The Strings go on the Harp!

Before I replaced any strings, I changed the pedal felts on my harp. I wanted to have even wear on my new strings as I studied how they aged and responded to use. I think changing pedal felts is a fun chore and new felts are so nice. Of course, as soon as I got them on, my last old style pedal rod broke! Replacing a pedal rod is not fun. How annoying! I ordered a new rod and am going to replace it soon. Meanwhile, I took the old strings off and did a detailed cleaning.

I took advantage of having a whole octaves worth of strings off at one time as a time to clean as best I could around the string eyelets and between them. I am sure there was about 20 years worth of dirt between the strings. You can really see a difference! The whole harp needs this!

Next I pulled the tuning pins and wiped them, cleaned the holes and reset the pins.

I gently used a cotton swab to wipe some dust and grime from the mechanism and then installed the new strings.

Next time I will write about each of the strings as I installed them. Stay tuned!