Remember, an instrument set up perfectly from the factory will not remain perfectly set up for long without maintenance and adjustment.
Shimming, cottoning, adjusting, these are part of life for almost every instrument (mostly acoustic, but even solid body). Learning to make the necessary adjustments on an instrument, especially a hurdy gurdy, is part of owning one, and without that knowledge the experience will be less than stellar. Roy will, I am sure, be able to teach you the whys and hows of adjusting strings, shimming, tirant tension, wheel surface and rosin, etc. Doesn't matter how good your hands are at cranking and pressing, without being able to make the instrument perform mechanically correctly in a wide range of environmental situations, the art is not very impressive. I would suggest simply trying some shimming to get the contact area between the wheel and string more even and consistent. A pack of Tops cigarette papers is cheap, but you don't even need that - I have good luck with Trident gum wrapper paper (the thin stuff around each piece, not the foil stuff). And you get to chew the gum. You are not going to mess up the instrument with a little bit of shimming, just be careful to put in small shims that cover the entire notch in the bridge or nut. Chris *********** REPLY SEPARATOR *********** On 5/9/2007 at 7:58 AM Seth Hamon wrote: Sorry to hear about the Orca.. I just got an Orca made early this year and I'm not sure if it's the humidity change or weather or something but mine won't play the lowest A "last key on bottom" very well. If I turn the wheel very slowly and play the A it sounds ok.. If I turn the wheel at a normal speed it jumps the octave and sometimes makes a vibrating sound throughout the instrument... It only seems to happen on the A note.. Its very discouraging and I really haven't had a chance to get it right since I got it.. I don't know what I should do. Just about every song I try to play has that note in it and it makes me not even want to play at all with the awful sound I get on that lower A. I do have a local guy nearby "Roy" and I'm going to see if he can help me get it squared away. It may just be a climate issue. Only thing I noticed is where the string touches the wheel it seems to press more on the inside of the wheel (side closer to the keys) than on the outside. Roy told me something about using cigarette papers and adjusting the string height but I don't want to change it from the factory setting. Seth... P.S. Does your Orca have a wooden wheel or synthetic.. Mine is synthetic..... Here's a link on how humidity affects instruments.. http://www.fredsmusic.com/humidity.html "Gary F. Plazyk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hi, Michael! I had what sounds like a similar problem with my Volksgurdy - a hairline crack down the middle of the back seam. What's your environment like? Here in the Chicago area it gets really dry in the winter, which I think caused my problem. I've started keeping two guitar-sized Dampit humidifier sticks in the case with my hurdy-gurdy (one at each end), and try to keep the humidity up to at least 55%. Hint: I found the blue-to-pink indicator that comes with the Dampit stick to be useless; I got a humidity indicator at a pet store (for use in reptile cages ~ $4) and stuck it to the Dampit plastic guitar soundhole cover, which I keep in my case. Very best regards, -Gary P. Gary Plazyk Fuzzy Bear Farm [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://profiles.yahoo.com/g_plazyk http://www.BearCreekMusic.us http://www.RavenswoodMorris.org "Music is too important to leave to the professionals." -Robert Shaw
