> > On Mon, 24 Oct 2011, Steven Tucker wrote: > >> That is a very curious statement to make: That it will cost a lot of money >> to make your own instrument. >> >
> On Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 4:57 PM, Alden F M Hackmann < > [email protected]> wrote: > For a professional level of instrument, I believe this is the case. Still looking for details as to where the money will be spent. What tools would you consider essential to build an instrument, and why would it not be possible to use a cheaper alternative? For example I know from experience that it's possible to tune up a cheap $15 hand plane to work just as well as a high quality $300 hand plane. (Although I admit there's no point in sharpening a $2 plane blade when there are Hock blades for under $40.) > . . . > Wow, what shop bandsaw costs $10,000? Perhaps I should have put "$10,000" in quotes. It's something of an in-joke among the luthiers I know. However, any good re-sawing band saw that will handle up to 24" boards will run you from $8,000 upwards of $20,000. > > I wish it were that simple. It's not just a matter of time, and it's not > just a matter of tools: it's a matter of skill. As builders, we serve the > sound of the instrument, and to get a really good sound requires substantial > skill, time, good tools, and good materials. [snip. . .] > I suppose any argument here depends on what you mean by "really good" sound. It is possible in this Internet age for a complete beginner to do enough research to find out what exactly makes for an exceptional sounding instrument and to devise testing and analysis methods to actually create an exceptional sounding instrument. Although I freely admit that the Gurdy's Chladni patterns, acoustic response characteristics, frequency response curves, etc. have not been mapped out so far as I can tell. So here's another question for you all: Is there an exceptional "Gurdy" sound? To a Classical Guitar player and a Flamenco Guitar player there is a huge difference in sound between a Classical Guitar and a Flamenco Guitar -- to anyone else they sound the same. Is this true for the Hurdy Gurdy as well? All of the various gurdies I've heard in person (YouTube doesn't count) have all had their own individual "voices", most quite different from the others. Would anyone ever say about a hurdy gurdy "that's an interesting sounding instrument, but it doesn't sound like a hurdy gurdy"? As to good materials, I know several luthiers who won't use anything but old growth European Spruce grown above 7000' on a north slope. But then I've heard several exceptional sounding guitars built from locally sourced coastal Douglas Fir. (and one really good sounding guitar built by Bob Taylor made from a shipping pallet.) > > I'm not trying to dissuade people from building their own instruments, just > to dissuade them from having unrealistic expectations about doing so. > I'll go back to my original contention (unstated) that it's not only possible, but probable, for a beginner to build a well-working, good-sounding, playable instrument without spending very much money provided they are willing to put in many more hours than would be reasonable in any production or professional level shop. Lack of skill and knowledge can be overcome by time and diligence. -Steve P.S. For what it's worth, the old builders who sawed their own wood to thickness > and cut it with planes and saws and scrapers and files were AMAZING. > However, they also spent years and years learning their craft as > apprentices, so that by the time they were building, they had amassed ten or > twenty solid years of hand skills that I can only dream of having. That's > not 500 hours, it's more like 25,000 hours. The Industrial Revolution > changed all that, and now we do it differently, investing money in tools > instead of time in skills. Either way, to get a good quality result, you're > going to have to make an investment somewhere. > Ok, this is off topic from the original thread, but I have to say my understanding of the apprentice system is that the seven years working in the shop was required to pay back the master who only slowly doled out the knowledge, since he was effectively training his own competition. That's still true today. -- 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.
