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Somehow the pictures didn’t attach. People will want to see several. Look for a serial number on the action. Count the number of strings. What are the lowest and highest notes?
If you’re looking for information on the condition, it will help to see photos 1) straight across the sound board (to see how much it is bowed), 2) at the bottom of the body/soundboard on the left (D) side where it meets the base, 3) squarely along the neck from the player’s position, 4) straight down from above the neck with all pedals in sharp showing the third octave, and then the general photos that one would take of the harp.
It should be pretty easy to find a technician in the midwest. Where in the midwest are you?
I don’t know, especially without seeing it. If it is the very top, above the neck, and a small crack, I wouldn’t be worried much myself. The stress is on the column below the neck. A professional like Carl would be much better to answer that.
A quick search shows three apps at the app store for resizing images:
Resize It
Image Resizer+
DesqueezeI don’t use an iPhone, so I can’t recommend one over the other.
If, by any chance you decide you don’t want it, I might be interested in looking, depending on the condition of the action and rivets. The wires look pretty corroded, so it likely needs a full stringing, and probably hasn’t been regulated either. (And depending on where it is 🙂
Howard Bryan
Carl Swanson
Bell Harpwould be three places to start that are still in business. If they don’t have a record, they might each suggest others who might have done the work.
I wonder how many harp shops there are that have the capability to change to an extended soundboard, probably regild, looks like re-veneer around the base (that looks like birdseye maple veneer), etc.
Seems like pretty high-end work. I wonder if there are only a few shops that could handle that level and extent of work, if one of them might have records of the harp?
Just a thought.
Charles Nix
A couple of observations: the strings below nearby do look like gut, as you say. It looks like the string is breaking just as it starts to turn around the tuning pin. I think you have a faulty string. I’m assuming every time you tried was with a length out of that one package, since the packaged length should string that note three times.
Because you have the harp and the string from the same store, can you take it there and let them put it on?
Other things to watch: 1) are you leaving enough slack before winding on? I would guess the amount would be enough to pull the middle of the string a fourth or fifth up, or about three fingers’ width extra length. That should give you the three or four turns needed. I would expect lack of slack to cause a break right at the hole in the pin, though. 2) be sure to use one of the several methods to “lock” the tail of the string in place. Again, I don’t think this is your problem: this would cause the string to slip, not break. Several others, particularly 2A, look like they were just stuck through the hole and wound on. Works if you can get away with it, but can be a source of problems. I can’t see clearly from the photo, though.
Are all your tries from the same package? How far away is the store?
That is a good thought. The sound change should be noticeable at the least. The Mademoiselle info says that string lengths are exactly identical to their concert harps. so I would expect either to come to pitch.
I once worked on a harp where the owner had replaced a string, not routing it over the bridge pin, but running straight from soundboard to tuning pin, and winding it on the tuning pin backwards. She could not figure out why the string could not be brought up to pitch without breaking, and why the lever both buzzed and raised the pitch _two_ semi-tones.
First question: exactly where is the string breaking?
It is counter-intuitive, but putting a larger or smaller gauge string should not result in breakage. A larger diameter will require more tension to come up to pitch–but it is a stronger string. Only a vibrating length too long (determined by the harp’s design) or a faulty string or faulty installation will cause broken strings. The wrong gauge will result only in the wrong sound, and heavier gauges throughout may break the harp because the overall tension will also increase.
So, where is the string breaking? If at the knot, are you using the Camac knot on the wood toggle?
Charles Nix
If you’re going to regulate, you need to understand what you’re doing. Steve Moss has resources on line. Carl Swanson has an excellent book in print. Both are more extensive guides than anyone could duplicate in this format.
Even tweaking one disk is still regulation: a technician does one string at a time — 47 times. The same skills apply to one string as to 47. You need to understand exactly what you are doing before you start. Every adjustment affects other adjustments on that string, and, to some extent on other notes on the action chain.
I will also say that installing levers is a very different kind of job than regulating a disk. I have very limited experience on pedal harps, but, for instance, I find that I must use a very closely fitted hollow ground screwdriver to avoid slipping and scratching something. You need a very accurate tuning machine to regulate. The screws are also stressed to the point that breaking one is easy. So, you have to be ready with the machine shop skills and parts to fix that if it happens. Or know a machinist.
You might find Patricia Jaeger’s “Folk Harp with a Friend” useful. There are several in the series. Also Ray Pool has several books on arranging and harmony including “Three’s a Chord”.
It occurs to me that particularly with Alto recorder you will have to get into some transposing of arrangements to find a key he can play in. Most arrangements will assume voice or flute type ranges for the melody, starting around middle-c. That matches tenor recorder if the low notes are loud enough to hear, but the alto’s lowest note is f.
That suggests that learning to create simple harmonizations and arrangements yourself from lead sheet might be a more enjoyable path. It is not that hard. Folk tunes depend heavily on I-IV-V harmony, with the occasional II, III, and VI chords. Once you get into it, or have someone show you how, even from a book, you should be OK.
Charles Nix
Charles Nix
Setting up as a business will surely save taxes, not cost extra. But you do have to be treating it as a business: professional, have cards, invoice, separate checking account is nice, and, most of all, have consistent profit–even if only a small amount net each year.
Any cash you receive for playing is reportable as income, regardless of whether you have a business, a hobby, or nothing. Even if they pay you in cash, you are supposed to report it on income tax forms. However, it is only as a business (Schedule C for sole proprietors) that your expenses are deductible from that income, so you are taxed only on the net profit, not the gross income. If you play several times for the same venue within a year (more than $600), they are required to report the income to you and the IRS on a Form 1099-MISC, which is the equivalent of a W-2 for sole proprietors.
Not deducting the payments does not make taxes higher; instead, you will most likely be deducting the entire depreciation of the harp at one go, the first year, as a section 179 election to expense rather than depreciating over 7 years. So you will have a capital loss to start out with and carry forward. There will be other things to handle if you later sell the harp, or stop playing, but nothing that is worse than paying full taxes on all of the income up front.
You will have additional expense for an accountant, especially at the set up, but you can do the later book work yourself. Professional tax preparation is also not expensive. You probably need that for a year or two at least. I understand that some of the tax prep software handles schedule Cs now, but I’ve never used TurboTax or the like. Around here I’d expect a personal 1040 plus a schedule C at an accountant to cost less than one harp at a wedding, maybe $250. 🙂
Congratulations on doing it right. It is much easier to start off right with proper books than to find out after an audit.
Suggestions:
TL;DR
1) Find an accountant
2) 🙂 Find an accountant.Long version:
Regarding business license: that will be entirely subject to your local laws (city and county). Unless you happen to live in Tennessee, I would have no idea. You may get different answers depending on whom at your courthouse you talk to, also.Musical instruments are assets, and the original purchase price is part of the asset column on your balance sheet. (The other two main categories being liabilities and capital(or equity).) Your payments are not expenses, but a reduction in your liability. Your income and expenses form the income (or profit/loss) statement of your business. If there is a separate interest portion of the payment, then that portion only might be an expense, if you can come with an amortization table for the loan. The rest of the payment (against the principal of the loan) is a journal entry debiting the harp loan’s liability account on your books and crediting your payment source (checking account?). Assets also generally depreciate over time: this year’s portion of the depreciation is also an expense for this year.
Where this will be a problem is if the rules say that a harp depreciates over, say, 10 years, but the loan is for 5. You may also be eligible for a Section 179 deduction on the expense, which would make that a moot point.
My guess is that the preceding reads like greek–which is why you need an accountant to help you get it set up correctly from the beginning–for your specific locality. You can keep the records–it is the set up that is important.
I’ll be glad to help however I can.
Charles Nix
If anything came across as “dissing” KF, I certainly didn’t mean to 🙂 I use them on my lever harp, and have recommended them for several restring customers for their lever harp. I had failed to read the title line, and thought I was answering ChrisH, who seemed new to the harp world.
I also didn’t remember until just now that Vermont strings/North Shore/Robinsons and Markwood all use the leather washers on their wound strings, so they would surely sell the washers separately. If all else fails, my organ company could order in whatever size you want from our wholesale supplier and send it to you.
