Columbus Regulation 2011

The time has come once again for Tom Bell and his business partner Scott to make their way to Columbus to work their regulation magic.  This is the second year I've hosted the Columbus regulation and look forward to it every spring after the long mundane winter.  Tom Bell of harp tech does a myriad of harp related activities including regulation, rebuilding, regilding, and a number of other services.  His most recent trip includes a Toronto stint where he worked on Erica Goodman's harps. For those of you asking "what on earth is a regulation?" it is simply this: regulating your harp is comparable to getting your car tuned up.  It ensures that your harp is at it's top performance level in regards to buzzes/tweaks and most importantly, intonation.  How often you get your harp regulated is dependent on how much you play.  A professional harpist that practices daily and moves their harp weekly really should have a regulation done once a year.  The average amateur harpist once every two years is fine.

The great thing I love about Tom and his work is he is also a harpist as well as a regulator.  I believe this is an extremely important skill for any regulator to have, unlike most regulators that come out of certain training programs or guilds and have no working knowledge of how to play.  Tom also caters his regulation to how you play.  No one regulation is the same, and that's great!

The weekend festivities concluded with a dinner provided by yours truly.  Those in attendance were various friends and harpists getting their harps worked on.  Some of those people included: Kathie Bracy, Sharon Avis, and Trista Hill.

If you're a professional harpist in need of any harp related maintenance and would like references regarding Tom's work feel free to contact any of the people listed above.

Everything you wanted to know about changing bass wires...

Bell of Bell harp tech will be coming to Columbus this weekend for his annual regulation trip and I'll be hosting him again this year.  Prior to regulation happening it's expected that the harpist change any strings prior to the regulation to obtain optimal results.  As a general rule of thumb I always try to change my bass wires yearly.  Below you'll see the process step by step, enjoy!

First you need the proper tools.  The right tools make the job easier, such tools include needle nose pliers, heavy duty wire cutters, tuning key, and goggles.

Then the fun begins..you start by lowering the tension on the string you intend to change and cutting the wire below the mechanism and above the soundboard.

This next picture shows evidence of wear and tear indicating the string needs to be changed.  You begin by threading the wire through the underside of the soundboard.  You want to make sure you leave enough slack to ensure at least three winds around the tuning pin, you should leave an octave and a half for optimum windings.

Once you have the required slack and the wire is threaded through the string post you should bend the wire to the left and form a 90 degree angle and begin making your revolutions.  Then take your wire cutters and cut as close to the tuning pin as possible.

Continue changing the wires one at a time.  If you adhere to the octave and a half rule you should end up with uniform even revolutions.  Once all the wires are changed congratulate yourself on a job well done!

 

Welcome to the blog of James Predovich, professional harpist in the greater Columbus area!

Welcome one and all!  My blog will explore the daily life of a professional harpist.  Feel free to comment I look forward to hearing from you!