Harp Workbench

As a service to the readers of this blog, Brandden Lassells of Harps and Harps will answer questions you may have pertaining to the making, maintenance or repair of harps.

Question: How to solve a harp buzzing and also a question about a slipping tuning pin

It turns out that to discover the cause of a buzz can be very difficult and time consuming. The first suggestion is to move your harp to another room or location, an number or times what seems to be a buzz in your harp is actually some nearby object vibrating in sympathy with your harp whether it be a music stand or something on a nearby shelf. Make sure that if you are wearing jewellery, that it is not vibrating. If you have a pick up installed this can often be the source, so make sure that the jack and the ring of the jack are tight and reach inside and make sure that the sleeve behind the jack is tight. Also, verify that any of the electrical wires are not vibrating against some part of the harp.

The next culprit can be strings. Check to make sure that there are no string tails inside your harp which are vibrating against the soundboard. Likewise, any string tails near the tuning pin. Check for any loose nuts, bolts or other parts, especially bolts holding on the feet. Try pressing on any other internal braces while plucking the sting. Try pressing on various parts such as the levers one by one to see if you can stop the buzz. Check eyelets for any broken or cracked eyelets.

On a pedal harp, If a string only buzzes when all the discs are in the open position, make sure that when the discs are in the open position, that no string can touch the pins of the disc. If there is a buzz with the disc engaged, do the disc pins firmly engage the string? If either of these situations are causing a buzz, a regulation is needed.

On a lever harp, is a string is buzzing when the lever is not engaged? If so check to see that the string is approximately centred between the parts of the lever that engage the string and not touching any parts of the lever. If the string buzzes when the lever is engaged, most likely the lever is not engaging the strings with significant pressure to prevent a buzz. For either of these situations, the bridge pin needs to be adjusted. Some levers have a hook which captures the string when the lever is engaged. If your lever has these, make sure that it is not lose and that it applies enough pressure on the string.

Slipping tuning pins.

If you have a common tapered tuning pin that is slipping, that is it tends to slip instead of holding the tension of the string, it needs to be tightened. The tapered tuning pins are like a wedge that fit into a tapered hole. The further the pin is pushed into the hole, the tighter it will be. To do this, brace the string side of the neck with one hand while applying back and forth pressure on the other side of the pin with the tuning key. Some harps, notably from Dusty Strings and some harps from Pakistan have threaded tuning pins. These pins rely on a tight fit and a micro thread to hold. Pushing this type of pin in will cause the treads to strip and then the pin will slip.

Brandden Lassells is the proprietor of Harps and Harps in Hervey bay QLD. In addition to making all types of harps including Australia’s first and only light weight totally carbon fibre harp and being a dealer for Dusty Strings, Triplett, Rees, Heartland and Camac Pedal and Lever Harps, Brandden specialises in the repair and restoration of harps. Brandden can be contacted on 0419 692 286 or through his website www.harps.com.au