To install it, it is first necessary to remove the cover (See Section 3.1) and the screws holding down one of the chord bar holders. Usually this will be the bass end of the bars, unless you want to place the controls at the other end. You may or may not need to loosen the screws holding down the chord bar holder on the opposite side slightly, but you will not need to remove them. You will have to remove a few of the chord bars in the middle of the set, but it is really just as easy to remove the whole set. Place them in such a way as not to get mixed up when returning them to their places (In case you do get them mixed up, see the standard chord bar order near the end of Section 3.3).
Slide the pickup element under the center of the chord bar holder straight across the top of the instrument. The thin extension on either end fits into the center recess on the bottom of each chord bar holder. Be careful to align it such that the coil is under all of the strings, or else the strings that are not directly over the coil will not be picked up. (The coil is hidden under the black plastic cover running most of the length of the pickup.)
You can, though it is not required, screw the pickup to the face in order to insure that it will not slide sideways. To do this, you will have to find a pair of suitable screws, drill holes of a size appropriate for your screws through the metal backing where the holes are in the black plastic cover, and drill smaller diameter pilot holes into the face through these holes once you have the pickup element aligned.
Once you have the pickup element in place, screw the chord bar holder back into place and replace the chord bars.
We should note at this point that in the design of this pickup, no allowance has been made for the thickness of the wires when the dimensions of the parts were established. The chord bar cover can either be forced over the wires when it is screwed into place, or you can first cut a notch into its edge to accomodate the wires.
The control unit is intended to be mounted on the side of the chord bar cover, and the provides screws are just long enough to bite into the plastic cover for this purpose. You should predrill your holes with a smaller bit. Again, the dimensions do not allow space for the wire to run between the face and the provided notch. If you have forced the cover over the wires, you have already provided a bit of space for the wires; otherwise you may want to make a new notch in an end of the unit. Locate it where it will be most convenient for you. An alternative location would be on the wooden side of the instrument, in which case you will need to find a different set of screws with adequate length to bite into the wood. Because the side wood is maple, you will need to predrill it with an adequate sized bit for your screws. Your most important consideration when establishing the exact location of the control unit is that it will not get in your way when playing the instrument, depending on how you hold it.
Most autoharp cases have sufficient room to accomodate the additional space required for the pickup control unit. To protect your pickup's control unit, it would be a good idea to add padding to the side of the case so as to support the autoharp along its wooden side, leaving a gap where the control unit casing is located.
The pickup can also be used
on 15-bar autoharps, but an additional adaptation will have to be made.
The 15-bar chord bar holders do not have a recess on their underside to
accommodate the pickup ends.
Because the extensions on the ends of the pickup are thin, it is possible
to simply screw the holders directly down over them, but it would be
better to mark the locations (centered, and the width of the element) and
use a file to make recesses for them. As simple as files are, though, they
are not easy to cut a square recess with unless you have some experience
with them.
The rest of the proceedure is the same as for a 21-bar autoharp.
If you have a way of securing the autoharp to the table or other work surface, it will make your life easier. Otherwise the layout of the three feet on the back of the autoharp makes the instrument prone to rocking back and forth as you try to work on it.
The tuning pins have a thread to them, such that they descend into the hole as you tighten them. When removing the old strings, back off the pins adequately. Use of judgement is necessary, depending on how the pins are set when you are starting, but four or five turns is usually about right (I most commonly use 4 1/2 turns). If a string is broken, you still need to back off the pin so that it will be correct when you install the new string.
Getting the loop or ball end of the strings to stay in place while you are starting the tuning pin end can be a problem. On ``A''-style autoharps, you may want to use a piece of masking tape to hold the loop in place on the pin.
On standard ``B''-style instruments, a small block of wood about 5/32" thick can be a great help. After placing the string end in its slot, slip the block of wood behind it, so that the string cannot slip out while you're dealing with the other end.
Also note that the ball ends on the La Bella sets are slightly larger than those on the Oscar Schmidt sets, and sometimes it is necessary to remove the flat guard plate from the back of the slot to give yourself a little more room for inserting the ball ends.
On ``B''-style autoharps with fine tuners, each fine tuner needs to be completely unscrewed to change the string. When screwing the fine tuners back into place, make sure that you line them up to a uniform height.
Now, on to the tuning pin end:
In order to have uniform windings on the tuning pins, you need the free lengths of the strings beyond the tuning pin to be uniform. The strings as they come are pretty close to the appropriate lengths, but you will want to clip some of them with a hard wire cutter before winding them on the pin. To establish the length you need, first affix the loop or ball end, then thread the end of the string through the tuning pin. When (semi-)stretched, it should stick out about the width of three fingers beyond the pin. Cut off any that remains beyond this distance, then withdraw the string to where only about 1/8" to 1/4" remains sticking out of the pin hole, crimp the long side against the side of the pin, and keep it taught with one hand while turning the pin with the other. With a little practice you can use the string hand to guide each wrap under and up against the previous one.
Tighten each string enough to come somewhere close to its final pitch and go on to the next string. It's easier to tune them all afterwards.
Also be aware that the strings initially will stretch out as they get accustomed to being under tension, and will require several tunings before they start to really stay in tune.
See Section 2.8 for more about tuning.