FS: Hurdy gurdy

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Geebawn
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FS: Hurdy gurdy

Post by Geebawn »

Hello folks,

I would like to offer a beautiful hurdy gurdy in c’/g’ made by one of the most prominent Polish makers of these instruments - Jan Malisz. It has got 2 melody strings (chanterelles) in c’ and g’. The lower string has got mellow and creamy tone which is uncommon in case of hurdy gurdies. The tone of the higher string is sonorous and very detailed, but definitely not too piercing. The instrument has also got 2 drone strings (bourdons) in c and g. They are placed on movable bridges, so you can change their pressure on the wheel and control their volume. When the melody strings are played together with the drone strings the tone of this instrument is incredibly full, mournful, and it creates unique, medieval-like atmosphere. The keyboard is fully chromatic with a range of 2 octaves (24 keys).

Jan Malisz is known for making very user-friendly hurdy gurdies. The tangents are placed very close to the melody strings, so you don’t have to press the keys too hard to hit a note. You can play this instrument for long hours and your fingers won’t hurt. Moreover, the keys are perfectly balanced which lets you play this gurdy really fast and stay in tune over the whole range. The volume depends on how fast you spin the wheel, but generally I would describe it as loud with the drones on and moderate-to-loud with them off.

The soundbox is made of walnut and the tangents, keys and the keybox are made of fir. There is a beautiful carving of worried Jesus Christ on the gurdy’s head. The wheel is made of plywood and it’s placed on a funnel with 2 bearings, standard construction of a crank mechanism.
It’s really hard to get a good hurdy gurdy and almost impossible to do it off-hand. Makers have very long waiting lists now because the demand for these instruments is constantly rising. This auction is a bargain – I’m offering a top-notch, reliable, portable, and easy-to-play instrument which sounds clean, punchy and stays in tune. If you order the gurdy, you will get a reliable bag with straps, a pillow for the crank to protect it in transport and a cheap, lousy belt (the only one that I have right now).

Here are some video samples of this instrument in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=katmgq9vsRI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrHd5XJkabM
And images:

https://postimg.org/image/iwkr0rojj/
https://postimg.org/image/6cz6v37c9/
https://postimg.org/image/cxldr7fg7/
https://postimg.org/image/i3vzdk5gf/
https://postimg.org/image/artniop1j/
https://postimg.org/image/yay1ibxvt/
https://postimg.org/image/csz4l961p/

The price is 1000 GBP (some reasonable negotiations are possible). Feel free to ask for any information you like.
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