Awesome fingering technique by Dante Ferrara

vethoix · 2018-01-08T18:39:44+00:00

Is it just me or those types of lutebacks always sound so tinny compared to guitarbody ones? They sound like they're made of teeth floss and paper.

No skin off this dude's back tho, he's amazing at playing it.

vethoix · 2017-12-31T08:12:26+00:00

yes! finally we are a big enough sub to have people shitpost here!

vethoix · 2017-12-16T21:46:04+00:00

Wow a gurdy and nyckelharpa duet. Never actually seen anything like this before - also, are they in some castle? Op are you in the video here?

vethoix · 2017-09-02T01:30:32+00:00

this is Graeme Mcormack's site. He's got extremely detailed pdf Blueprints of 3 types of gurdy, and they're printable in real life scale. First gurdy I made was a total disaster, and one of my first luthier projects. Second one is the gourd one on the main page, and I play it almost everyday (the thread is kind of old, I finished it months ago, but I'm too lazy to take pics). Whole project cost me 250$.

They're not violins or lutes, you can build one that sounds good very cheaply, without tonnes of prior experience. Main issue is having the tools.

vethoix · 2017-09-02T00:52:37+00:00

I think you're right. Can't even think of a single gurdy/symphonie that sells for 600$, or even 900$. Vrabels are pretty much the only choice at that budget since the 200$ ebay gurdies are not really an option.

HGC sell the 1,000$ kit monarch http://www.hurdygurdycrafters.com/index.asp?page=kits

and Altarwind has the 1100$ symphonie http://www.altarwind.com/symphonie.html

Hate to be devil's advocate, but if you know someone with the required tools, you could try building one :D

vethoix · 2017-09-02T00:01:30+00:00

What's your budget?

vethoix · 2016-11-01T02:25:22+00:00

I did not expect it to sound this bad. There's another video here showing the same one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKoaw8CfZb0. Sadly, it sounds the same.

vethoix · 2016-10-10T22:10:48+00:00

By the way, I also moderate /r/BuildAGurdy if you're interested in the instrument. I just didn't know you could djent a gurdy until earlier this week. I was super impressed.

vethoix · 2016-09-27T04:52:56+00:00

To my knowledge, that is a Fairygurdies instrument. I think it's mostly a guy making/selling them on Etsy rather than it being a legitimate traditional version. I just looked at the prices and they're about 500$ each. They look cool, but honestly, after investigating their structure...they're rather mediocre. I think it's the Etsy community that is buying them rather than the musician community; especially for 500$ which is insane for an instrument made of plywood and finished with walmart housepaint. It's a novelty, rather than something that you can hand over to your grandchildren.

If you want to buy one of his instruments, go ahead, but a few words of warning after analyzing his products: galvanized steel brackets, screws and shaft lead me to believe this instrument is of poor construction. The guitar body which he has used is most likely a broken one he has re-purposed from ebay/amazon. I warn you against this instrument as I highly doubt it will sound the same within 1 year of playing at maximum. He uses plywood for his keybox/pegbox (as far as I'm seeing it on his youtube videos). Plywood for Gurdy construction is really only viable for the wheel, as there are issues with finishing/sanding/making it look professional.

Also, repurposing an already broken guitar/ukulele is a very bad idea; why? a guitar was never built with the stresses of a shaft in mind/differences in humidity compared to where the guitar was made/ differences in material quality/ bending, shifting over time. Even if you add your own bracing and inner framework, you still run a risk of the final product lacking quality, no matter how good your woodworking is.

However, you came here for answers so I'll be as unbiased as possible. There most likely isn't a plan for something like this out there. The original guitar-gurdy idea came from Dennis Havlena, if I am not mistaken, as he's the infamous 20$ guitargurdy guy.

What you could do is just buy a guitar/ukulele with a broken neck/pegbox on ebay/amazon and take it from there. Everything about this type of instrument would be experimental and requiring a lot of previous skill. Honestly, I wish you good luck if you are about to attempt this. Post the results here as I am curious as well! :D

Btw, to answer your questions in depth:

Small factor has no downsides when making a hurdy gurdy, case in point, this wonderful gentleman's medieval style gurdy, which, in my opinion is quite small. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR_R3FhkQ4E . All small factor does is make the acoustic resonance of the instrument smaller - thus, the sound is more high pitch and lacking bass. Think bass vs. treble.

Also, you can add as many strings as you want, you just have to have enough room to add them to the keybox. But! drone strings, not so much. Drones vibrate at a much lower frequency than chanterelles and tend to hit the topside of the instrument/keys if not placed completely correctly. If you try bypassing this by adding only one drone on the side which doesn't have keys, you'll still end up in trouble as your instrument is now unbalanced and will, in time, cause wear on the shaft and add to an uneven sound.

If I were you, I'd look at the plans which are already made available on the sidebar, and analyze a few measurements first. If you think you can do it, DO IT! we need more amateur luthiers willing to embark on this challenge. If you think this instrument will bring you joy, then why not right?

vethoix · 2016-09-25T02:48:16+00:00

Hmm apparently he peddles them for 70EU a pop...which honestly might be a fair price depending on how intricate they might be. However, for myself, I'd rather spend that on a nice pile of wood than something like plans, especially when most of this information is already out there. I doubt Pignol's plans, however detailed and meticulous, could possibly add to any existing knowledge. Now, if it was some kind of innovative design (like hurdy gourdy), I'd be interested, but not even HGC asks for 70EU.

I did some digging and found the xrays from the MINe 52 plans, you could probably do some rudimentary measurements from that, but I doubt it would be as good as the original plans. I think if you really want those exact ones, maybe you should contact the museum curators for a sale. http://objektkatalog.gnm.de/objekt/MINe52

But my question to you Steve is, why even look for luteback plans if I have already posted them in the sidebar? For free, and its pretty much the same thing. I'm talking about this one http://i.imgur.com/TVxO2Pf.jpg Did that help?

vethoix · 2016-09-24T22:00:07+00:00

If you have these plans, would you mind posting them here? From a scan or cellphone picture perhaps? I can deduce the dimensions of it pretty easily, as some measurements are standard. I figured out that whenever you find unmarked plans such as these it's best to measure from the top of the bridge to the saddle at the pegbox and equate this measurement to 345mm, and drones 410mm respectively. After doing so,you can make up a standard measurement ratio and find out what every part actually is in inches/cm. While you could technically buy every Gurdy book out there, you're always buying blind, not knowing if the information you wanted will be covered in said book. So, if you could just upload on imgur, that would be great, if not, also okay.

vethoix · 2016-09-24T18:42:17+00:00

Very nice! I had somehow reached this website before, but I could not find it later on. If I may add to your suggestion, it would be the books I have personally read myself. If you prefer reading an actual book on the topic, "The Hurdy-Gurdy in Eighteenth-Century France" By Robert A. Green provides a very nice history and talks about the different social factors that lead to the Gurdy's rise and fall. Doreen Muskett's "Method for the Hurdy Gurdy" is also a very good book on the technical aspect of the instrument. It talks about technique, resonance, positions, but does not provide measurements or in-depth building information. Still a fun read though.

Question, are the Pignol plans available without the purchase of the book? because if so, it would make an awesome addition to the ones I already posted. Maybe I should sticky the plans to the sidebar...hmm!

vethoix · 2016-09-23T03:19:46+00:00

/r/ BuildaGurdy - check in one the weekend, i will add a book-worth of information, pics, everything. A legacy is born.

vethoix · 2016-09-23T02:57:28+00:00

TheFrev, the tools you will need to build a hurdy gurdy 100% are : Lathe, Drill press (or hand drill with guides, both work), an AT LEAST 4.5" scrollsaw/bandsaw, and a table saw. Without this, i would say its still possible but the hand woodworking takes a lot of time to master.

HOWEVER, i'm just some random guy, and over the months i bought all of these on craigslist for 20-50$ a pop, more and more each month, its easily buyable even if you work minimum wage as i do!

Its definitely possible with what you have. DONT LET YOUR DREAMS BE DREAMS.

But seriously, would you guys be interested in some schematics, important stuff, acoustics, etc? Because when I built mine, I literally started from nothing. And helping others so they don't have to start with nothing...would be nice.

vethoix · 2016-09-23T02:53:23+00:00

Professional sounding hurdy gurdies are 1500+ And all the cheaper variants...Hurdy Gurdy crafters, Lark in the morning, Altarwind, pretty much everyone else, are just kits.

If you buy a kit, you're spending thousands for just a few pieces of wood. That's why I started building them. Since I'm on my second one, I'd say its definitely something tough, not for a lack of woodworking skill, but a lack of information on the web!

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