[CAUT] Hurdy Gurdy

[Jeff Tanner]

Hey Fred
That's exactly the machine, but she only has one barrel for this  
one.  Faventia barrel piano, made in Barcelona.  The "hammers" are  
mounted on what look like the plastic damper levers we love to hate.   
Here's another one from a recent Ebay listing that shows some detail.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Rare-Antique-Faventia-Barrel-Piano-Hurdy-Gurdy-W- 
Cart_W0QQitemZ320022817107QQihZ011QQcategoryZ359QQcmdZViewItem

The "hammers" on this one actually rested on the string, in a way  
serving as both the hammer and the damper simultaneously and what  
sustain exists happens because the hammer becomes like a fret, like  
"hammering on" with a fretted instrument.  Although I started out  
trying to do it like you described, there was no way to pluck them  
without holding back the hammer and that gave nearly a whole step  
lower tone.  Each hammer has a sort of "lip" on top that appears to  
be made just for the purpose of pulling back on the hammer and  
letting go for tuning, although there gets to be a pretty small space  
in the treble.  I tuned them that way as best I could with my SAT and  
it turned out sounding exactly like the one on the rebuilder's web  
site, so I figured I'd gotten it right.

I was able to use my APSCO/Hale size 1 tuning tip.  I don't know if a  
Schaff #1 would have worked.  I didn't have one with me.  The pins  
may have indeed been smaller than 1/0.  I don't see many 1/0 pins in  
our part of the world and I didn't measure them.  I wasn't aware an  
in-between size existed, so I just assumed they might be 1/0.  The  
lady did tell me she'd tried to have another piano tuner tune it once  
before, but that tuner apparently didn't have a tip that small.

I wound up with this customer after putting magnetic signs on my  
truck.  She saw my truck in her neighborhood and called.  Paula  
actually set up the appointment for me and I didn't get to talk to  
her until either late Friday or early Saturday.  But that was the  
first time I began to be suspicious that we weren't talking about a  
real hurdy gurdy.  She was so thrilled I was able to get her "hurdy  
gurdy" going, she insisted I accept $50.  It's not far from my house,  
so I didn't mind that at all.  It turned out to be an "icing on the  
cake" finish for a decent Saturday's work, and I was home early  
enough to rest a while before the UGA/USC game.

Jeff

On Sep 12, 2006, at 10:14 AM, Fred Sturm wrote:

> Hi Jeff,
> 	I have a similar "hurdy gurdy" in my "client base" (referral from  
> a close friend), though mine is made in Barcelona (name escapes  
> me), has the crank on the side, and has six settings: each cylinder  
> has six songs on it, and it has two cylinders. Fascinating little  
> device. Hammers made of that elbow plastic (though none breaking  
> yet) with a slip of wood in a slot at the tip which actually hits  
> the strings. The hammers are close to the strings, and are mounted  
> much like upright damper levers that don't quite touch the strings,  
> with similar springs. The nubs on the cylinder act on the bottom of  
> the lever to move the hammer away from the string, then suddenly  
> release, and the flex in the system allows the hammer to hit the  
> string and rebound. Troublesome to tune, as the pins are much  
> smaller than 1/0 but larger than zither (my smallest piano tip just  
> barely doesn't strip), and the space available to pluck the strings  
> is minute. A bit of music wire is the best plucker I've found.
> 	Nice aspect of tuning it: the client brings it to me.
> Regards,
> Fred Sturm
> University of New Mexico
> fssturm at unm.edu
>
>
>

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