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Autoharp Chord Bars

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Rich Rustad

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Aug 11, 1996, 3:00:00 AM8/11/96
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I recently was given an old Oscar Schmitt autoharp, (rescued from the
trash). The bracket which holds the chord bars was cracked and many of
the bars were loose in the bottom of the case. I was able to glue the
bracket back together and reattach all the bits of felt which had fallen
off many of the chord bars.

What I need to know is, what is the normal order for positioning the tone
bars? There are 15 bars and the ones which were not loose were in this
sequence: E, A, D, Gm, Bflat, A7, C7... Can anyone complete the
pattern?

I've got it tuned up and it sounds okay.

Please respond via E-Mail

Thanks

Rich


J2Guitars

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Aug 13, 1996, 3:00:00 AM8/13/96
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There are different preferences for setting up the cord bars. The basic
theory is to have the cords for a giving key next to each other or within
easy reach of each other. The advantage of using standard OS configuration
is the interchangeability of picking up someone else’s autoharp. An
accomplished autoharper repair person ( gone on to play for the big guy
upstairs) set up my 15 cord harp. From left to right as it sets in my lap:
Bb, Dm, Fmaj, Am, Cmaj, G7, Gmaj, D7, D, A7, A, E7, E, Em, B7. I have have
good results with this configuration.

The placement of the felt is tricky. The bars invariably have some slop in
them so the gap has to clear the string by the slop factor. The usual
method is to install a bar with full length felt and mark and cut out the
desired strings. Precut bars are available from O.S.

Jack Johnston
J2 Guitars.

David Shucavage

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Aug 19, 1996, 3:00:00 AM8/19/96
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> The placement of the felt is tricky. The bars invariably have some slop in
> them so the gap has to clear the string by the slop factor. The usual
> method is to install a bar with full length felt and mark and cut out the
> desired strings. Precut bars are available from O.S.
>
> Jack Johnston
> J2 Guitars.

If you do put your own felts on I suggest ordering them from a place like
Great All-American Autoharp Emporium, or i.a.d. Publications (see:
http://www.rogo.com/folkstuff/autoharp.html) The felts I got from O.S were
terrible (narrow, uneven). The sources mentioned sell felts that have been
custom made for autoharps, are better designed and have good quality
control.

--
David Shucavage - d...@rogo.com
Check out my Folk Stuff web site at:
http://www.rogo.com/folkstuff/

And my Crazy about Constraints! web site (Theory of Constraints) at:
http://www.rogo.com/cac/

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