I have the Begali Sculpture which I recently bought. The prices on their web page are I think, a set price and are not changed as the Euro fluctuates. The exchange price the day you buy it is what you pay. I waited till the price hit a low and then bought.
I love the key itself but have a personal issue with it that will require I go back to my old jewelry making skills; it's the paddle's shape and how I hold my fingers when I key. The Sculpture paddles are designed to be used by those who touch the key with a fairly horizontal finger contact to the table. I'm a strings player for 50+ years and am used to holding a "guitar" pick not opposed, but with thumb forward and index curled behind so as to give equal pressure on the up-stroke & down-stroke while holding the pick equally with both digits. This affects how I contact the paddles themselves as my muscle memory is comfortable with that position and keying with my right hand, I contact the lower part of the Sculpture paddle perfectly well with my right index but the center of my thumb presses into the top of the left paddle as the paddles are beautifully made but asymmetrical with the top section being shorter than the bottom. After a while my thumb gets sore as it's the dead center of the thumb print that takes the pressure. Not a problem with the paddle or design of the paddles, it's just what I've learned to do doesn't fit this particular paddle. One possibility would be for me to use two right sided paddles and turn one upside down for the thumb side but that would not look balanced. So what I'm thinking of doing is making a set of paddles out of clay that reflect how my fingers actually contact the paddles and that will be a perfect contact for both the thumb and index finger. I'll then make a copy of this out of silver which is easy to cast and not all that expensive and use those instead. Another option would be to sculpt them out of wood but I think I'd get greater accuracy by making a mold of the exact contact and replicate that in metal. Not sure how to do that molding in plastic with what I have available. for the vast majority, the way these paddles are shaped is truly perfect. The key itself is absolute perfection and a joy to use. Gary KA1J --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
