Slipping Pins

Occasionally, when tuning up you will come across a pin which will not hold tune because it is freely slipping back. The type of pin in your harp will determine the type of fix necessary. If you have traditional harp pins, they can be loosened due to environmental change or, more commonly, due to wear or the type of jiggling which comes from riding in a vehicle. To perform a repair, get several towels and a hammer. (We recommend a rubber mallet if you have one available.) Place your harp on its side with the strings down and away from you. Put folded towels tight up against the pins on either side to prevent damage should you miss the pin with the hammer. Take the hammer and give the offending pin one or two light raps on the head. This should be enough to re­seat the wedge of the pin so that it will grab. If you do have a case of wear, take the pin completely out and thinly coat the inside of the hole with Titebond glue applied with a toothpick. Should any glue end up on the surface of your harp and outside of the hole, just wipe it off with a damp rag. Allow the Titebond to dry overnight. Replace the harp pin by tapping it in with a hammer as described above. This will extend the life of a worn hole. If you have a case of extreme wear, any fine classical luthier can plug the old hole and use an appropriate wood to create a completely new hole with minimal cosmetic change to the look of your harp.

If you have a pin with microthreads, this is actually a piano or zither pin. Some luthiers feel that these pins may actually be a superior pin type because less wood is removed from the arch for installation and, unlike harp pins, they are not wedges ­ remembering that woodcutters use wedges to split wood into smaller logs. If you have a piano­type pin which has become bent, usually during a fall taken by the harp, do replace the pin. Piano pins are readily available and are very inexpensive. If you have a hole which has become really worn, remove it completely. Take Super Glue and a toothpick and carefully, without dropping any glue around the hole, use the toothpick to put glue all around the inside walls of the hole. The glue will fill in the grooves created by the threads and will give the pin new material to grab when the pin is reset. Once the hole is lined, allow the glue to cure overnight even though it appears quite hard. The next day reset your pin and restring.

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