Hello Mike, I am new to the world of hurdy gurdy's and this is my first post on this forum. We seem to be in similar circumstances, want a hurdy gurdy but find it hard to spend the money, for whatever reasons. I decided to build my own. I build furniture as a hobby, but have never made a musical instrument. I started making tools for and reading about violin-making. During one of my internet searches for violin-making I stumbled upon information on hurdy gurdys...then I found out the cost, Gulp.
I found a beautiful set of plans that Graeme McCormack graciously offers for free download. He has a website at http://sites.google.com/site/mccormackgraeme/antiquatedstrings His website is called Antiquated Strings. I think he has three different models that he's made and they are truly beautiful. I chose 'Jiri", his lute-backed gurdy. I too thought I couldn't make something so complicated, but what do I have to lose? I never carved anything before but have finished the carved peghead and it turned out great. Now I KNOW I can do it. I think you can build one from scratch too. Don't imagine the finished gurdy, but break it down into baby steps. Enlarge your plans to full-size, pick one piece and build it, build the next piece, and so on. This is going to be a journy, but costs will be minimal and I will learn alot in the process. I think you could build one! Tim On Oct 17, 5:40 pm, maesoph <[email protected]> wrote: > Dear All: > > Per your advice, I have contacted Hurdy Gurdy Crafters and am quite > pleased with the responses from Mel and Ann there. However, I don't > think I can tackle a Hurdy Gurdy from scratch and can't really afford > the kit. Is there any middle ground out there somewhere? I need to > make an HG that ultimately can be sold, so quality has to be there, > but I can't shell out $900 for a complete kit and only sell the HG for > $1200 or so (just guessing, but it's unlikely I would get more unless > I was a Pro at this). Any chance of getting material cost down to > $500 or less?????? Any ideas would be appreciated - maybe I should > take this straight to Mel and Ann though??? > > Mike -- 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.
