I'm thinking of getting a fancy new super-duper hg, and I'm deciding what features it needs. What are people's opinions of the various tangent options? My current hg has the traditional friction tangents, which are generally pretty good, but they do slip occasionally. Also, I sometimes like to tune my hg with quarter-tones to play Middle Eastern music, and this puts the tangents at an extreme angle, which seems to make them more likely to slip further.
Then there are the tangents that tighten with screws, which seem more stable. What are people's opinions of these? Any drawbacks, besides the obvious one that you can't take a screwdriver on a plane?
Then there are these metal tangents by Weichselbaumer:
http://weichselbaumer.cc/images/canto02.jpg
which can be adjusted in two dimensions, and which take up very little length in the keybox, so you could fit more strings into the hg without increasing the wheel size. Sounds like a great idea to me, but does anyone here have practical experience with them? They seem to be sheathed in some sort of black plastic or something. Does that wear out, and is it replaceable?
I play my hg about 4 hours a day almost every day, so I tend to wear out parts. My wooden tangents get grooves in them from hitting the strings so often, so I have to replace them occasionally. I think that harder tangents might wear the strings out faster, though, and that isn't good either. I'm guessing that tangents should be made of some material that's no harder than wood, and should be replaceable, or, for example, those plastic sheaths on Weichselbaumer's tangents should be replaceable. Also, I'm considering a pretty low-pitched hg, with heavy, wire-wound gut strings, and I imagine that the wire is tougher on tangents, and might also be more fragile. Does anyone have experience with wire-wrapped melody strings?
By the way, if any luthiers want to send their hgs to me for destructive testing, I'm available at reasonable rates.
Melissa
Hey Melissa!
I'll respond because I'm here, but there are others with more experience with what you're asking about who I'm sure will reply soon enough.
My US$0.02:
You will need a screwdriver-like tool to adjust those metal tangents, so I wouldn't disqualify screwed wood tangents based on that requirement.
I think that those "Weichselbaumer"-style tangents are very useful for the reasons you describe. For quarter-tone tuning, that style of tangent could probably be made with a "longer reach" if needed. The plastic material is easily replaceable if it wears out. As for string wear, assuming that a tensioned string has a limited life anyway, if you play four hours a day (you go, girl!) then your strings will not last as long as those on the instrument of someone who plays once a week or so, regardless of the tangent composition. *Any* style of tangent will contribute to the wear, and the tangent style will probably make minimal difference in your case. And plenty of people are playing with wire-wound melody strings - you won't be a stranger in a strange land!
~ Matt
