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- This topic has 13 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 1 month ago by galen-reed.
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January 10, 2010 at 4:59 pm #159381unknown-userParticipant
Do the strings on the Ogden ever get easier to pull? I played my teacher’s concert harp and the difference was astounding, so fluid and easy to play. My harp was new last May.
January 11, 2010 at 4:27 pm #159382andy-bParticipantI don’t think tension is something that will change on a harp, unless something drastically bad is happening to the instrument. The Ogden I had was also very tight, but I think it’s just the design of that model. I’ve wondered if that’s why I’ve heard of several Ogdens being bad about breaking strings.
If you’re not playing with others, you could always tune the strings down a step or two and see if that makes it easier to play. I’m not sure how much lower you’d have to go before seeing a difference.
January 14, 2010 at 3:16 am #159383Saul Davis ZlatkovskiParticipantI think that is the difference between new and old strings. The tension is the same on an Ogden as on a pedal harp. I highly doubt Ogdens do anything by themselves to break strings. Maybe the harp elves do it at night.
January 14, 2010 at 3:00 pm #159384dawn-penlandParticipantI play on my friend’s Ogden when we play duets together.
January 22, 2010 at 1:19 am #159385unknown-userParticipantDawn, what a beautiful person you are. I like your way of thinking about the problem. You’re right. I constantly compare it with the sounds in my head of a pedal harp, and it doesn’t have those sounds.
February 16, 2010 at 5:33 am #159386galen-reedParticipantI like my Ogden a lot, but have had
February 16, 2010 at 5:41 pm #159387harp guyParticipantThis is also a problem with my LH Prelude 38. Even though it has “Concert” tension, it is considerably tighter than any pedal harp I’ve ever played. In comparison, pedal harps feel like “folk/lever/light” tension, and folk strung instruments feel like spaghetti.
So even though my Prelude has extremely high tension (and for some reason it only breaks strings at the soundboard, and never at the levers), I love the tone. Even for a Prelude it has an extraordinary sound. It has all of the volume and tone of many of the 40-44 string pedal harps out there. So maybe the string tension being so tight has something to do with it. Maybe, maybe not. I just know that when I bought it at Vanderbilt Music, the shop owner was somewhat reluctant to sell it because she liked it so much (and it was so different than the other Prelude 38 models she had played). I know I personally will never part with it!!!
February 17, 2010 at 8:45 pm #159388HBrock25KeymasterMy wife’s Ogden is a lovely instrument . She just had to have it, but plays it very little. She prefers the greater volume of some of her bigger harps (she’s spoiled).
I am the one that has to keep replacing the gut strings cause they break all on their own just sitting there. Perhaps playing it more would keep the strings oiled and more supple. I was considering changing over to all nylon, but was wondering
February 18, 2010 at 1:04 pm #159389dawn-penlandParticipantGalen, I asked my friend if her Ogden gets broken strings often and she said, not anymore.
February 18, 2010 at 2:38 pm #159390harp guyParticipant“Weather changes affect my harp.”
Ditto! Every time a storm is about to get here, or the atmosphere changes suddenly, I hear a loud PING! And when the storm leaves, I almost always here another string go PING.
Where can I buy that abrasive cord at? I’d like to give that a try so I can see if it will help any. (I’m in the U.S.).
February 18, 2010 at 3:20 pm #159391Donna OParticipantharpguy,
This is the link for where I purchased the cord.February 18, 2010 at 3:33 pm #159392dawn-penlandParticipantI called Kolacny’s and ordered the abrasive cord.
February 18, 2010 at 5:26 pm #159393harp guyParticipantThanks!
February 18, 2010 at 5:58 pm #159394galen-reedParticipantThanks!
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