiting on Carl’s book, you can find other resources of past articles from Harp Column on Mike Lewis’ website harptech.com tabbed Articles Past.

Nearly everything you touch to adjust on a harp will change something else–so you need to understand what to do and why before you start.

[jaydg]

‘You say the “tuning” is fine. But how is the “regulation”? If you tune notes in Cb major, then change to C# major, is the harp still “in tune”?”

Yes, sorry, that’s what I meant – that when I check the tuning, having tuned it with all the pedals flat, then natural and sharp are also ok.

The pedal leathers are all quite worn. But the leather is very thin, so maybe replacing it won’t change things too much, I don’t know how much the rubber compacts.

Thanks for the link, I shall go and do some reading 👍🏽
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• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by jaydg.

[Tacye]

To use pedals if you push them right down they should then swing across easily – if you try to cut diagonally across you can really shred the wrappings even on a well set up harp. Likewise across and then up. I thought I had a harp that ate pedal felts for a while, then realised I was guilty of this. When you struggle to notch are you going sideways from having fully floored the pedal? Sitting on the floor playing with the pedals with your hands can help work out how much of what you experience is the pedal and how much the angle to your foot.
Pedal springs can be softened – talk to Pilgrim. The mildest thing to do is to leave the pedal in sharp for a bit, but they can do more. But do give the springs a fair trial with their current setting. I would also ask Pilgrim about the expected life for their leathers – mine are harder leather and have been on the harp for around 18 years.

[Tacye]

PS – some of the resistance you feel towards the end of moving a pedal is the bends all the forks are putting on the strings – you need to push through this and working on the springs won’t help. It is theoretically possible the regulation is so out there is too much bend on the strings, but if it sounds right and the harp was recently regulated the chances are it is OK.

[jaydg]

Thank you for so much good info 😊👍🏽

I’m absolutely sure a lot of this is technique and being such a newbie to pedals.

Re going diagonally though – I have been going down and across, mainly because I have to. But everything I’m reading re pedal technique is saying don’t do that. And yet it makes complete sense that ‘ cutting the corner’ would trash the felts faster.

I’ll have a talk to Pilgrim in the new year perhaps, when I’ve had a bit longer with it. I wouldn’t reckon to lack leg muscles (I have a smallholding) but like many things, I expect there are specific ones, as well as technique.

Wow – 18 years for those pedal leathers is pretty impressive!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 4 months ago by jaydg.

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