The musikit looks a lot like the EMS kit which they no longer do. There are some serious design issues with it. The worst is that the front axle bearing is housed in a bronze bush embedded in the bar under the chanterelle bridge. This pretty much guarantees a poor tone. I have re-built 2 of these to have a front bearing under the keybox end as it should be and the tone improves immensely. The other design problems can be lived with but still make for a fairly unsatisfactory instrument imho.
Neil -----Original Message----- From: Douwe Boschma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 10:21 Subject: Re: [HG] Kit or no kit? And if so which one? Hi Colin, I understood that indeed abo ut the Kit from www.musikit.com, but does that apply to all kits? Do you know about a builder that does builds proper budget ones? I am really pleased with all the replies by the way. I just won’t react to all of them but I appreciate ever one. Douwe From: Colin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: <[email protected]> Date: Thu, 3 Jan 2008 17:19:57 -0000 To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [HG] Kit or no kit? And if so which one? Whilst awaiting the comments from those who really know, everything I have read says NO KIT unless you really want the experience of building one for fun. Everybody seems to say that you will spend at least as much again to get it playable so it's no cheaper than buying a "proper" one d irect from a maker. There are good budget ones available or start saving for one. You get what you pay for with a HG. Personally I have no respect for EMS either because my dulcimer was badly built (I bought the "ready made" kit assembled by them) and the bits didn't fit properly and two of the frets are not set correctly (at an angle). I could have done better myself (indeed, I had done with a few bits of plywood and a bit of 2"x1" pine at night school). Colin Hill ----- Original Message ----- From: Seth <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> , To: [email protected] Sent: Thursday, January 03, 2008 4:42 PM Subject: Re: [HG] Kit or no kit? And if so which one? Kit or no Kit??? NO KIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never heard anything good about the kit you link too.. If I were going to buy a kit I would probably go with EMS because they seem to carry quality stuff.. I think its a diatonic instrument.. Anyone have experience with the EMS kits or EMS Symphony's... Cheers, Seth From the EMS website... NEW - EMS Symphony in kit form - 4 string symphony kit £ 276.38 Douwe Boschma <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Hello everybody, I am new on=2 0the list as well and I have a newbie question that I am unable to find an answer about. But lets start properly with a small introduction. I am Douwe, a 38 yo male living in the Norwegian moutains on a small farm with my wife and two girls (0 and 6). Originally I am Dutch and I work (amongst some of other trades) as a graphic designer. Since my youth I have had a medieval gen buzzing in my system. It expresses itself in many ways but it especially starts to resonate franticly if I hear the sound of the hurdygurdy. I get a lyrical feeling that I don't have with any other instrument even though I play some different instruments. Because of this lingering love I h ave been thinking for years about buying a hurdygurdy, but as with a lot of people my income goes straight into the household so I am on budget too low to afford one that would be to my taste. Because of this I decided to build one. I already have a plan for a hungarian HG from the music museum in Stockholm ;-) I love the "no-frills" form, it is a large one (and I am a very tall guy) and I expect a warm and rich sound, lest the right kind of tone wood will be used. But before I start with that undertaking I want to get a good feel for the instrument (on the inside and outside) so I considered buying a kit to get me going. Now I found two kits on internet. The musikit.com one is well advertised but also one that I'm sure I don't want because of it would need a lot of work to get a reasonable sound and versatility out of it. I am talking about this one: http://www.musikit.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=hurd y And I have found an other one that I can't find any additional information about and that is this one: http://www.masterkit.com/rwc/products/hurdy.htm I seems to have all the specs I am looking for except from a lacking key as I understood about this 18th century french model. But does anyone have experience with this HG-kit, or has anyone heard about it? Can I expect it to be good enough 20for a starter? Or is it a toy to hang on the wall? ;-). It is a budget thing really, as I can't spend more what that one would cost me. It is even above my budget. In usd bout 1000. In euros about 740. So that is the only option I found out about that might be a valid one, but it is something that I wish to validate with knowledgeable people! Maybe there are other options too that I don't know about! I'm all eyes and ears. Sorry for this very long mail, but I though that it would be right to show a bit about myself trough in it as I am new here. Any next on will be more to the point. With best regards, Douwe
