Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
All soundboards have the wood grain running side to side(horizontal). If the soundboard on your harp has the grain running bottom to top(vertical) then what you are seeing is the veneer.
Cracks that run side to side, in the direction of the actual soundboard, usually occur because of wood shrinkage due to dryness in the air. These types of cracks will never cause the soundboard to fail or require it to be replaced.
Vertical cracks that are deep and run within an inch of the center strip(where the strings exit the soundboard) are signs that the soundboard is failing and will need to be replaced. The vertical cracks can occur on either side of the center strip and can appear on a board that is barely pulled up or on a board that is very pulled up.
Vertical cracks that occur in a veneered soundboard and which are very thin and sometimes numerous are probably only in the veneer and are not a sign that the board is failing. These kinds of veneer cracks are caused by dryness in the air.
For these reasons, it is extremely important to run a humidifier during the months that the heat is on. It’s the single most important thing you can do to preserve your harp.
You’ll probably have to get a pair of Vise-Grip pliers and adjust them so that they clamp onto the bridge pin very tightly. Then twist and pull until you pull the pin out of the hole. I would then take the appropriate drill bit, carefully mark on the bit with masking tape how deeply you need to drill the hole, and drill out the hole before reinserting the pin. Drill the hole out deeper than you think you are going to need, so that you have some room to maneuver and so you won’t have to drill out the hole again at some time in the future.
If there is any rust on the bridge pin(there probably is), take some very fine sandpaper and clean it off. Be careful to use a drill bit that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bridge pin. Use a micrometer on the bridge pin to get an exact reading in thousands of an inch, and then get the numbered drill bit that most closely corresponds to that diameter but is not larger than the bridge pin.
Alex- I don’t have the Spohr Fantasie so I don’t know what the turns look like. Can you tell me what the notes are on a couple of them and how many notes are in the turn?
Renie, in her methode book, suggests for learning turns and one handed trills, to start with just 3 notes, starting both on the lower note and on the upper note, and practice them right up to tempo. When that becomes solid, then add one note, and when that becomes comfortable, add another, etc. But always practice these things up to full tempo. That’s the only way you can learn the movements that will work at that tempo, and develop the muscle memory needed.
My understanding is that regular jobs are charged at a completely different rate than one-time jobs. How often do they want you to play for them?
It occurred to me after posting this that the knot that you use to patch the string is also a figure 8 knot. So you use that for the two knots to patch the string and also for the knot at the bottom if you need more length.
A figure 8 knot is just an overhand knot with a twist, literally. With a simple overhand knot you make a loop by crossing the end of the string over itself and then push the end through the loop. With a figure 8 knot you do the same thing initially. But once you have made the loop and before you push the string end through it, you twist(or rotate) the loop a half turn and then push the string end through the loop. Practice on a piece of rope a few times until you get the hang of it.
That’s a good explanation Catherine. There has to be enough string so that when you tie the patch, the knot is above the adjustable or stationary nut. So the string you are patching has to have broken at the very bottom, near the knot, or the very top, near the tuning pin. To get some extra length out of the string to be patched, I use a figure 8 knot at the bottom instead of the usual knot which uses more string length. If you don’t know how to tie one, google figure 8 knot. Patched strings work just fine and sound completely normal. And what-the-heck, if you can add a year or more to a strings life, that’s a good thing.
While on the subjet of knots, I’m wondering how many people “patch” broken strings. I do it all the time, mainly in the 5th octave where the strings are so expensive, but also sometimes in the 4th. I have patched strings on my own harp that have been there for several years(with the patch). So it works really well and greatly extends the useable life of the string.
Maybe I misread Sam’s original post. I thought he was having trouble tying the knot in the larger strings. I have found in my many years of rebuilding, repairing, regulating, and restringing harps that the deciding factor is how much larger the hole in the soundboard is than the diameter of the string. And it varies from harp to harp. If the hole is just barely larger than the string diameter(which presents it’s own set of problems sometimes), then an anchor is not needed. But if it is much larger, then you run the risk of the knot pulling up into the hole and it’s an awful mess trying to get it back out. This is true mostly
in the third and beginning of the 4th octaves. So the point at which you stop using anchors depends on the instrument. The 5th octave never needs anchors, and the 4th octave sometimes does and sometimes doesn’t.Sam- I’m assuming that you’re talking about gut strings. The problem is that they are very stiff when you take them out of the package. Take the last 4 or 5 inches of the string, where you are going to knot it, and bend it over the knuckle of your index finger on one hand while you pull it with the other hand so that the last 4 or 5 inches slide over your knuckle in as sharp a bend as you can get. That will break the stiffness of the string and make it much easier to tie the knot.
Tony- Terrific post. Exactly what I was thinking too and I’m sure much better stated. In particular I like your last bit of advice(just nod, thank them, and then walk away and forget them). I have gotten better(believe it or not!) at responding to very rude people in a low key even tempered way. The problem with getting very angry and expressing rage at someone like that is 1)it brings you down to their level and 2) it diminishes the believability of what you have to say.
