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Bill Ludeman's Blog – March 2010 Archive (5)

How I do a simple piezo pickup including tool and parts tips

Here is how I do a simple piezo pickup

A trip to Radio Shack will get you the piezo and 1/4 inch mono jack. They are in a drawer case towards the back of the store and most stores usually have them in stock. The piezo you are looking for is the 273-073 and costs 2$ and the jacks are

#274-255 and are two for 4 You can also pickup a 25 or 30 watt soldering iron… Continue

Added by Bill Ludeman on March 26, 2010 at 9:30pm — 19 Comments

Are Musicians Snobs??? I don't know!

I have had a great deal of fun building instruments of different kinds but can't claim to be a musician. I had played the cello in high school forty five years ago and started with the harp in 1990. I quickly learned that the harp is a snooty instrument world. Its inhabited by long slender women with long slender fingers - quite a few men too. Mostly guys are harp builders and movers. I accepted my plight and muddled along. I tried a half dozen teachers over the years and learned that they all… Continue

Added by Bill Ludeman on March 19, 2010 at 9:57pm — 3 Comments

Duh - right side up? While its not that important there is a tradition.

I literally put my tuning machines or tuners on upside down AND backwards on my first build. I had no clue there was a right way. After a comment clued me in, I went to Guitar Center and observed that their was a pattern that was always followed. The objective is to have them installed such that the string tension pulls the shaft into the gear instead of away from it. I am using inexpensive Ping Economy tuners and if I put them on right they stay tight. Backwards works ok but there is a… Continue

Added by Bill Ludeman on March 19, 2010 at 11:56am — 5 Comments

Pop Rivet string sleeves tips and how-to

The best string sleeves I have found are simply pop rivets. I originally bought a small box of 25 from Ace Hardware and paid way to much. Next I found them at Lowes for about half the price Ace got but still cost me 4 or 5 bucks for a small box of a hundred. Then I found a box of five hundred at "Harbor Freight" for four bucks.

Here is the URL for these.… Continue

Added by Bill Ludeman on March 19, 2010 at 10:58am — 5 Comments

memory jogging notes on building and playing cbg's

My shop burned to the ground in June of 2009. Nobody knows for sure what caused it - the fire dept asked me if it was electrical and I said I don't see how, since everything was turned off - so they put it down to electrical..... No insurance.

I had forty years and two hundred thousand dollars invested in that building and contents. I had spent a huge amount of time in it building and designing stuff, including half a dozen harps and all my patterns and jigs for building my harp designs. I… Continue

Added by Bill Ludeman on March 18, 2010 at 7:18pm — 3 Comments

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You like Train songs on Handmade instruments as much as I do? Meet Eastwood station…

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Everyone can make CBG. And I did it =)

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Bill Ludeman's Blog – March 2010 Archive (5)

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