Re: [HG] Re: hurdy gurdy kits...or the DIY fanatics folly.Not being a luthier, I have always puchased my instruments. It is a great talent to carve and construct something. Not all Luthiers are musicians. I mainly play strings and some winds. I have owned two Hurdy Gurdy's, the first from a maufacturer from North Carolina. It was diatonic and I tuned it to Bb and played it with my bagpipes. I sold it because in my opinion it was a cheap starter instrument. The second was from a decent luthier from Europe. It didn't take long before the wheel warped and required Alden's magic touch to make it playable, some $1,000 later. It is playable now but still is inferior to the $2500 and up HG's.
The lessons I've learned are: (1) Do your homework (2) Ask for opinions (3) Don't make a haste decision (3) You get what you pay for, Don't go cheap All the analogies in the world don't add up to common sense. I regret not buying from the Alden's and Nagy's of the world. In the end I would have been better off because the repair costs started to add up quickly. Thanks, Mark from Niagara Falls, USA
