Welcome William.
You are unlikely to hear anything kind about the kits on this list.
While it is *possible* to build a decent instrument from them, in
general it requires going far beyond the kits to correct mistakes in
them and to add in basic features. To put it in more familiar terms,
in most cases the kits would be like getting a guitar kit only to find
that the braces under the soundboard are in the wrong places, the neck
is really too short (so you need to custom make a new truss rod), and
the maker decided the five strings were all anyone really needed. If
you can search through list archives (there is a third-party site that
keeps them, but I can't seem to find it right now and the Hackmanns'
archives stop in 2003), you can find detailed information on all the
major kits. You won't find any that are generally felt to be even
acceptable in quality. There are a few who defend them as useful, but
even they seem to acknowledge that they are more useful for people who
find joy in building and tinkering than as something to get a good
instrument, i.e., if you like the process, you can have some fun, but
don't expect a good instrument from them.
Regarding plans, there are a number of them. You'd have better luck
asking about specific plans since some are good and some are not.
Also, what sort of instrument are you interested in building? If you
don't have a ready answer to that question then you really need to
know more about the types and what you want do to. (Again turning to a
guitar comparison, it would be like asking about guitar plans and now
knowing if you want to build an arch-top, a solid-bodied electric, or
a classical flat-top.)
I would highly recommend that you spend some considerable time playing
a hurdy gurdy before you try to build one so that you thoroughly
understand not just the theory of the mechanism, but also its
practical use. You are looking at something like ten times the time
and effort that would go into a decent guitar and it would be a huge
shame to waste that effort because you didn't have the experience to
know when something was wrong with a plan or with what you're trying
to do. There are some areas where a simple mistake can result in an
unusable instrument that can't be salvaged. Even with that knowledge,
it seems that most (although not all) people find their first
instruments to be unsatisfactory in at least one regard.
I'll leave others to discuss books for you.
-Arle
On May 27, 2008, at 1:53 AM, William Gull wrote:
Greetings unto the list!!!!!!
My name William Gull and I reside in Nevada, Iowa and I am a
first time poster to this list.. I am a silversmith and hand
engraver who does historical reenactments for both recreation and
and as a market for my hand work. It was through my love of both
medieval and 18Th century music that I was introduced to the
wonders of the hurdy gurdy. Since then it has been an ever
growing passion to learn to play one.
First things first, before learning to play I need to find an
instrument to play on. Being a hands on sort of person, I have
decided I would like to try building one. I know this will be a
definite challenge, but it is one I am willing to undertake. Like
any new project I undertake, I am starting by doing research and
gathering as much information as I can. There in lies the problem.
While I am slowly collecting and reading as many books on all
aspects of the hurdy gurdy as I can get my hands on, there seems
to be almost no information on the quality of the hurdy gurdy plans
and kits available. Does anyone on this list have any
recommendations or opinions on the commercially available kits and
building plans??? What would you recommend for the beginner as far
as must have books?
I appreciate any and all input that will get me closer to my goal
of learning the hurdy gurdy!!!!
In a shared hurdy gurdy passion,
William
