balls on the soundboard

[amyfinck]

Hi!

I was looking at a used harps online, and I found a lever harp with what looks like little balls in between the higher strings on the soundboard. Does anyone know what these are or why they would be put there?

• This topic was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by amyfinck.

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[catherine-rogers]

Those are string pegs to prevent the string knot from coming up through the hole in the soundboard. One still sees those on some very old harps. Not used anymore.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 10 months ago by catherine-rogers.

[amyfinck]

I see, thank you!

[carl-swanson]

Catherine- Just an added comment. The ones on very old harps were meant to look like ivory. They were never ivory, but were made of cellulose, a 19th century form of plastic. Cellulose was also used to make dice and billiard balls, among other things. The problem with it is that it is very unstable and deteriorates over time(a long time). So those “ivory pegs” and the old eyelets should never be reused when replacing the soundboard.

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