Mel, I just received a couple of Wonder Strings from Neil Brook. He said that they'd take a while to set up, but I found them very easy to use and followed his advice about cottoning only 5 mm near the bridge. No warbling at all, just a bit of experimentation with shimming, and I'd say I had the string set up and relatively *pitch stable* within fifteen minutes. I'm kind of curious whether the same cottoning technique would have worked for the harp string (I'm guessing it would have helped), but since this works I don't want to pull it off to try again. The string has a nice clear tone that still manages to blend well as a 12th with the G and g strings on my instrument.
I really like the tuning Simon suggested as the 12th is almost imperceptible as its own pitch but creates a very rich sound when combined with the other two strings. If I omit the G and run just g and d'' it's apparent that it's parallel fifths, but is quite pleasant, unlike some open fifth tunings I've tried. I think I'm going to try to add a set of capos to my drones using levers (I think Neil Brook does this on his instruments) an then I could use it as a solo string as well by raising the trompette to d' and mouche to A. I think it would be a good solo string for something where I wanted to play high up. -Arle On Apr 5, 2010, at 9:55 AM, Melvin Dorries wrote: > Arle, > > I have had the same experience with d" and can relate to your frustration > completely. > I too had inquired about it and to no avail about a year or two ago. Let me > assure you that you are not crazy! > > My solutions did not work including using the wonder string in .70mm and > .68mm. Also, new string did not help when compared to the relatively older > string that caused the warbeling. After pondering and trying everything that > I could think of I thought that it must be the relationship between wheel and > string. My conclusion was to use creative cottoning which did not allow the > string full contact with the wheel surface. I tried about 3mm wide > applications of cotton on the middle of the wheel, the back of the wheel and > finally the front of the wheel. The front application did the trick but not > every time... go figure... > This was the only thing that worked for me. > > If you figure out the whys and wherefores please let me know. I now have less > hair due to this baffeling encounter. May your follicles be blessed. > > Hurdygurdycrafters > Mel > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hurdygurdy" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy The rules of posting, courtesy, and other list information may be found at http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm. To reduce spam, posts from new subscribers are held pending approval by the webmaster. To unsubscribe, reply using "remove me" as the subject.
