Ugears - Hurdy Gurdy

First things first, this definitely leans more towards being a model as opposed to an actual musical instrument. It was a lot of fun to build over the course of a few evenings, probably ~5 hours total. The directions are clear and concise for the most part and it's pretty amazing to me how neat and organized the design is. It's pretty satisfying knowing firsthand how the sound is created, and I particularly like the the planetary-esque gears that turn inside the body. It's very nice to look at with lots of little details.However, I'm having trouble with the musical aspect of this model. I broke one of the strings (a piece of fishing line is provided to serve as the string) almost immediately while tuning. I had a tuner and was following along with a tutorial video ... MoreFirst things first, this definitely leans more towards being a model as opposed to an actual musical instrument. It was a lot of fun to build over the course of a few evenings, probably ~5 hours total. The directions are clear and concise for the most part and it's pretty amazing to me how neat and organized the design is. It's pretty satisfying knowing firsthand how the sound is created, and I particularly like the the planetary-esque gears that turn inside the body. It's very nice to look at with lots of little details.However, I'm having trouble with the musical aspect of this model. I broke one of the strings (a piece of fishing line is provided to serve as the string) almost immediately while tuning. I had a tuner and was following along with a tutorial video on their site but the tension seemed very very tight while I was bringing it up to a D as recommended by the video. Sure enough, after just five minutes of tuning, the string snapped. Pretty disappointing as I don't think I was doing anything incorrectly. I ended up replacing it with a nylon ukulele string the next day and was at least able to finish tuning it without incident. However, after only ten minutes of playing I can see the string is already getting ready to snap again. I'm not sure how to fix this problem and if its inherent to the design or if it's something I did incorrectly.There are six buttons/keys to press which reduces the length of the string to play the different notes in a diatonic scale. It would have been nice to include a seventh one in order to play a complete octave. I will say the that the fifth and sixth keys do not produce as clear of a sound as the rest which is a bit of a bummer. Overall, I'm happy with the experience of building the model but I'm disappointed in its extremely limited capacity to produce music.

This model was my first experience with the company. I bought one for my mom but had it shipped to me first to check it out.. I was so impressed I bought a second one to ship to mom and we chatted on the phone while filling the assembly steps together. The quality is amazing, and the engineering is awe inspiring. I am currently waiting on my second order to arrive and will happily keep coming back for more! It doesn't sound like a "real" hurdy gurdy but I think it sounds pretty good for being a small model. Children adore playing with it.

I just purchased this for a music lover friend of mine. He is also a puzzle lover which makes this perfect. I love UGears as all their products are so unique and actually work. Such a wonderful idea. Makes you proud that you made something that is usable and fun. The products are well-made and easy to assemble. Recommend and I am a return customer.

Actually the wooden parts are the easy part, once you manage to get everything done you will need to tweak the tuning and fret board a bit. Biggest difficulty I had was raising and lowing the strings so that they hit the wheel just right, for whatever reason the straight line thing didn't work for me. Even when done it still sounds a little off but other people have tricked this things up to create a decent sound by wrapping cotton around the strings and even different strings. And the rosin. Be extremely liberal with the rosin.Construction of the Hurdy Gurdy was actually kinda fun. Yes you're going to say words at some points. Maybe not cuss words but definitely angry or frustrated ones. So frustration is part of the the game but it makes it kinda fun and well ... MoreActually the wooden parts are the easy part, once you manage to get everything done you will need to tweak the tuning and fret board a bit. Biggest difficulty I had was raising and lowing the strings so that they hit the wheel just right, for whatever reason the straight line thing didn't work for me. Even when done it still sounds a little off but other people have tricked this things up to create a decent sound by wrapping cotton around the strings and even different strings. And the rosin. Be extremely liberal with the rosin.Construction of the Hurdy Gurdy was actually kinda fun. Yes you're going to say words at some points. Maybe not cuss words but definitely angry or frustrated ones. So frustration is part of the the game but it makes it kinda fun and well worth the price. And as always the wood is forgiving so you can backtrack and fix stuff if you need to.Improvements? I kinda wish related parts were on the same wooden panel. A lot of time was spent going from one panel to the other, lots of no fun I just want the piece that's all I want time.I'm hoping Ugears does other instruments at some point, like a cigar box type guitar or lyre even. I would spend more money on a Hurdy Gurdy with mean capabilities and richer sound.All in all a fun thing to have around the house when you have dreams of busking.

What fun putting together this masterfully engineered instrument! Parts all came out cleanly. Nice to have spare parts, but didn't need them. Parts went together nicely. Glad wooden hammer was included. It was helpful. I used markers to color parts as I assembled. All gears worked great but sound is kind of like you stepped on a cat. I know its more of a toy but love it! I replaced melody string with a violin metal string and got more volume. I love the decorative detail! It's fun to bring out at parties! Great experience, highly recommend, just don't expect concert quality sound. Easy to play too!

Challenging but absolutely worth it

This was about as hard as I was expecting and it turned out to be really pretty! I collect instruments, so it is a nice addition. If you're looking for a good sound, do not buy this! Mine is playable but it kind of sounds like screaming at times and isn't easy to tune at all. The videos they link you to help with tuning and show a pretty good sound. It's a bit awkward to play anyway, especially because the crank isn't super smooth. Don't expect a real Hurdy Gurdy, but it is absolutely worth it if you enjoy building and pretty instruments. The instructions weren't always very clear, and the video is just a time-lapse so not very helpful, but once you get into it a little, you figure out what needs to be done in each step, as some of the parts are similar in process. ... MoreThis was about as hard as I was expecting and it turned out to be really pretty! I collect instruments, so it is a nice addition. If you're looking for a good sound, do not buy this! Mine is playable but it kind of sounds like screaming at times and isn't easy to tune at all. The videos they link you to help with tuning and show a pretty good sound. It's a bit awkward to play anyway, especially because the crank isn't super smooth. Don't expect a real Hurdy Gurdy, but it is absolutely worth it if you enjoy building and pretty instruments. The instructions weren't always very clear, and the video is just a time-lapse so not very helpful, but once you get into it a little, you figure out what needs to be done in each step, as some of the parts are similar in process. Make sure to sand a lot and use the candle wax! It really does help with fit and playability. Also, make sure to actually make the hammer included (in the little baggie) because I had no idea and my thumbs really suffered! Or have your own little hammer on hand. It took me about a week total with working a few hours a day. Overall, I would totally do something like this again! #sweepstakes

Fun toy, surprisingly good quality, soft tone!

We bought this as a fun family project to put together. It is akin to a 3-D jigsaw puzzle but with a purpose.Be sure to use the included wax on as many parts as possible. It makes for much easier assembly and if you do make a mistake, easier dis-assembly.We are amateur musicians, so for the price, we were hoping for wonderful sound quality, but not realistically expecting it. The tone is actually quite pleasing, but very soft. It requires tuning (tightening of the strings) prior to each use. But this is more of a toy than an instrument. However, with a bit more research, we might be able to get more volume.In all, it was a great project with a good outcome! If you've ever wanted to build an instrument, it lets you learn the intricacies. And its pretty!

Hours and hours of fun!

I love it. The constructing of the Gurdy was so much fun, hours of fun and it plays, perhaps not with the most concise sounds but I'd need to probably drop $1500.00 for one that could be used in a recording. None the less, I love it and am thinking about making one out of a guitar, etc. Again it was so much fun. I will be ordering your products for Christmas gifts. The enjoyment came in becoming one with the instructions, pushing the pegs in facing the right directions, gently popping the pieces out, carefully handling them when connecting together, meditative interaction with the product. I'm now planning it's decorative painting features to high light the incredible engineering design that went into the puzzle. I'm very impressed with the Gurdy as are all that I ... MoreI love it. The constructing of the Gurdy was so much fun, hours of fun and it plays, perhaps not with the most concise sounds but I'd need to probably drop $1500.00 for one that could be used in a recording. None the less, I love it and am thinking about making one out of a guitar, etc. Again it was so much fun. I will be ordering your products for Christmas gifts. The enjoyment came in becoming one with the instructions, pushing the pegs in facing the right directions, gently popping the pieces out, carefully handling them when connecting together, meditative interaction with the product. I'm now planning it's decorative painting features to high light the incredible engineering design that went into the puzzle. I'm very impressed with the Gurdy as are all that I have shown it to. Thank you for such fun ingenuity and your willingness to share. A very pleased customer.

Ingenious design, really fun to put together!

I bought this for myself as a fun, silly toy (I'm a professional musician specializing in historical performance, so it was right up my street). I had a ton of fun putting it together! It's really ingeniously designed, and the laser cutting is quite precise for being made out of plywood, so all the pieces fit together exactly as they should. I really enjoyed seeing how they managed to make so many functional rotating parts out of flat materials, and there are lots of little design and construction details that are really brilliant. It has functionally geared pegs that hold fairly well considering, a rubber band that keeps the keys from clattering when they spring back, some other clever little touches. My biggest caveat is that there are about a bajillion tiny ... MoreI bought this for myself as a fun, silly toy (I'm a professional musician specializing in historical performance, so it was right up my street). I had a ton of fun putting it together! It's really ingeniously designed, and the laser cutting is quite precise for being made out of plywood, so all the pieces fit together exactly as they should. I really enjoyed seeing how they managed to make so many functional rotating parts out of flat materials, and there are lots of little design and construction details that are really brilliant. It has functionally geared pegs that hold fairly well considering, a rubber band that keeps the keys from clattering when they spring back, some other clever little touches. My biggest caveat is that there are about a bajillion tiny pieces, many of which are things like pegs and cotter pins and bushings that have to be popped out of the plywood panels individually; and many of which look very similar to each other. So if you're the kind of person to get annoyed or impatient or lost in the weeds with lots of fiddly small parts and never finish, this kit might not be for you. But if you're the kind of person who just can't wait to see the cool way they came up with to pin together than next little sub-assembly, you'll love it! The finished result does play, although unsurprisingly it doesn't sound especially wonderful and the keys aren't quiiiite in tune with each other - it's still really a toy instrument or functional model. But as long as you aren't expecting the musical qualities of a fine luthier, it's really a pretty neat little item. For a better sound, you really want to spend a fair amount of time sanding the wheel to be as smooth as possible and with a very slight convex shape to its top surface instead of just being flat, and then don't forget the rosin because it really won't work at all without that.

Very nice to look at, plays better with larger fishing line.

I bought this to see whether or not it would play as others have said it would. I really enjoyed putting the model together. Then I added classical guitar strings to it rather than using the too small fishing line that came with it. Overall, I'm glad I bought it, but just so you understand, it probably works better with fishing line than with guitar strings! It's beautiful to look at but plays only barely with guitar strings. Try to stay as true as possible to the original design- it just works better that way!