My Hubbert has always been pretty stable even right out of the shipping box it came in but it’s seen a LOT of different weather since then (20 plus years ago now) and has become fairly predictable in its reactions. It travels in a cotton bag inside a soft case that is pretty well insulated unless I’m flying and then it travels in a Pelican case.
For the most part it’s major changes in humidity that really messes up the tuning so if I’m taking it from a dry car into a damp room I expect it to need at least half an hour to settle in before I do tuning corrections. Depending on the level of change, of course, this can take more or less time. I always try to leave at least an hour before gigs to allow it to fully adapt to the changes (treating it something like is described by opening the case and letting it get slowly more exposed to its new environment) and expect to do more tuning at the break if a heater gets turned on, if someone opens a window, if it’s raining a lot and more people come in with their wet clothes, etc. Excessive dryness has also been a problem, though, with playing at a renaissance faire in Arizona being the worst time, ever. No matter how I tried to keep it hydrated it was almost impossible to do so due to something like 15% humidity being the average. So, even though it wasn’t terribly hot (in the mid 80s most of the time) and we were mostly able to stay out of the sun, most of the time I was only able to play about ten-fifteen minutes at a time before the rosin would slick up, the cotton would get choked with dust and the pitch would go seriously south. The good part about this was that I can now usually do a complete set up (from cleaning the wheel to being ready to play) in about fifteen minutes, ten if I don’t have to talk to anyone. At the time it would bring me to tears, though, because for every one of our five sets of the day I would have to set it up from scratch to get it to play for that short period. Not easy, especially for the five or seven weekends we were there! But it was good experience in terms of learning my instrument and how to make it work in difficult situations. But once in a while I don’t have that hour plus to allow it to adjust. This hardly ever happens because William and I are chronically ridiculously early for gigs but once in a while events conspire that put us behind schedule. We arrived at one festival with only the time to change our shirts, grab our gear, literally run to the stage and immediately start playing- and my Hubbert was in perfect tune even after several days on the road in its case. It did need a tweak or two midway through the set but nothing major. On the other hand, I’ve had times where I’ve done every last damn thing entirely correctly to make sure the creature is happy, adjusted and ready to go- and had to stop almost immediately to make some major fixes. So… there you go. F. > On May 2, 2016, at 2:21 AM, Michael Muskett <[email protected]> > wrote: > > I have read many complaints that the HG always needs constant adjustments. It > occurs to me that beginners may not realise that hur dy-gurdies swell and and > contract with the changes in temperature and humidity, changing the pressure > of the strings on the wheel. > Bouin, writing in the 18th century, recommended that instruments should be > kept away from heat in a stable environment. wrote, 'On rising you should > place the vielle in your bed, covering it well. And tat was central France > where the climate is fairly stable. In Britain we are between two weather > systems in constant conflict.. . And the US with its many weather systems. > How do you cope? Sorry. I mean how do you manage? I am told that Americans > do not cope. They fix it. > Happy days. >> >> [email protected] >> <https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email#!forum/hurdygurdy/topics> >> Google Groups >> <https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email/#!overview> >> >> <https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email/#!overview> >> >> Topic digest <> >> View all topics >> <https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email#!forum/hurdygurdy/topics> >> Musette <x-msg://57/#group_thread_0> - 2 Updates >> <>Musette >> <http://groups.google.com/group/hurdygurdy/t/b766f35c677f3ee9?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email> >> Joosten Ulrich <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>: >> Apr 30 12:21PM +0200 >> >> If you like the idea you absolutely should check out: >> >> http://www.germandiaz.net/cardiofonico/ >> <http://www.germandiaz.net/cardiofonico/> >> >> Best, >> Ulrich >> >> Felicia Dale <[email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>>: Apr 30 04:51PM -0700 >> >> Thank you, Ulrich! I’ll give this a look. >> >> Felicia. >> >> Back to top <x-msg://57/#digest_top> >> You received this digest because you're subscribed to updates for this >> group. You can change your settings on the group membership page >> <https://groups.google.com/forum/?utm_source=digest&utm_medium=email#!forum/hurdygurdy/join>. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it send an >> email to [email protected] >> <mailto:[email protected]>. > > > -- > -- > 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 > <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 > <http://hurdygurdy.com/mailinglist/index.htm>. 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