This page is the first of a series which are designed to help you maintain your harpsichord in good working order. It is not my intention to write volumes on each subject; rather, this is going to be a basic "how-to" guide for the everyday maintenance procedures for harpsichord care and feeding. The information imparted herein is fundamental, so if you have a problem that is not addressed in this or subsequent editions, you probably ought to seeking the help of a professional harpsichord maker or technician.

Tuning your harpsichord is a necessary and regular requirement, and rather than impose my murky prose on the subject I am honored to let Phil Sloffer of the Early Music Institute at Indiana University take you through the steps at the official IU Harpsichord Tuning site: Just click here!

The OWNER'S MANUAL is broken up into several pages so that you will not have to wait forever for the page to load. This also allows me to use larger images, essential for seeing the detail in the images. My hands are those you see in the images; they are not a model's hands and they show the wear and tear of harpsichord making over twenty-five years, so I hope you forgive their appearance.

Of all the little maintenance procedures that harpsichord owners must attend to, replacing a plectrum is perhaps the thorniest of issues. Unless you have voiced hundreds of jacks, replacing a plectrum can seem like a virtually thankless task. I frequently encounter harpsichords where the owners have simply switched jacks, rather than bother replacing a broken plectrum. So here is a short, and I hope easy, guide to replacing a broken or badly voiced plectrum.

First a few generalizations about jacks. There are many different kinds of jacks. They generally fall into two piles: wood and plastic. Beyond that, there are adjustable jacks which have one or two screws, and non-adjustable jacks, which have no screws at all. The jack on the left is a plastic, adjustable jack. It has a bottom screw and a tongue adjustment screw. The jack in the middle is wood, and is non-adjustable; it is fairly long, and quite thin, typical of jacks found in French-style harpsichords. The jack on the right is also wood and non-adjustable, but is thicker than the French jack; this jack is intended for an Italian style harpsichord. Wood jacks are frequently adjusted for length by either trimming the bottom to make them shorter, or by gluing bits of wood or cardboard to the bottom to lengthen them. Now, not to confuse you, but there are also non-adustable plastic jacks (like the Zuckerman jack), and adjustable wooden jacks.

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One other difference between jacks is worth noting right now: the spring. The spring is what keeps the tongue in an upright position; keeping the correct spring tension is essential to reliable jack functioning. At left is a brass spring in a wooden jack. Springs in wooden jacks can be made of a variety of materials, including boar bristle (original equipment), monofilament nylon fishing line, and wire of various sorts. The jack at right has an injection molded plastic spring wich is an integral part of the tongue. The plastic spring is very thin and is adjusted by crimping or bending. If the plastic spring breaks, the tongue must be replaced. Whether made of boar bristle, fishing line, metal or plastic, the spring must maintain only enough pressure to keep the tongue vertical

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You will require a set of tools for voicing. From left: a small jeweler's screw driver; a small pair of bent needle nose pliers; an Xacto (brand) or similar knife with a supply of #11 blades; plectra; and a wood voicing block. I prefer walnut voicing blocks if I am using white plectra, and a maple or boxwood voicing block when I am working with black plectra or quills. Plectra come in a variety of materials and sizes. Perhaps the most commonly available is Delrin plastic, available in white and black; another similar material is Celcon, which is black. Delrin plectra are available in a variety of thicknesses and come pre-cut in a tapered shape. I will address voicing with quill in a separate page.

The first step is to remove the damper and the old plectrum. When applying pressure to the plectrum and tongue, always support the tongue with your finger. Use a needle-nose plier to shove the plectrum out the back of the tongue. This is especially important when working on a wooden jack, because the plectrum mortice may be tapered from back to front. If the plectrum has broken off at the tongue, use the jeweler's screw driver to carefully push the remaining bit back through the tongue mortice.