Harpsichord

[John R Fortiner]

On Sun, 8 Aug 1999 18:31:11 EDT A440A@AOL.COM writes:
>  
> >   There were, however, a couple of things that caught my attention 
> as
> >needing improvement:
> >   1.  The coils on the pins were nothing even close to tight - ( 
> some
> >wraps were seperated from the previous wrap by as much as 3/16".  
> Is
> >there a coil lifter similar to the one that we use on pianos? or do 
> you
> >who work on these instruments use a hook.
> 
>      Wait!  The coils on harpsichords are often open in the middle. 
> The 
> downbearing at the nut is determined by the wraps lower limit, and 
> there are 
> often pins that are lower than others.
All of the tuning pins on this instrument were at the same heigth.
  I suggest that you leave any 
> 
> functioning string alone, or learn to replace them.  Do these pins 
> have holes 
> in them?
Funny you should ask as one wire did pop during the tuning. Didn't have
to worry about it as the dentist that built the instrument had wire there
for it.  ( Even with my readers I could barely see the hole well enough
to fasten the wire. ( Can't really say the break was my fault as the
string had never been to pitch and had only been on the instrument for
about a month)  Back to your question, Yes, they do have holes in them -
read as ONE hole per pin. 
> 
> 
> >   2.  The coils were not level ( how did you ever guess )  Yes, I 
> know we
> >use a steel tool to level the tops of coils on pianos, but what 
> about on
> >harpsichords?  My own GUESS was that a piece of very hard maple 
> with a
> >hole drilled in it to allow the wooden coil setter to slide over 
> the pin,
> >but not the wire was a thought - and then again that wire is really 
> small
> >stuff - so how is that done?
> 
>    Is is amazing how brittle these wires can be,  is there a need to 
> hammer 
> the strings around on the pin?
Not trying to do that, just trying to get the coil tight against itself
and level.  The wrap certainly wasn't away from the tuning pin(s). 
> 
> 
> >   3. What angle should the wire be making as it approaches the 
> pins from
> >the bridge? ( I know that until the coil problems are ironed out 
> that
> >this angle is going to be anything but correct.)
> 
>       This is a designers decision, and I would wait to hear from 
> someone 
> that is more experienced with Hubbard harpsichords, which I think 
> this may 
> be. 
>  >btw I believe that the owner said the make was something like
> >"Hubber"????
> 
> Frank Hubbard made kits as well as finished instruments,  a good one 
> is as 
> nice as a Dowd.
Gotta say that after going over it  3-4 times it really DID sound nice -
really fantastic bass (brass wire which I am sure you know) and clear
treble - especially with all jacks operative.
Thanks for getting back to me Ed - as I am certainly no harpsichord
specialist.  Just took on the job because it kinda broke the usual
tuning/repair, etc that I do.  It was fun and frustrating at the same
time. 
   
> Regards, 
> Ed Foote 

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