Re: [HG-new] Digest for hurdygurdy@googlegroups.com - 5 updates in 2 topics

45 views
Skip to first unread message

Belinda Daughtry

unread,
Jan 7, 2016, 8:22:43 AM1/7/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
The wooden head seems to have come loose from the body of the peg, not off, but loose.  It won't hold the string tension.  Now that I know what I have, I'll take it to a luthier and see if they can help.
Thank you all for the help.

Belinda

On Jan 7, 2016, at 1:27 AM, hurdy...@googlegroups.com wrote:

Belinda Daughtry <bgd...@charter.net>: Jan 06 05:00AM -0600

Cali and Alden, this is one of your instruments. Are these Pegheads on it? They're slipping really badly. I haven't been able to use this instrument for quite some time now, but would really like to be able to play it again.
 
Belinda
 
cali.an...@gmail.com: Jan 06 06:07AM -0800

There are two reasons for Pegheds slipping. One could that the peg top is loose and needs to be pushed down into the body. The other is that the body of the Peghed is unglued from the hole that it's in. If you can see the body turning when you tighten or loosen the peg, that's what's happening.
 
If the body is unglued, we can send you directions for regluing.
 
Sent from my iPhone
 
Arle Lommel <arle....@gmail.com>: Jan 06 09:18AM -0500

I just went back and looked at Belinda's original photo and realized she does indeed seem to have Pegheds. I second Alden and Cali’s explanations, as I've had both happen.
 
When I recently had my instrument serviced, Balázs did something to the Pegheds that helped. Some of them had repeatedly come loose from the glue bonds, so he took a needle file and filed some light grooves in just the area where they are in contact with the wood so that there was a rougher surface for the glue to grip. I had one peg in particular that had repeatedly broken free from the glue and since then it has held much better.
 
-Arle
 
 
Melissa Kacalanos <mij...@yahoo.com>: Jan 06 06:46AM -0500

I might be unusual, but I don't mind the friction pegs on my hg. With a good coating of Peg Dope, they work just fine.
 
Melissa the Loud
www.melissatheloud.com
 
 
Arle Lommel <arle....@gmail.com>: Jan 06 09:15AM -0500

I assume you're talking about your Hungarian instrument, correct? There is no need for mechanical tuners on them because the heads are so big it make tuning easy. But on French-style instruments with friction pegs a tourne-à-gauche is pretty much essential. Mechanical tuners do away with that need.
 
-Arle
 
You received this digest because you're subscribed to updates for this group. You can change your settings on the group membership page.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it send an email to hurdygurdy+...@googlegroups.com.

cali.an...@gmail.com

unread,
Jan 7, 2016, 12:15:00 PM1/7/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
The head on a Peghed is a cast resin. It's cast around a shaft of gear material that turns the gears inside the shaft. I've never seen a head come loose from the shaft before, but there's a first time for everything. 

The cool thing with Pegheds is their ability to let the player adjust how tight they are. Pushing the head down into the body while turning the peg tightens the string holding. If that isn't working for you, the machine may need to be replaced. 

A



Sent from my iPhone
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "hurdygurdy" group.
To post to this group, send email to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
hurdygurdy+...@googlegroups.com
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 unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hurdygurdy+...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Arle Lommel

unread,
Jan 7, 2016, 12:17:24 PM1/7/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
Reading Belinda's description, I bet your second paragraph is the problem: the head just needs to pushed in more when turning it. It's easy to miss and then wonder why it's "loose". (I also got one that suffered a fall and was jammed in too hard: it took a *lot* or work to get it functioning properly.)

-Arle

Belinda Daughtry

unread,
Jan 8, 2016, 5:37:35 PM1/8/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
Alden, 
The peg heads on this particular custom instrument are wood, to match the instrument.  I took it to a luthier and he had some questions about the Peghead installation.  What would be the best way for me to contact you so I can get a new Peghead (just one) and the other questions about it?

Thanks, 
Belinda

On Jan 8, 2016, at 1:31 AM, hurdy...@googlegroups.com wrote:


The wooden head seems to have come loose from the body of the peg, not off, but loose. It won't hold the string tension. Now that I know what I have, I'll take it to a luthier and see if they can help.
Thank you all for the help.
 
Belinda
 
cali.an...@gmail.com: Jan 07 09:14AM -0800

The head on a Peghed is a cast resin. It's cast around a shaft of gear material that turns the gears inside the shaft. I've never seen a head come loose from the shaft before, but there's a first time for everything.
 
The cool thing with Pegheds is their ability to let the player adjust how tight they are. Pushing the head down into the body while turning the peg tightens the string holding. If that isn't working for you, the machine may need to be replaced.
 
A
 
 
 
Sent from my iPhone
 
Arle Lommel <arle....@gmail.com>: Jan 07 12:17PM -0500

Reading Belinda's description, I bet your second paragraph is the problem: the head just needs to pushed in more when turning it. It's easy to miss and then wonder why it's "loose". (I also got one that suffered a fall and was jammed in too hard: it took a *lot* or work to get it functioning properly.)
 
-Arle
 
 
gurdymaker <hurdy...@talktalk.net>: Jan 07 02:56AM -0800

I've never had any problems with the Peghed tuners. If they are fitted correctly so the thread on the barrel cuts into the taper of the hole, the string tension tends to tighten them in place assuming they are strung in the traditional way ( anti clockwise to tighten. ) .
There is a natural tendency to push down on the button when tuning which is standard practice for normal taper pegs but the Peghed will lock up solid if you press down hard. It then becomes very stiff to turn and there is a possibility that in trying to tighten the string,the peg can unscrew. The solution is not to press down on the button as you turn. If you have and the peg is stiff, continue to turn the peg clockwise and at the same time pull up hard on the button. This will free the mechanism again.
Arle Lommel <arle....@gmail.com>: Jan 07 06:19AM -0500

That's true, although I forgot that a few of my pegs were cross-threaded, because I was mistaken about which end of the pegs the threading was in reference to when I ordered them. And I think the one peg I had the most trouble with was the one that was cross-threaded.
 
-Arle
 
 

cali.an...@gmail.com

unread,
Jan 8, 2016, 10:02:15 PM1/8/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
I think I remember making one set of wood heads - so those must have been yours. 

Send us an email off list and we can discuss how to proceed. 

Alden

Sent from my iPhone
--

Graham Whyte

unread,
Jan 9, 2016, 8:39:14 AM1/9/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
My Germain hurdy-gurdy is 200 years old today

There were only 5 examples of Denis-Joseph Germain's work known, all I
beleive in museums
Mine is no. 6 discovered in 2002 by Alden and Cali and possibly the only
one playable

Germain (1792 - 1865) was a "sabotier" (clog maker) in the village of
Cormoz (Ain)
He finished my HG on the 9th of January 1816 when he was aged 24 (see
the inscription)

His other 5 HGs (4 Louvet style lute-backs and 1 guitar style) were made
much later in the 1850's
One can surmise that he made my HG for his own use, it is of fairly
rustic constuction and played it for may years
It has the very unusual feature of the back being contructed of 5 staves
in alternate coloued woods
Where it spent the rest of its nearly 200 years life, who knows ?
I do know that it came from a private collection in Switzerland in 2001
and was in a pretty sorry state
It was restored by Alden and Cali who discovered that he had signed and
dated it in ink on the inside face of the key box

You can see it at
http://www.hurdygurdy.org/germain.htm

Chris Allen subsequently fitted a new set of rosewood keys and sorted
out various other rustic features

It is a very beautiful historic instrument and It plays well with a very
rich sonorous viola type sound

I just played it today and it brought tears to my eyes

Graham Whyte

Billy Horne

unread,
Jan 9, 2016, 10:02:56 AM1/9/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
Happy Birthday to a Grand old Lady.
May she have many more !
Billy Horne
--
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "hurdygurdy" group.
To post to this group, send email to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
hurdygurdy+...@googlegroups.com
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 unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to hurdygurdy+...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.


--
Sent from Gmail Mobile

Felicia Dale

unread,
Jan 15, 2016, 8:15:34 PM1/15/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
That is so cool! I would love to see and hear this instrument in person some day. I’m so glad it’s with someone who appreciates it and plays it!

Felicia.

Ernic Kamerich

unread,
Jan 16, 2016, 3:35:58 AM1/16/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
Happy Birthday for your love, Graham! Playing such an instrument must be a great joy for you! In my experience, I know that playing a beautiful hurdiy does help me to forget the bad things in life and feel good again.

She looks really fine, nice photographs, but I would like so very much to hear her sound, Couldn't you put something on internet?
Not necessarily, but it could be on youtube: Such an instrument is much more worth to have a youtube clip than many other things, I would say. But, please, better with only (good) sound quality and one or more photographs than recorded with video on a photo camera-with video-facility.

Anyhow, enjoy it!

Ernic

BRYAN KAZEM

unread,
Jan 17, 2016, 9:54:35 PM1/17/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com

That is pretty cool.

Alden Hackmann

unread,
Jan 18, 2016, 4:19:38 PM1/18/16
to hurdy...@googlegroups.com
Graham,  it is great to know that she is still being loved and played.  We originally found the signature and date inside the body of the instrument after we removed a couple of centuries of grime.  We got our original info about the maker from Maxou Heintzen, who is our guru of all things gurdy historic.

Your intonation and setup of the gurdy has allowed her to sing anew and for us that is what makes it worthwhile to restore historic instruments to playability.  As a luthier I would hope that future generations will keep instruments playable and not just stash them away in museums.  Don't get me wrong, I am a confirmed museum hound, I just think that we make the instruments to be played and bring joy from their music, not gather dust.  My favorite instruments are ones that show that they have had a long and productive life.

Happy birthday to your HG!

Cali 
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages