Hi Rique My opinion is that the main factors for sweetness of tone are *absolute* flatness of the rim and a *perfectly* straight line from the rim to the nut. Without these correct, no amount of fiddling with shims, cotton, rosin is going to help . To check the rim for flatness, rest the edge of a ruler on one side of the rim and lay it down on the rim. If the wheel has a " crown" , the ruler will roll noiselessly over the rim with no indication as to when it is dead flat . If there is a hollow in the rim ( caused by cleaning the rim with abrasive just held in the hand ) , There will be a tiny click at the rule touches the other edge and you will easily tell when it is sitting on both edges. The perfectly flat wheel is half way between these conditions so there will be no click audible but you will feel when it is sitting flat .
Scraping the wheel sounds like a serious proposition but there is enough info on the net and it is well worth learning. One tip I've not seen is to make the protective block (for resting the scraper on the soundboard) have a slant so it looks like a wedge. This means that your flat scraper blade would actually scrape a tiny hollow in the rim if it was held perfectly . In practice, it's nearly impossible not to allow the scraper to wobble a bit so you end up with a flat rim. On Monday, July 2, 2012 6:18:14 PM UTC+1, Rique Meirelles wrote: > > > Hey, folks. > > As some of you may already know, I'm a begginer who's basically alone with > my gurdy in Brazil (I do have Augusto around, but he lives kind of far from > my city - plus, we play in different tunings). Anyway, I've been able to > overcome some bothersome problems such as sticky keys and some maintenance > issues, but there's this one tiny detail I can't seem to vanquish so soon: > the two chantarelles playing high notes together. I mean, the first keys > are ok, I don't have that much trouble on the first octave an a couple of > notes after it, but the really high-pitched notes are really hard to play > when both strings are on. > > How were you able to achieve a pleasent sound when playing those keys? Any > tips? > > > Kind regards, > > > Rique > > -- > "For he comes, the human child, > To the waters and the wild > With a faery hand in hand, > From a world more full of weeping > than he can understand." > > The Stolen Child - William Butler Yeats - > -- 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.
