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-From what you wrote, it looks like the best way to deal with it, is to place the adjustable nuts in such a way, that once the vib. lengths have shortened you can restore the original length by moving the nut up, until you compensate the bellying. Rather than to move it down and change to a smaller disk.-
You’ve got it exactly backwards. If the string lengths are shorter due to the soundboard pulling up and/or the neck warping down, then to compensate(and correct the regulation) you have to move the adjustable nuts down, not up. This is because, with shorter string lengths, the distance between the adjustable nut and the natural disc, and between the natural disc and the sharp disc, are now too great and have to be reduced. So in a perfect world, on a brand new instrument, the adjustable nut positions are as high as you can get them, because as the instrument ages, the only direction they are going to go is down.
I would also want to have as large a disc as possible in sharp position, particularly in the 3rd octave, again, because as the instrument ages, you are going to have to change to a smaller disc size to bring the sharp position down. I’m talking ONLY about double prong discs here, not single prong. For single prong discs, you want the smallest disc you can get away with in sharp position, because as the instrument ages, you will have to correct sharp by replacing the disc with a larger sharping disc.
Catherine- I’m hoping to get some pictures this week and then have a new page up on my company web site the following week. it might be possible to sew a strap on one side of the cover that would pass under the harp and tie on the other side. But again, it might be better for the harpist who wants that to put it on the cover when they get it since not everyone would use it and for those who don’t it could get in the way. I find that when I slide the harp out of the car, if I just remember to hold the bottom edge of the cover in one hand it stays in place and doesn’t slide up.
Giorgi- I’ll try to address your questions. It sounds like you are trying to design an action that will take into account the pulling up of the soundboard. GOOD LUCK!!!
Any action is designed for specific string lengths. When the board pulls up(and the neck pulls down!) those string lengths shorten and the action is then out of regulation. The natural and sharp positions will be too sharp. To correct this, the adjustable nut has to be moved down and/or the disc in natural or sharp position or both has to be changed to a smaller disc. But there is only so far that the adjustable nut can be moved down and changing to a smaller disc, particularly in sharp, only works in the upper registers of the instrument. So adjustment has it’s limits.
But there is something else that happens when the board pulls up. In addition to the string length getting shorter, the string position also moves to the left of center as it passes through the discs. When this misalignment becomes bad enough, the board has to be replaced even though it is not broken. This is simply the nature of the instrument.
The problem with virtually all harp actions is that the design was worked out on paper and did not account for the immediate shortening of the string length as the instrument is strung for the first time, caused by the slight pulling up of the board and the slight pulling down of the neck. The worst areas that are affected are the 3rd and 4th octaves, but particularly the third(the low swing of the neck). I copied a Wurlitzer concert grand action when I designed my action. I chose that action for many reasons too numerous to go into here. Suffice it to say that the Wurlitzer concert grand action was the best action every built, bar none. The one change I did make was to move the screw holes for the screws that hold the adjustable nuts in place. I moved them down closer to the discs. What I found was that on my new instruments, all I had to do was push the adjustable nuts up as far as they would go and the instrument was regulated.
If you are going to start from scratch and design a new action, I would use an existing instrument as a prototype. Analyze what works and what doesn’t on that instrument, carefully notate the changes you feel are needed, and then copy that action, using the changes you notated. Copy of course the string lengths on this prototype instrument as well.
Look carefully at how each chain of the action works and how much rotation you get from each disc. There are some actions, by famous makers no less, where certain discs have almost no rotation at all, making them very difficult to adjust. Make careful notes on the rotation as well so that when you take the action apart you can look at the action arm for that disc and make changes that will give you more rotation. Choose the action carefully that you want to use as a prototype. I strongly recommend you use a Wurlitzer action.
I’ve seen that patent application too, but I have never seen an instrument that had it. It may be that they tried it and found it had a detrimental effect of the sound. I’ve seen other ideas as well that basically reinforced the string bridge, sometimes with metal, sometimes with wood “wings.” They always seem to make the sound tubby and boomy. The Pleyel chromatic harp had major metal reinforcement on the underside of the soundboard, which was necessary because of the enormous tension from two sets of strings. It did a wonderful job of keeping the soundboard flat, but at an enormous cost to the sound. So there’s no simple answer. I always tell people interested in this that you have as a builder an imaginary set of scales in front of you. On one side is ‘sound.’ On the other is ‘structural stability.’ The more stable you make the instrument, the more sound you will loose. The better the sound you create, the less stable and long lasting you make the instrument The trick is to find the optimum balance.
Dear Darth- That was one of the main reasons I decided to have my own covers made, to my specifications. I wanted something that was easy to fold up and store. Years ago when I was still freelancing, I would always use whatever chair I could find at the venue and fold up the harp cover and sit on it. Can’t do that with transport covers!
Are you sure you’re putting the correct strings on? I once got a call from a woman who said she had replace the wire F string 3 times and it kept breaking. I asked her to be more specific. Which F string, starting from the first wire string(G5). She said it was the second string and she was putting a 6th octave F string on there. “That’s 5th octave F, not 6th octave” I said. If you’re putting the wrong octave string on there, particularly a lower tension string, it might last for a while but then break.
Giorgi- You’ve described the situation very well. I’m about to go to a concert so I don’t have time to write a response right now. I’ll try to put one up in the next day or so.
You might try practicing in very short segments, maybe a few beats at a time or at most a measure. Just try to get 2 or 3 beats to work well and comfortably. When you’ve gotten that, go to the next 2 or 3 beats and practice just that. When that is working well, connect the first and second segments together. Don’t start from the beginning of the piece each time. Just work on the 2 or 3 beats that you are trying to learn. Go through the rest of the piece practicing a few beats until it feels comfortable and then connect it to the previous stuff you learned.
Kreig- As soon as I’m satisfied that we can supply cover orders reasonably quickly, which should be soon, I’m going to put up a new page on the company web site with all of the information, pictures, how to order, etc. I’m starting slowly and supplying local orders right now. It’s funny, but every time I have told a local harpist about these covers or showed them one of the prototypes they always say, “I want one.” I’ll be exhibiting at the New York conference and doing a little exhibitor’s workshop there. I’ll be interested to see how they are received.
If the new strings are close to the same diameter, it shouldn’t cause any change. Regulating a harp with old strings in the first and second octaves, particularly old nylon strings can cause problems, because the old nylons in all likelihood have pits in the string where the disc closes on it. Once you change the string, the new string is much thicker because it has no pit in it.
Erin- your post reminds me of a very valuable tip I got from the late great John Escosa, and that is to cut all of the wire strings just as short as you can. Cut them right at the tuning pin so nothing sharp is sticking out. It works fine.
I looked at many old covers as I was having a prototype made, and also had a local harpist help me with the design decisions. Her advice was invaluable. It was she who mentioned the noisy opening and closing of velcro and zippers, and also about having a logo on cover. I think the cover we have come up with is a really good durable cover that gives reasonable protection to the instrument, while being light weight and easy to store, both at home and on a job. One of the really important things to me was that it fit the instrument well. I tried the prototype on six different makes of harps and it worked well on all of them. I think there will always be little things that one harpist would like that another doesn’t, and that probably will require some custom tailoring on the part of the harpist who owns the cover.
Kreig- I hear the complaint about the noise of opening a velcro or zipper cover from orchestra harpists who often have to uncover or cover the harp during a rehearsal. Another thing they complain about is some company logo blazed across the cover, which is annoying if the harp has to sit on stage covered. So my cover is plain black with no logo. It folds up very easily and takes up little space.
You mentioned other covers having a slit near the column or at the back for sticking your hand through to pick up the harp. I have found that that slit is never in the right place. NEVER! So I didn’t bother with it. My cover is soft enough so you can grab the back of the harp through the cover any place you need to, and as I said, just undo one tie on the front to access the column exactly where you need to.
I tested this cover over a boot and column cover and it fits fine. I’m not making a boot or column cover because there are excellent ones out there and I recommend them. It’s just the overall cover I take issue with.
I appreciate Patricia’s and your comments. I think there are certain things, like a pocket for carrying music or a mat, that the individual harpist would be better to add themselves for their particular need, as Patricia did. Everyone has slightly different needs for the extras they have to carry and it would be better if they adapted the cover to their own needs. These little extras drive up the cost and not everyone wants or needs them.
