I understand. What we have to decide is the direction we are looking from. A
musical instrument or a blueprint.
For historical reference it needs to be as near to how it was originally. As
a musical instrument, it needs to have been maintained, with parts replaced
as they wear out or better practices evolve.
Teflon spray wasn't around when a Colson was being built so, I presume, the
key slots needed to be loose to allow for changes in humidity perhaps.
Good points.
It IS important to have something to compare with.
Still feels sad though................
Colin Hill
----- Original Message -----
From: "Simon Wascher" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: [HG] Hurdy Gurdies in museums information
Hello,
Am 03.06.2008 um 00:10 schrieb Mike Gilpin:
Actually the Colson wasn't as bad as the others. From my notes I see
that it needed a few tangents and touchpieces for the keys and the keys
in the upper register were very floppy in the key slots. I was surprised
to find the wheel only very, very slightly warped and ran true and the
shaft had no discernible endfloat or lateral movement. To get this
working again wouldn't mean losing any original features, just replacing
the odd key touchpiece, tangent and the chien. I suppose a very small
amount would be lost truing the wheel..........................
But then, as Graham said, they conserve not restore, which of course
makes it much easier for people like me to come along and study an
original unrestored item. This conservation / restoration dilemma is a
difficult nut to crack!
having an untouched and unrestored instrument is a very rare and very
important source of information:
From the acctual Colson one can for example learn, that the maker had a
way to create a very steady wheel and axle system, that "the keys in the
upper register were very floppy in the key slots" - things you cannot
learn from the restored instrument.
Sometimens even the frets are untouched, giving an idea of the tuning
system used 300 years ago - so even just making an instrument playable by
tuning it to todays taste might destroy a very rare and important bit of
information.
S.
---
have a look at:
http://hurdygurdywiki.wiki-site.com
http://drehleierwiki.wiki-site.com
---
my site:
http://simonwascher.info
