Thanks, Neil, I almost sent you a photo of my G drone off-list, to show how it's starting to unwind at the bridge, but you've anticipated that question. I'll try a bit of the superglue as you suggested. I do tend to slide them back and forth on the bridge rather than lift them and set them down. In retrospect, remote disengagers for the two drones would have been nice. (Let that be a tip to anyone buying an instrument from Neil, spend the extra money on the drone disengagers. And the chanter lifter buttons are nice too...I got one on my high d" chanter, and it's very handy). I haven't had a chance to look at the broken d drone string on my friend's Phoenix yet, so I'm not sure what caused the problem there and whether or not the string is repairable. Seems to me I've been stripping away the winding and glueing down the loose end like I was supposed to. I was using D'Adario Pro-Arte d cello strings, I think in the 3/4 size. That's silver winding on a perlon core, like the Alliance. So maybe there isn't a bulletproof cello string out there to switch to after all. Mitch [email protected]_ (mailto:[email protected]) writes: For years I've used and recommended Pirastro Aricore Cello C & G for bourdons in D & d. They are a fine sound and treated carefully, last for ever. You must take care to lift them off the bridge and lower them into the required slot. Sliding them sideways is not good.
A solution to the problem would be to paint the string in the bridge area with thin superglue . that won't harm the playing quality but will stop the winding twisting when you slide it. A further option is to use Savarez alliance strings. These are silver wire wound on a solid perlon core. Even if the outer wire breaks, the core will not and indeed you can strip the wire from the bridge area ( sealing the cut ends with superglue ) and play on with impunity. The drone will actually pick up faster if you do this. The final solution is to get remote disconnectors fitted but that's another story. Snapping at the tuning peg is often caused by the winding not being stripped where it goes through the peg. The stress caused will damage the core. On May 11, 12:43 am, [email protected] wrote: > I seem to be a wound drone string's worst enemy. > > In the course of owning my previous gurdy (a Gotschy Phoenix DG) for 5 > years, I must have replaced the d petit bourdon drone 4 or 5 times, and now (in > the hands of the new owner, a friend) it needs another one. Sometimes they > unwind at the tuning peg before they snap, other times it's at the string > rest where the deterioration starts. Also the G (GC grand bourdon) drone on > my new Brook 3-chanter is starting to unwind between the string rest and > the crank end, and I've only had it about 5 months. > > Meanwhile my wife's DG Boudet has had the same petit bourdon drone for 10 > years. > > What am I doing to these poor drone strings? Or, more to the point, are > there sturdier drone strings that I should be using? I've been buying the > silver-wrapped cello strings, but I'm willing to sacrifice a bit of sound > quality for some durability. > > Suggestions? > > Thanks, > Mitch Gordon -- 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.
