Chapter Twelve

Mounting Levers

Mounting
levers is a matter of precision and learning how the lever works.   Both will improve as you mount
more levers and become familiar with the quirks of various models.  In this chapter I will outline the
procedure I use for mounting Truitt levers.  The second part of the building guide
(Chapter 19) will provide a more general discussion of various levers and the
principles that can be used to mount and regulate them accurately.

ß When they are
disengaged, Truitt Levers fall under the string

The lever consists of a base with three
or four slots for attaching the lever to the neck, the handle, a fret pin (or
barrel) to engage the string, and for wound strings a stop or hook.    Because they push up on the
string when they are engaged, they hold themselves to the neck.  This is one of their nicest features,
and allows novice harp builders to do a pretty good job if they are willing to
take their time and be fussy about it.

ßI like to work with the
harp laid on a table top (with the harp laid out flat).  The work is close to my eyes and hands,
parts fall onto the table top instead of the floor, I can keep the tools I need
close at hand, and work seated.

It is usually a bit trickier to mount
levers in the bass and treble octaves, so when someone comes to the shop to
learn how to mount their own levers, I have them start on the second octave.

The bass strings start to vibrate
harmonically when a string is plucked.
This can cause the needle on most electronic tuners to jump around
indecisively, so I place a rag over the strings on the bottom octaves to dampen
them.

I pluck the first string (lets say it
is an A), and note the reading on the meter.  It may be spot on, it may be 5 cents
sharp.   Let’s say it is
five cents sharp.  It is not
necessary to retune each string as the levers are added.  The main goal is to get the lever to
raise exactly ½ a step.

I slide the lever under the string,
engage it and pluck the string a second time.  Lets say the tuner now reads a B flat,
10 cents sharp.  The lever is
supposed to raise the string’s pitch exactly one half step, to 5 cents
sharp (remember that initial reading!).
The lever makes the string too sharp, so it needs to be moved up towards
the bridge pin, effectively making the string longer, flattening the
string.   If the string were
dead on, or five cents flat, I would move the lever away from the bridge
pin.  In the first and second
octaves small adjustments (an eight of an inch) are usually enough to change
the strings pitch significantly.    Most people rapidly develop
a good feel for how far a lever should move, and can get it within 2-3 cents of
a perfect half step.

After I am happy with a lever’s
position, I will check to make sure the lever is centered under the string and
the base is running parallel to the string.

While I hold the base down with one
hand I will flip the handle up and down.
The string should silently fall right into groove in the fret pin.   If does not, the base needs to be
shifted to the right of the left.
This will ensure that the harp player can silently engage and disengage
the levers.

1. Move the lever up and
down to sharpen or flatten the intonation.   Levers 2 and 3 will not engage or
disengage quietly.   Lever 2 is
pulling the string to side and needs to be moved to the right.   3. Check to see if the lever is
skewed.  4. The slots should be
aligned with the string.
Check for all three positioning requirements before pricking the divots
and drilling the screw holes in the neck.

I also sight between the edge of the
lever base and one of the strings to ensure that the lever is aligned with the
strings.   This has a cosmetic
benefit – aligned levers look great.
It is also a mechanical benefit.    Once the lever is screwed to
the neck, some will have to be shifted up or down.   If the lever is not aligned with
the string, the groove in the barrel will move to the right or left, it will
not be centered underneath the string, and the string will “twang”
as it is engaged or disengaged.

Useful Tip:

I use an imaginary line
along the lower left corners of the last two levers as a “first
guess” position for lever placement.

After I am happy with the placement of
the lever, I will use an awl to mark a divot to guide the drill point right in
the center of two elongated holes in the base.   I place screw in one of the two
slots at the top of the base and another below, preferably on opposite
corners.  Parallax can throw off the
positioning of the prick mark made with the awl, so move your head directly
over the lever to ensure the divot is truly in the middle of the
“well” created by the slot.

I usually position and mark four or
five levers at a time.  After I have
drilled and tapped the holes, mounted the levers and regulated them I will move
on to another set of five.

Some tips on Drilling and tapping

I remove the levers and use the divots
to start the holes for the machine screws.

Betty Truitt recommends using the
venerable mechanical hand drill for boring and tapping the holes.  I find an electrical drill will work if
I am careful about keeping the drill vertical and have good speed control.   The tap is especially fragile.  If the drill does not remain vertical,
or if an overly enthusiastic trigger finger bottoms out the tap on the tip or
the shoulder, it will usually break, leaving the tip in the hole.    It is impossible to remove
without making a mess of the neck.
With Truitt levers, this boo-boo will be covered by the lever, and you
can use one of the other mounting slots.
Still, those little taps are expensive, and I hate leaving a chunk of
hardened steel in the neck.

Ensure the pilot hole is deeper than
the tap (A).  A piece of tape
wrapped around the drill will make this foolproof.   Stop the tap before the shoulder
of the shank hits the neck (B).  If
you drive the tap in to far, or can’t keep the drill in line with the
hole, the tap can break.

The bit and tap will usually brush
against the strings while you are drilling.   The drill bit heats up enough to
melt nylon, and the tap is sharp enough to cut it, so I use the middle finger
on my left hand to hold the string to the side while my thumb and forefinger
steadies the chuck of the drill as it is lowered positioned between the strings

After the holes are drilled and tapped,
I attach the levers with screws and operate each lever one last time.

Top Octave

On strings less than seven inches long,
the Truitt base will usually be very close to (or right up against) the bridge
pin.  It is easier to fix the
regulation by tapping the pin in or pulling it out.

If the note is too flat when the lever is
engaged, I lightly tap the bridge pin in with a small punch and a hammer.  If it is too flat, I use pair of old
wire cutters (dull at the tips) to gently lever the pin out.   These adjustments are small,
usually about 1/32 of an inch at a time.

With
a worn pair of side cutters and piece of 3/8 dowel as a post or fulcrum, I can
lift pins without having to remove or take the tension off of the string.

There are usually several other pins
and strings running nearby, and you can’t press down on them for
leverage.   I place the post an
inch or so away, grip the tip of the pin with the tips of the side cutters on
the groove and press down on the handles.
To keep the post from scooting back, I press against the back of the
post with my thumb.

The post is about ¾” long
with a 10 degree bevel.

Wound Strings/Bass Octave

With wound strings, there are
significant changes in string diameter from string to string.   On these strings, I hold the lever
in its approximate location and center the string between the
“gate” formed by the lever base and hook.  Then I go on with same procedure used
for the middle octaves of the harp.

Frontal and side view of the lever and
string.  On the wound strings,
disengage the lever and center the string in the “gate”.

Bass strings are long, and harmonics
can make the indicator on the tuner dance around.  Damping the other strings and plucking
the string at the middle will make the readings more consistent and
accurate.

Because of the changing composition and
diameters of the strings over the last two octaves, my levers rarely fall into
a nice sweeping curve on the first try.
Before I mark for the holes, I position all of them where the tuner says
they are supposed to be (again, Truitt levers are nice this way.  They hold themselves in place when they
are engaged).  Then I go back and
double check the outliers (levers that are too high or low).   They can usually be brought into
line by moving the bridge pin in or out or pushing firmly down on the lever
(simulating the pressure the screw heads will exert on the lever base).

Honest confessions

On really hard
woods (Bubinga or Wenge) I will still break a tap off every 100 levers or
so.  It just happens.   Two or three days after I have
mounted the levers, I will go back and test each one last time to see if they
engage/disengage silently and they are properly regulated.  There are usually one or two that need
adjustment – sometimes new holes have to be drilled to remount the
lever.

The following table can be used to
troubleshoot most of the problems you will encounter with a wide variety of
levers.  Truitt and Loveland levers are vertical action –
they push the string towards or away from the neck.  Side action levers work by pushing the
string sideways.  Popular side
action levers include Pilgrim and the L&H performance levers.

Symptom

Likely
Problem

Solution

Poor
tone when lever is engaged

Loose
fasteners

Poor
alignment

Groove
to large

Tighten
Fasteners

Correct
alignment

Change
Fret pin

Buzzes
when plucked hard (disengaged)

Clearance
problem or a loose lever

Clearance
- Shift bridge pin in or out

Loose
lever – check each lever to see if it is loose or jangly, tightening
any loose base screws

Buzzes
when plucked hard (lever engaged)

Poor
alignment*

String
not held tightly against lever

Loosen
screws and straighten lever alignment

For
Vertical action levers pins, tap the bridge pin in (1/16”).  For Cam
action levers, move lever towards the string

Pitch
too sharp when Engaged

Lever
too Low*

Loosen
base screws, shift Lever up.  If
Lever is vertical action on top octave, manipulate bridge pin in or out to
tune.

Pitch
too flat when engaged

Lever
too High*

Loosen
base screws, shift Lever down.

Stiff,
hard to engage

Screw
too tight

Loosen
the screw, nut or rivet holding lever to base.  Apply graphite to the bearing while
working the lever up and down.

Repeatedly
becomes stiff a few days after loosening

Self-tightening

Worn
bushing

Use
Loctite to keep nut or screw from tightening during normal flipping.

Truitts
have small plastic bushings that can be replaced if they are missing or worn

Lever
does not stay engaged

Lever
arm Screw or nut too lose

Tighten
screw.  If looseness returns, use
Loc-tite to keep screw from backing out.

Base
Screws will not tighten.

Hole
is stripped*

Remove
screw, add drop of Superglue.  Let
it cure (2-3 minutes), replace screw

*In
extreme cases, it may be necessary to drill and tap new holes for base screws.

So,
I guess that is about it.  How to
build a harp.  Twelve easy
steps.  If you have gotten this far,
congratulations!

Copyright ©
2007, Rick Kemper

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