I have some pictures on this site: http://woodysmusic.ning.com/profile/DaveLeonard
Here it is again in case this group is set up not to like links. http://woodysmusic.ning.com/profile/DaveLeonard There is a photos section there in the menu at the left. I have a few pics with the hurdy-gurdy in them. The music starts playing automatically, and most don't have a hurdy gurdy in them, but it's easy to shut off. That's on the left, too.. I singy traditional Celtic and American folk ballads and usually just use the hurdy-gurdy for vocal backup. I've been told by many that the old modal ballads (murder, dark and sad types) I play sound perfectly "right" using the hurdy-gurdy this way. When I do complex melodies, I use my fiddle or 5-string banjo, which I've played a lot longer. I built my first gurdy in 1998 and have made a total of ten, three of which were special ordered. I kept number eight for myself, as my then teenage daughter did the artwork and swore she'd never do that again! I've build a couple of dozen mountain dulcimers, a couple of large sized gourd banjos, three minstrel type banjos, a half dozen or so bodhrans and three Irish bouzouki's so far. Most of them did not have an extreme amount of high end fit and finish, but looked good as a folk craft type instrument. I did make a bouzouki with a very professional look for a friend for as a Christmas gift (he was a teen and his father commissioned it). That may have taken longer to make than any of my gurdies did. Not sure right off where pics of these other instrument's are, as I stopped building about six years ago and put everything away (still tinker in the shop some). I have RA and it's too much effort these days to build anything complex. I still play gigs, though, with a local group called Tinkers Folly. I'll keep playing as long as I can make music on something. Dave in Michigan The Hurdy-Gurdy Man, ________________________________ From: Pete <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 8:25 PM Subject: Re: [HG-new] Re: Affordable Hurdy Gurdy Construction How about some pics? Pete from Estacada ----- Original Message ----- >From: Dave Leonard >To: [email protected] >Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 3:48 PM >Subject: Re: [HG-new] Re: Affordable Hurdy Gurdy Construction > > >Just jumping in on this, I have built several hurdy-gurdies from scratch. >Only the first one had playing issues. I use only typical shop tools that >most garage tinkerers would have around (antique table say, Chinese scroll >saw, small Chinese drill press and small bench sander and a bunch of basic >hand tools, and some homemade spool clamps. I have less into my shop tools >than most people pay for a new hurdy-gurdy from a reputable builder, and I >can use them over and over for other projects. I have never spent more than >$150 dollars for instrument parts, and have not spent more than three or four >months of three to six hour days about four days a week on building one. It is > fun and only requires a modest amount of woodworking skill and a lot of >patience. Anyone who has heard my hurdy-gurdy I've been playing since 2000 can > vouch for the sound quality. The looks are a bit primitive compared to the >fit and finish of someone who does this for a living, but it does have a rather cool handmade folk look to it. Perfect for the corner beggar-man hurdy-gurdy player. Besides that, it was fun to build! > > > >Dave in Michigan > > > >The Hurdy-Gurdy Man, > > > > > >________________________________ > From: Steven Tucker <[email protected]> >To: [email protected] >Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 4:16 PM >Subject: Re: [HG-new] Re: Affordable Hurdy Gurdy Construction > > >That is a very curious statement to make: That it will cost a lot of money to >make your own instrument. > > >I'm fairly certain that most hurdy gurdies made in the last thousand years >prior to the 1950s were all made with hand tools -- probably just a few saws, >a carving knife, and maybe a gouge or two. Sure, you can use a 10,000 dollar >band saw to cut the wood, but a hand made Bow Saw will work just fine. It >will take about twenty times longer is all. > > >Perhaps you're also accounting for time spent. With expensive specialized >tools and jigs a professional builder might take 20 to 200 hours building an >instrument (depending on the "add-ons" such as inlay). A beginning >woodworker with a couple of hand tools might expect to spend 50 to 500 >hundred hours building a relatively simple instrument. > > >So if you are one of those people who believe that the only instrument worth >having is one with superior craftsmanship, exquisite detail work, a flawless >mirror finish, and a famous maker's name, then you'll just have to pay the >big money. If you're a musician and just want a great sounding personal >instrument (and don't have a rich uncle or girlfriend) then I say grab the >tools you have, gather the materials you can find and start putting in some >hours. > > >-S > > >On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 11:28 AM, Augusto de Ornellas Abreu ><[email protected]> wrote: > >Just be prepared to spend a lot more than the cost of a luthier-made gurdy if >you want to build your own. >> >>You will have to go through many fumbled attempts when building each of the >>pieces, you will have to make your own specialized tools, you will need to >>get a hold of some expensive equipment to make those tools and many of the >>specialized parts (you can save by buying some more difficult parts from >>HGCrafters, etc, for example) >> >>Building a gurdy from scratch makes no sense if you think about cost only. >>You will probably spend way more than if you just bought one from a maker. >> >> >> >>-- >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. > > > >__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6571 (20111024) __________ > >The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. > >http://www.eset.com >-- >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. __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 6571 (20111024) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com -- 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. -- 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.
