Troubadour C – lever tension strings

[Sidney Dharmavaram]

L&H advised me to use lever nylon on a Troubadour C. I just installed the nylon today, but still didn’t tune it up to 440 yet. It’s 1.5 steps flat right now. Anyway, I neglected to consider the wires. It has pedal wires on it, which now seem extra tense compared to the light nylon. Should I use lever wires? Would the lever wires even be long enough for a Troubadour C which requires super long wires because of it’s neck shape?

The reason for switching to lighter tension is to help prolong the harp’s life. It has a twisted knee block with a small crack and I can see the column/neck are warped toward the strings. I knew this was a clunker of a harp which was exactly what I was hunting for. I only purchased it to be a rental harp for students, so my goal is that it lasts long enough to collect sufficient rent to recoup my expense.

Picture included just for fun!

[patricia-jaeger]

Sidney, wait until your nylon strings are tuned up to the correct pitch. Will it be in C or in E flat before any levers are engaged? Then compare the pull on your lowest new nylon string with the tension on the existing top bass wire string. If the difference in tension is remarkably different, then yes, you need to change the wires, even though when these harps were new in the 1950’s, they were advertised as having a tension nearly like a pedal harp. First measure the length needed for each wire,, adding some inches for winding the string at the top, and also some for what is needed under the soundboard. If you can have access to a string gauge, or even a micrometer, measure the diameter of each wire string, from the topmost one down to the last one; write these down next to your notation of the string pitch name, and the present length.. Ask Lyon and Healy (see if Natalie Bilik could be consulted; she is so knowledgeable) about lengths of lever wires. If the company is not producing just what you need, she will suggest a specialty string maker who could produce just what you need as far as length and gauge. The gauge of the new wires, of course, must be less than the wires presently on your harp.The required length must be the same as what you wrote down. Avoid strings that are nylon wound over nylon., because through use, the top winding wears through, and tends to “birdcage” making that string useless too soon. Best of luck!

[john-strand]

Vermont Strings has several varieties of light guage wires – give them a call and tell them what you need – I believe they are now offering light guage wires in a concert grand size – I would think if you have light guage strings on the troubadour there would be some extra out-of-balance tension on the board where you switch to standard guage wires –

[Tacye]

Does anyone else have the book Affairs of the Harp with the harpoon captioned ‘restringing may be easily accomplished at home’ or something like that?

[patricia-jaeger]

Yes, Tayce, I have the 1964 edition because my teacher advised it. It was published by Charles Colin in New York City, and there is a more recent republication available, I read several years ago. Contact Lois Colin through her web site: http://www.loiscolin.com who probably knows how to obtain this very necessary book for all harpists, sold back then for $7.50. It has 206 pages, generously loaded with all kinds of useful information accumulated by author Samuel O. Pratt, along with hilarious cartoons by Don Bluth. Chapter 13, STRINGING, begins on p.75; chapter 14, TROUBADOUR TROUBLES begins on p. 86.

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