Home › Forums › Harps and Accessories › Wire harp conversion to nylon/gut?
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August 26, 2018 at 4:19 pm #220038harpsterParticipant
Has anyone ever tried to put nylon or gut strings on a wire harp?
I imagine the existing tuning pins would be too small – I wonder if it’s possible to modify a wire harp to fit alternative pins?
The reason I ask is that I love my 30 string wire harp but have a new job where I can’t have any length of nails at all.
Ideas and thoughts would be welcome, thanks!
August 27, 2018 at 4:17 pm #220058TacyeParticipantWhat sort of wire and wire harp? Can you ask the maker if anyone is known to have tried this? I have put brass on a nylon harp increasing the tension considerably, so the other way should be kinder to the harp. But it won’t be the harp you know and love, it will sound and feel quite different – maybe you will like it, maybe not. It will probably not be as nice as something designed for the strings it has. With nylon or gut it will probably want a much higher sounding pitch.
What is small about the tuning pins? The hole?
August 28, 2018 at 9:57 am #220071BiagioParticipantFour octraves is fairly large for a wire strung – who was the manufacturer? It will help us to answer your questions if we know that. I recall a Cunningham of about that size that I modified with no changes except the the strings and it sounded fine.
It is easier to modify a wire harp to nylon than the other way around, but how it will sound depends a good deal on how the sound board is constructed. In any case the new range would be higher with nylon or gut that the current one, typically by 3-5 steps.
You can generally replace tuning pegs if necessary, although that may require re-boring and tapering the holes. Dusty Strings and Musicmakers both carry threaded pegs which do not use tapered holes. They take a size D bit – 0.246″ so if the existing ones are less than that you’re OK. Other considerations:
Does this harp have bridge pins (most wire harps do not)? Is there enough wood to allow for levers?
Might it be more economical to just buy another (nylon strung) harp?
So, the answer is “Yes you can probably modify it” but take it to a harp maker for specific advice.
August 28, 2018 at 3:48 pm #220073harpsterParticipantThanks for your thoughts, guys! The maker of my harp is William MacDonald, of Skye. It’s his 30 string Scathach model.
Having considered what you’ve said above, I will probably leave it as original, as it is really a lovely
harp! There’s a short video of it on William’s YouTube channel.
It doesn’t have bridge pins or enough space for levers. So as you suggest, might be more sensible to buy a nylon string! And maybe try ways of playing wire without nails.
Thanks again for your helpful replies!August 28, 2018 at 4:40 pm #220074BiagioParticipantWilliam makes beautiful harps so it would be a shame to try modifying it, agreed! I do sometimes play my wire harps with the pads and while the tone is muted it still sounds pretty good. So don’t despair for that reason!
Best wishes,
BiagioAugust 28, 2018 at 4:43 pm #220075TacyeParticipantHave you thought about trying these sort of things? I would probably opt for plastic over metal as you don’t have steel strings.
August 28, 2018 at 5:15 pm #220076harpsterParticipantThanks for the suggestion, I’ll give those a go!
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