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I’m going to have to get a harp technician for this. I have no experience in handling the pedal harp when it comes to trying to fix the action inside the harp so I’d rather go get an expert do all the repairs for me rather than trying to do the repairs myself and make matter worse for me. Thanks for all the info, guys.
I contacted Richard Fleischer about the problem and he gave me this advice (with correct spelling):
“My experience tells me that
buzzes happen when the harp is not moved properly. That happens
sometimes when they are shipped. Finding a buzz is not always easy as
there are direct buzz[s] and sympathetic buzz[s]. First, push the
stationary nut [what the string touches above the disks] with your
finger as you play the note. Sometimes the 2 little screws are loose.
Then try changing pedal formations as the plates may be touching
inside the neck. Check the 4 bolts that holds the base on.”Before I moved the pedals, the notes sounded fine, but when I moved the pedals, the notes made the buzzing sound. I had to move the pedals to make the buzzing noise go away. Perhaps the plates are touching inside the neck which I think they are not supposed to do. If that’s the case, then how do you make the plates stop touching each other?
There’s no slots missing. I’ve looked underneath and find none of the slots are missing. Thus the object in question may have been something else unrelated to the harp. When I stood the harp up and plucked the problem strings, they still buzz. But when I hold on to the mechanisms inside neck area of the harp in the high octave section, the buzzing stopped. I think there’s something a little wrong with the mechanisms in the neck of the harp. Probably the plates are a little loose or something.
Tacye, the cloth I found is about 2 inches long. If that’s the culprit that causing the harp to make buzzing noises just by falling out of the column, how am I going to put it back in?
Actually I intend to keep Gilligan and send him to Venus Harps to get him a major make over so he won’t have issues anymore. After harp lessons, I’ll go back and talk to Richard about the problem Gilligan is facing and see if it’s OK for him to bring the harp over to Venus Harps get him checked out. I can’t afford to send him back to Florida and have Richard check him out. I’d rather send him the Venus Harps and get him all checked out there because it’s closer.
Done that. The buzzing does stop when I touch the mechanisms in the neck by the head and by middle C. I now believe that there’s something wrong with the mechanisms inside the neck. Somewhere inside there’s something wrong that could be the cause of the buzzing. I don’t know if the rivets are going bad or it’s dirty in there or a screw is loose somewhere. I’ll have to get a hold of Richard, the owner of Budget Harp rentals and see if he has any advice on this, or better yet a young decent harp with no issues at all.
Sid, to answer your question, it only makes a buzzing sound when I pluck the strings a little hard using both middle and index finger. Plucking the strings using my thumb and index at a gentle rate and they sound just fine. When I plucked the strings, I moved the pedals either up or down to try to stop the buzz. When I put the pedals back to natural, the strings sound just fine.
Come to think of it– there was a piece of cloth that must have fallen from inside Gilligan when I was moving him to another location. I picked it up and threw it away thinking not too much about it. That was before I experience buzzing sounds that made me realize that felt I threw away has something to do with the harp. So I fished it out from the waste basket and put it on the music stand. Later, after I come home from harp lessons, I’ll see where the felt came from and try to fix it with glue or something.
I’m trying to follow you guys’ advice but right now I’m at a loss for words. Here’s the situation: The buzzing noise only occurs when the harp is in a natural pitch. Once D and E was the one that made the buzzing noise, now Middle C is beginning to make buzzing noise as well, making matters worse it seems. When I work the pedals, I changed the pitches only briefly before I get them back into the natural pitch, When I did, the strings seems to be plucked fine only to get back to making buzzing noises again. I made lots of guesses from ceiling fans to my metal music stand. Right now I’m assuming the metal music stand is the one that’s the culprit. If so, I’ll have to get a wooden stand. Assuming the action was a little dirty, I tried to clean it by using long handled brushes and cotton swabs, removing all that excess oil I find on the action. But the strings still produce buzzing noises, thus I’m assuming it has something to do with some of the mechanism being dirty or have slightly loose screws that I’m not aware of. Gilligan is a used harp, you know.
Thank you for all your suggestions. I took Barbara’s advice and looked around to see what’s causing Gilligan to make the buzzing sound. Turns out that I think it was the ceiling fan that was running and interfering with the harp. The sound it made match that of the sound the harp was making. So I shut it off and will be leaving it off to see if that what’s causing Gilligan to make that minor buzzing sound. If so, then the problem is solved and I can play the harp fine.
Tighten it up as much as I can. Still makes a minor buzzing sound. I could try to move Gilligan, but the only place I can have him is in the living room of Mom’s house. Otherwise I’ll try to move him to my room if I got a dolly for him to ride up the stairs on. But there’s no room anywhere in the house for Gilligan other than the living room. Maybe the buzzing sound has something to do with the fan I have running to keep the modem cool. We’re having a lot of problems with the internet lately and I have the harp nearby. If the fan is the problem, I’ll have to move the harp so he’ll won’t interfere with the fan and I can be comfortable playing and enjoying Gilligan without problems. Any other advice to deal with the minor buzzing problem? The harp did came from Florida. Perhaps he’s trying to adjust to the Michigan climate of something.
Come to think of it, there is a loose foot at the bottom of the base on the left side of the harp. The feet is not supposed to move, but when I wiggle it, it does move. I’ll have to find the best screwdriver for the job and get someone who’s willing to help me fix it.
