Click to go to the harpersguild.com(tm) home page

Autoharp Repair Overview

Please Read: How to Help Our Site at No Cost to You - Some of our articles contain recommendations for products we like and vendors we personally trust. Some of those vendors may pay us a very small commission if you click on a link and buy their products. This costs you nothing at all and helps offset the costs of what we do. So if we point you to something you decide to buy later, please make certain you come back through our site and click on the link directly. Thanks.

This Site is a Cookie-Free Zone - Except for discussion forums that you have to expressly register for, none of our pages use cookies of any kind. Some of the vendors we link to do, but that won't affect you unless you click on a link to their pages. Your continued use of this page indicates that you agree to our policy. For details, click here.

Click to tips and a short list of your best options this year.

Click to visit the CreekDontRise Discussion Forums

Click to visit RiverBoatMusic.com's acoustic guitar buyers' guides

Click to visit RiverBoatMusic.com's banjo buyers' guides

Autoharp Repair Overview

Simple repairs are easier to do on most autoharps than on most instruments.

Autoharps are designed with solid blocks of wood at either end. Most autoharps built within the last 70 years or so are fairly solid with flat (non-warped) front and back. As long as you have that, the rest of the instrument can usually be repaired with patience and household tools and a few supplies. (That said, if the face is warped or split, you may be better off putting your energy into something else.)

We are publishing this article because we believe that knowing something about how autoharps go together will make simple repairs less daunting and make any repair easier. So this article is to lay a foundation for any repair, simple or otherwise, that you're considering.

Note: - Please note the "gotchas" toward the end of this article. Also, we can't guarantee that every reader will do the job carefully or that every autoharp is in reparable condition, or even in "spec" The vast majority of readers find our tips reassuring and have no trouble doing what needs to be done once they get the chord bar covers off and see for themselves how things go together. But not everybody. If things go wrong, we'll try to help, but nothing is absolutely fool-proof, and we can't guarantee things that are obviously out of our control.

Strings and Potential String Issues

Though non 'harp owners often get nervous about all those strings, and occasionally one does break, strings don't usually cause many problems on autoharps. So we're putting this section first to get that out of the way.

Autoharp String Material - Many people who dig out or acquire a used autoharp want to change the strings immediately. After all, that's what you do with guitars. But autoharp strings are made like piano wires and can last several decades with proper storage. In fact, I own a few century-old harps on which most of the strings sound nearly as bright as they did when they were new. (Yes, I own others as well. . . . . . )

So, unless they're rusty or very dull sounding, consider holding off on changing your strings until you're satisfied with every other aspect of your 'harp. You just may discover that the sound of your current strings is delightful, once they're in tune and everything else is working as it should.

I will mention that on older 'harps, and especially on European 'harps, the wound strings (the fat ones closest to your belly) will tend to start sounding dull before the rest of the strings. So if they still sound good, chances are the rest of your strings are fine.

String Mounting - The strings anchor at one end, either looping over little metal pegs, or hooking into slots. At the other end, they are wound around tuning pegs that are designed to screw right into the wood block. They also pass over at least one "bridge" (straight metal wire). On modern Oscar Schmidts, they bend around little metal posts before they hit the tuning pegs.

If the strings are attaching to the pegs and the slots properly, you're in good shape on that end. (Most autoharps that have the little metal pegs have detachable covers to keep you from snagging your sweater sleeves on them.) The only things that typically go wrong at that end are:

The detachable cover that protects the little pegs on Chromaharps and early model Oscar Schmidts breaks or gets lost. That doesn't actually affect sound or playability, and a lot of autoharp players don't let it worry them. (By the way, if your strings attach this way, you have a "Type A" autoharp, and you'll need "Type A" strings if you need replacements.)
The metal "anchor" bar with slots that hold the end of the strings on modern Oscar Schmidts has reportedly failed on some folks' autoharps. That piece can be replaced, of course, but I have never had to do so, so I don't know what the "gotchas" to that are. (If your strings are mounted through little slots in a metal bar, you have a "Type B" autoharp, and you'll need "Type B" replacement strings.)

On the other end of the string are the tuning pegs, which drill into the wood if you tighten the strings and pull out a little when you loosen them. The most common problem with these is when someone has broken a string, and they put the new string on without loosening the tuning peg a few turns first (the way you would if you were taking off an intact string). This drills the tuning peg farther down into the "pin block" than it's supposed to go, which can cause it to, essentially, strip. I know autoharp luthiers who can fix that, but I've never had to, so the main thing for me is to avoid that problem.

Chord Bars, Combs, and Covers

This is the mechanical part of the autoharp. It's also the part most likely to need minor repair.

The following drawing (not to scale) shows the principle working parts of almost every autoharp ever built (except for the Oscar Schmidt 21-chorders).

A simplified cross-section of an autoharp chord bar and its mounting. Click for a larger picture.

The following drawing (not to scale) shows the principle working parts of Oscar Schmidt 21-chorders (including the OS73C and OS73CE).

A simplified cross-section of a 21-chord Oscar Schmidt autoharp chord bar setup. Click for a larger picture.

A chord bar is a long square rod with felts glued to one side. On older autoharps, the chord bars are wood, or wood with a plastic cover. On most instruments built since 1970, they are extruded aluminum. The OS21 chord bars have a slot on the side opposite the felts that the chord buttons go into.

Each end of the chord bar rests on a little spring. On 15-chorders, the chord bar ends slide up and down in little slots that the springs sit in. On 21-chord Oscar Schmidts, the aluminum chord bars have holes and slots in the end. These sit over little posts like teeth on a comb. The springs sit on the post below the chord bars.

The bottom edge of each chord bar has felt pieces. As they come from the factory, they're usually in little blocks like the pictures show. Each block of felt mutes a string that doesn't belong in the chord. There are gaps over the strings that are supposed to sound for that chord.

For example, if you have a "C" chord bar, the felts will be in position to mute all strings besides C, E, and G. There will be open spaces wherever that chord bar crosses strings that play C, E, and G (except for low G and E on some autoharps. Go figure).

Above the chord bar is a felt or foam rubber pad that's supposed to keep the chord bar from clanking back into place when it's released. On 15-chorders and Chromaharp 21-chorders, the pads are at each end, over the comb. On Oscar Schmidt 21-chorders, the pad is on the underside of the chord bar cover.

Most Likely Points of Failure include:

Loose or Missing Felts - Those little felt blocks on the underside of the chord bar may come loose as the factory glue dries out. That will allow strings to sound that shouldn't. And, if they get stuck in the strings, they'll block other chord bars from coming down all the way. If you don't actually lose the little block of felt, you can remove the chord bar and glue the felt back into place, checking the other felts to make certain they're not loose, too. (I'll explain how to remove and examine the chord bars separately.)
Worn Felts - The felts can get so worn that they no longer mute the strings properly. Minor indentations where they press against the strings are fine. Deep gouges may not be.
In the "worst case" in most felt issues, you can buy a new strip of felt and cut it to make the chord you need. Sometimes you can even buy replacement chord bars for your instrument, though those come and go.
Missing Button - The buttons almost never break off a 15-chorder, or the Chromaharp 21-chorder, but if they do, and you still have them, you can usually epoxy them back on. You can often buy replacement buttons if the old button has been lost, but those come and go.
Weakened Pad - The felt or foam rubber pad that is supposed to keep the chord bars from clanging into place when they are released may become thin and hard, or - if it's foam rubber - may disintegrate altogether. This causes the chord bars to be noisy when they are released. Enterprising autoharp owners have made their own pads, and made them thicker so the chord bars sit closer to the strings, making the autoharp easier to play.
Broken Comb - The problem that usually causes the most panic among beginning players is a comb breaking or getting dislodged. Then the chord bars spill out willy-nilly, and their springs all go to who-knows-where. You can usually buy replacement combs, or ask around an autoharp forum to see if anyone has them. You will also need to count the springs you can find and order the rest. But the repair is usually as simple as screwing the new comb in place, putting the screws in place, putting the chord bars in place, and fastening the cover(s) back on.
Some folks recommend replacing your entire chord bar set every time something like this happens. I'm not a fan of extreme measure. For one thing, a new chord bar set generally costs as much as a good used autoharp in playing condition. And ordering a new set of chord bars will NOT make your job any easier.
String Anchor Problems - This affects Oscar Schmidt "Type B" autoharps - the ones with a slotted aluminum bar that holds the ends of the strings. The bar isn't fastened down permanently, and string pressures sometimes cause it to pull "north," eventually damaging the face of the instrument. If it goes too far, the instrument can become irreparable, so some experienced luthiers automatically fix this whenever a "Type B" crosses their path. If you're not familiar with woodworking tools, you might want to get someone who is to help with this project.

Gotchas

"Gotchas When Working on Autoharps. I'll repeat this elsewhere, but you need to keep in mind:

When you take a string off, always loosen the tuning peg, even if the string isn't attached. Turn it two or three times so when you put the new string on, you'll be tightening it back to where it belongs, not drilling it too deep into the pin block - yes, folks have all but destroyed their harps this way. .
Springs can stick to the chord bars as you pick them up, even if you're careful. Be very careful that the springs stay in place. (Autoharp owner Wendy Grossman warns us not to disassemble Autoharps over shag carpet. She also recommends putting a dab of superglue on the bottom of each spring to keep it in place permanently, though I haven't followed that recommendation.)
On Oscar Schmidt 21-chorders, the chord bar buttons are not attached permanently to the chord bars, so they slide around and come out easily. It's easy to lose track of which chord bar is which. When you remove ANY chord bar from an OS 21-chorder, look to see if the chord name is written on the chord bar. If it's not, write the chord name down on the side of the bar with a Sharpie. Immediately. This is true, even if the chord bars have "sequence numbers" on them. I almost always move my chord bars around on my 'harps, so the sequence numbers are worthless once the 'harp leaves the factory.

Consider a Junker - Folks who receive their first autoharp tend to think of it as a magical device (it is), and they fear that they will destroy the magic if they tinker with it (it won't, if you're careful). The cure for that is to find an old, cheap autoharp that you can afford to mess up and dissect it first. You'll learn a lot, and it will help you know how to handle things when you try to repair or tweak your "good one." More likely than not, you'll discover that once you've brought the "junker" into playing condition, you'll enjoy it so much you'll want to keep it as a spare.

Autoharp Repair Overview

Autoharp Repair Overview

Strings and Potential String Issues

Chord Bars, Combs, and Covers

Gotchas

Other Articles and Resources