Hi: I did warn you all that I would be back with all sorts of comments......
I thought I would explain some of the evolutionary history of the two hg's I have, in case anyone should be interested in such a sordid tale; and perhaps some thoughts on what comes next. Part 1: Kit Fits Nearly twenty years ago, after some mooning about, I thought of getting a hg. I had two options: the EMS Henry III, and the Musicmakers. Being congenitally cheap, I chose the latter. After some time and effort (not without some episodes of profanity), I had the instrument assembled, with a little ornamental embellishment here and there. Fairly soon, I noticed the poor thing's drawbacks: That it was diatonic was of course a limitation; but that seemed a rather large modification to tackle at the time, so I let it pass. The chief problems were the lack of a trompette; those awful pivoting drone bridges (this was an early model) and screw-in tangents, which were always letting loose at critical moments; the lack of adjustable nuts for the chanerelles; and the totally inadequate knob on the crank. The crank itself was rather upsetting from an aesthetic point of view, with the brass stock provided being too narrow to make a decent S shape. Anyway, I set out to 'improve' the instrument; replacing the bourdon bridge with a simple fixed bridge; adding an arrangement for the chien (with some helpful advice from a correspondent); relocating the anchor points for the drone strings; making chanterelle nuts, and a platform on which to seat them; and eventually making a new crank and knob. Once I had learned a little bit more, I replaced the tangents with traditional types. ( I also replaced the old main bridge, which had broken under the strain, with a stouter version.) Still, the problems of getting both chanterelles into proper adjustment, and trying to make sure the tangents were all evenly matched, was a continuing headache. I also felt something was missing in the sound; so I sacrificed one of the chanterelles and made it into a mouche. The last real 'improvement' to date was a pair of drone capos- essentially a sort of sliding nut for the bourdon and trompette. What next? Probably to get some *good* strings for the instrument, to see if that improves the tone, and to see if I can bring out the chanterelle a little bit more. Perhaps I might replace the old tuners with friction pegs ( as on the newer MM models), or maybe make a proper tailpiece to hold the trompette peg. I've been thinking about experimental actions, with an easier way of making a keybox; so I might - just *might* - make the old booger chromatic after all...... Coming soon: Episode 2: Flat Baroque Yours, Wm. Steinmayer Mystic, CT By now, I think I have a fairly playable instrument ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.
