Fine tuning is achieved by turning the screws with a provided Allen wrench.Īfter installing the fine tuners I replaced the old chrome anchor cover with laminated cherry stained to match the autoharp body. With this fine tuner assembly, each string is threaded through a small cam and secured to the anchor bar with an Allen screw and a washer. The poorly designed OS cams raise and lower the individual strings causing inconsistent damping, making it necessary to periodically level and re-tune all of the strings.
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The assembly weighs a few ounces more than the original bar but far less than the Oscar Schmidt fine tuners that weigh a full pound.Īnother superior feature of the Schreiber fine tuners over the OS tuners is the flat bridge that keeps each string level regardless of how much the tuning cams are adjusted. It fits into the pocket in the same way as the original anchor bar but can be secured with screws and shimmed so that it is unlikely to attempt escape. I replaced this with a fine tuner assembly made by Greg Schreiber. Twenty-one chord C models have an aluminium anchor bar that fits more or less snuggly in a pocket routed in the frame, and sometimes string tension exerts enough force to pull the bar forward and up. After everything was clean and tidy I hand polished everything with Meguier’s, a gentle, non-silicone automotive clearer wax. Where the finish was worn thin, I sanded it with 400 grit paper and touched up with semi-gloss lacquer.
I polished the tuning and bridge pins by looping a cloth shoelace around each one using a see-saw motion.
The surface dirt on the outside was removed with a damp cloth. The cherry colored finish had the usual nicks and thin spots, and visible inside the sound hole were some unacceptable glue runs and globs. Upgrading this autoharp to the level of the luthier built instruments that he currently owns and plays called for new strings, fine tuners, a new chord array, and a thorough cleanup.Īfter the old strings and hardware were removed the cleanup involved scraping and sanding the hardened glue inside the sound hole. The felt was scored, the buttons were worn and discolored, and the strings were near the end of their life.
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Everything, including the plastic case, seemed to be original but worn and soiled from forty plus years of use. He had been searching for this model for some time and was excited when this this instrument arrived in fair condition. An autoharp musician and friend here in Ohio purchased this 21 chord Oscar Schmidt “Appalachian” from an online auction.