Use guitar strings as bass wires for folk harp?

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi to all,

I have a feeling that I will be royally taken to task, but here goes!

I very recently bought a second hand Aoyama 34 string folk harp – I think its a 120 or a 130, although I’m not sure.

[patricia-jaeger]

Michael, to find the model on Aoyama lever harps, I have turned them over in the past, and found the model number on the bottom of the base. See if yours is also labeled like this. Otherwise, you could go to Classic Harps Northwest in Portland, Oregon or send a photo and find the information there, since they import Aoyamas into the U.S. Overseas, Morley Harps carry them in England, and would have the same information. I hope your harp has four legs; three are more unstable.

[michael-rockowitz]

Patricia,

Thank you so much for the advice.

[Robert Warrick]

Interesting discussion.

[Julie Koenig]

I really don’t intend to take this off course, but…the mention of a digital caliper reminds me of a tool I saw back in the 80’s. When I lived in Cincinnati, my harp was regulated a few times times by Erich Rase. I don’t know if he’s still in the business but he saved my life one time when I broke an E-stud a few hours before a concert in Dayton with “Don Juan” on the program.

Erich had this string gauge reader contraption thingy; it looked like a cross between a tuning fork and a compass. He could place it on any string and double-check its width to see if it was correct.

Are these still around? (ATTN CARL SWANSON: do you know what I’m talking about or is my memory getting cloudy? I turned 44 yesterday so maybe my mind is going…)

Julie in Atlanta

[Julie Koenig]

My mind is definitely going. I typed the word “times” back-to-back. Sorry; wish we could revise our posts!

J in the ATL

[michael-rockowitz]

Julie,
I think what you’re referring to may have been a dial caliper.

[Dwyn .]

Michael:

[Julie Koenig]

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your reply and the link. Unfortunately, the dial caliper isn’t what Erich had. It was more like a tuning fork with markings on either side of the “V” like you’d find on an old-school wind-up metronome. I should have clarified it was more like a math compass than a magnetic one.

Julie

[michael-rockowitz]

Dwyn,

Thank you very much for your input.

[richard-hagan]

Julie —

Erich Rase is still in the business.

[catherine-rogers]

Sounds like you’re describing an old string gauge, which are no longer sold but can sometimes be found on ebay, etc. I have one if you’d like to see it. Very interesting to compare new wires to old when you’re changing them. Mine is marked 1911, which I take to be the year.

[m-l-mcneel]

Julie,

I don’t know whether the URL will come through properly, but you can do a Google image search on the following four words: inside outside caliper divider.

[michael-rockowitz]

Hi to all,

One final note on the “metal wound guitar strings used as bass wires for the harp” issue:

I’ve spent some time looking further into whether this would be feasible.

[Dwyn .]

Michael:

It depends how much the harp is designed for.

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