Hurdy Gurdy Tip # 438: String Hooks
Last time in "Hurdy Gurdy Tips", I showed you how to punch a hippie square in his ugly bearded face and then swipe his hurdy gurdy while he lays helpless, weeping and curled up like a hacky sack ball. I think we all enjoyed that and learned a little about the fragile nature of the human skull in the process. This time, acting on the advice of my lawyer, I'll show you a way to deal with the pesky problem of how to isolate the melody strings on your gurdy (odds are that you have adjustable bridges for your drone strings. If not, you can pick them up here from the good folks at Hurdy Gurdy Crafters). I should also point that this is not an entirely original idea. As you can see below, L-shaped hooks have incorporated into many gurdies for the purpose of lifting, and therefore isolating, the melody strings.
Image via Wikipedia
I installed the hooks on both sides of Vienna's keychest (those red eyes belong to my friend Jody) so that they rest above and to the left or right of melody strings.
This way, when I need to isolate a string (for tuning, for example), all I need to do is to lift the sting and place it in the hook.
I was in a hurry to get this done because my other band, 25 Cromwell Street, will be playing a benefit for Beth Ann Lejman (formerly of the legendary Philly punk/funk band The Stick Men) this Saturday, July 30th at Connie's Ric Rac. 
Anyone found not to be in attendance will be forced to wear scratchy undergarments.
Load the LC 5000 into your 
The wheel, the piece that holds the bushing, everything, had to come out, be examined, and then put back in, but in a better spot. This was not going to pretty.
What I ended up having to do was to move the wooden piece that holds the bushing back about four inches. This time I made sure to put washers between the screw and the wood as to decrease the odds of the screws tearing through the wood. 
I really really wish I'd managed to get a recording of the my gurdy tearing itself apart because it really was the most remarkable sound.
The latest 
OK, the picture is a little fuzzy (like most of my pics) but, when you consider my fondness for wine, I think it does a pretty decent job of conveying the scope of my purchase. So, how much did I pay for this piece of musical history? $5.
Another blurry photo? I really need to sober up! Anywhooooo, all that was needed was to glue the tangents back into place [Tip Number Two: Airplane glue + wind instrument = instant acid jazz].
Do those look like bad teeth to you? Where was I? Oh, yeah...once the tangents were fixed and dried, that just left cleaning off the numbers.
The previous owner had decided (sometime around 1972, from the looks of things) to mark each key with a number. I guess they figured that, should a confused ivory poacher make off with one of the plastic keys, this would make reporting the theft to the police much easier. "Yes officer, it was #7! For God's sake, please hurry!"
Ah, but what does it sound like? If you're really interested (and you did read this far, after all), here are a few bars of 
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=8cf71872-ecce-4430-8d41-70d41cfa01ca)
The instrument is known as a "Hurdy Gurdy", although most hurdy gurdy players call them "gurdies" for short. Although there seems to be no consensus on exactly when and where (and for that matter, why) hurdy gurdies first appeared (although many musicologists believe it was developed in the Middle East sometime around the 9th Century, not unlike the Plague), it’s universally agreed that they reached the height of their popularity during the Renaissance. Hieronymus Bosch even included a gurdy in his painting "The Garden of Earthly Delights."
Wherein I ask for your help with a project.
