|
|
 |
Harp
String Installation Guide |
|
STRING INSTALLATION GUIDE
Monofilament Nylon: tying the knot
Learning to Tie the Harp Knot – is something that you
need to do. It may look complicated, but it's
not. Follow the instructions and practice. Start with a piece of .032 or something light.
Refer to the diagram labeled "monofilament nylon – Tying
the knot".
Figure 1
Here we are taking the end of the
string, and making two loops in it. The very end of the
string is "Y. The long part of the string is "C". With
thumb and index finger of your left hand, form loop "A".
Use thumb and index finger of each hand to hold their
respective loops while you peer back at the instructions
here. Note that each of the loops goes behind section
"E". This is important.
Figure 2
Loop "A" is in your left
hand. Turn your wrist so that loop "A" is horizontal.
Leave loop "B" (in your right hand) vertical. As shown
in Figure 2, move loop "B" below, and the up through,
loop "A". Grasp both loops now with your right thumb and
index. Use your left hand to pull on the long length of
the strings("C"). Use your right thumbnail to prevent
the loop assembly from being pulled apart. As you pull
on string length "C", loop "A" will tighten around loop
"B", forming a harp know. Make sure there is sufficient
tail (Y), or else the knot will unravel. You now have a
normal harp knot.
This works fine if using a leather washer, or if your
harp has small grommets
But many makers use large grommets, which require a
toggle to be inserted
through the knot to prevent the knot from being pulled
through the soundboard.
The best way to do this is to make a loop that goes back
through itself as shown in Figure 5. Place the toggle
midway through this loop, and tighten the loop by
lulling on the string while your right thumbnail is
lodged against this knot. Finally, hold onto the toggle
only with your right hand while you pull the string with
your left. This should snug it up nicely, and you have a
slip-less harp knot that can't be pulled through the
soundboard. In the thicker string sizes string material
is so stiff. In this case, you can stop at Figure 4 and
slide a leather washer onto the string.
Installing the
Monofilament String on Your Harp
It is not the hole in
the tuning pin that holds the string in place on the
pin.
It is the friction of the string coils on the pin
itself. The hole is just a convenient way of getting the
string started around the tuning pin. Older instruments,
like Harpsichords, didn't have holes in
the tuning pins.
Take the appropriate string, and tie a harp knot in it,
as described previously. Place your hand, holding the
unknotted end of the string, into the interior of your
harp through the access hole that is in the back of the
instrument. Feed the string up through the appropriate
grommet, and grasp it with your other hand.
(Note: some harp makers use access holes intended for
midgets, and feeding the string up can be a trial. In
this case, consider feeding the string down through the
grommet and then tying the knot.)
Now pull on the long end of the string, seating the knot
a (and possible toggle or washer) against the lower side
of the soundboard.
NOW: your natural urge at this point
is to pull the string tight as you can through the hole
in the tuning pin and start cranking to pitch. Don't do
it. This is an excellent way to break the string,
because the edges of the tuning pin hole will act like a
wire cutter.
We need to make coils around the tuning pin before any
stress is placed on the string-to-tuning pin hole
connection.
Place the loose end of the string through the tuning pin
hole loosely, so there is some slack in the string,
between tuning pin and soundboard. If you are holding
the tuning key in your right hand, then use your left
hand to control the slack and guide the string into
making nice, neat coils on the tuning pin. With
practice, you will be able to guess how much slack is
required to get 3 coils on the pin when the string hits
pitch. That is the ideal. Thinner string diameters might
need more than 3. The thicker sizes might need just 2.
If the excess string that protrudes through the tuning
pin hole should get trapped under the coils on the
tuning pin, then so much the better.
When looking at the tuning pin from the end that
receives the tuning key, then traditional pin rotation
is clockwise to tighten.
As the string becomes taut,
guide it into the groove of the bridge pin, and make
sure it doesn't get snagged on the sharping lever (if
any).
Once the string is tensioned enough to stay in place on
its own (though not necessarily up to pitch), clip off
the excess string protruding through the tuning pin
hole. If there is a lot of it left, coil if up and put
it back in the package.
String life will be enhanced if you bring it up to pitch
SLOWLY. When you do pitch the string, you can help it
stay at pitch by manually stretching it some -just don't
do it too hard. Anew string will not want to stay in
tune. So just stretch, tune, stretch, tune, get those
knees up! If you say enough Bad Words, the string will
eventually stay in tune.
Installing Wound Nylon
Strings
The good news is that you don't need to tie a knot in
the end. It is already there, with leather washer. The bad news is that you can only cut the core of
this type of stringy. You cannot cut the wrap. It will
ruin the string. This is why we get so buggy about the
proper vibrating lengths for wound nylons
when you order. We have to make them right in the first
place, because they can't be altered later.
But you shouldn't have to worry about cutting the wrap,
because we have made them just the right length and we
never, never make a mistake. No, really, come on, it's
true. Really.
First, if you haven't read the section on installing
monofilament strings do so now, because the same
principles apply, and installing this type of string is
very similar.
Place the core end of the string -the end without the
knot and washer- up through the soundboard grommet, and
place the end through the tuning pin hole. Leave some
slack, so that we end up with 2-3 coils on the pin when
the string is pitched. (With heavier sized like
.055/.025, 1-2 coils is okay.)
Take up the slack onto the tuning pin, guiding with one
hand as you would a monofilament string. When the slack
is gone, seat in the bridge pin groove, and bring the
string up to pitch slowly, even more so than you did
with the monos. When the string is up to pitch, then snip
off the excess. Don't cut right against the pin. Leave
about 1/4".
As you are bringing the string up to pitch, if the end
of the wrap hangs on the bridge pin, then help it over
the pin. You should know that where the wrap ends is the
weakest point of a wound nylon string, and we don't want
to stress this area any more than we have to. You'll
notice that the string may appear too short when you
first put it on the harp. This results from our string
machine stretching the core so much prior to winding.
When removed from the machine, it shrinks somewhat. But
once the string is installed on the harp and up to
pitch, it will stretch to its original length. There
should be no problem with it being too short.
There is a lot of leeway as to where the wrap should stop
on a wound nylon string. Cosmetically, it looks best
when the wrap stops exactly halfway between the bridge
pin and tuning pin. Strength-wise, it is best when the
wrap winds around the tuning pin for about one coil or
so -remember that weak point where the wrap ends. But it
is no big deal. The wrap could actually stop about an
inch before the bridge pin and the string will still
sound fine.
Installing sfb, sfn, bfb or
bfn strings
These are bass strings, with a steel or bronze core.
Nylon stretches a lot. Metal doesn't. So, it is
imperative that you have a lot of slack in the string
before you start bringing it up to pitch. There should
be about a minimum of 3 coils on the tuning pin when
the string is at pitch.
Thread the core end of the string up through the
soundboard., and through the hole in the tuning pin.
Leave plenty of slack. Slowly start winding the tuning
pin, guiding the slack onto the tuning pin in nice neat
coils. If the excess core sticking out the other side of
the tuning pin hole gets trapped under the coils, that's
just fine, and will help anchor the string that much
better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
