Review on 🎵 UGears Hurdy Gurdy: Unleashing Musical Magic Through Mechanical Self-Assembly by Chad Myers

The mechanical hurdy-gurdy was the first UGears mechanical model I tried to build. As a model, I should have given it 5 stars. 10 stars if I could. Everything about this model is top notch. The quality of the wood, the laser cut, the instructions and the materials provided all help to make this model a truly fun and enjoyable experience to build. The instructions are very clear, although it's easy to miss something that could be very important, so it's important to be careful and take your time with assembly. I have an issue where you need to connect the neck and body together. It takes a lot of force to break two pieces and it took me a good 10 minutes to figure out why I was having such a hard time. When connecting these two main knots, I broke two small pieces of wood, which did not affect the assembly in any way. I just wish the instructions for this very important build were clearer. Despite the break, the final model remains incredibly strong. I cannot stress enough the impressive engineering that went into the development of this model. It's great that something so complex can be assembled without glue. All pieces snap together easily (except for the two knots mentioned earlier) and secure with decorative pins. When you're done you'll find more parts, presumably in case something gets lost during reassembly. Many parts are very small, so something can definitely get lost. One aspect of the design I don't like is that the keys spring back with a rubber strap. Over time the strap dries out and breaks, and since the mechanism is buried in the model it is almost impossible to change the rubber strap without destroying the model. Finally, with everything assembled, it's time to pull out the hurdy-gurdy. and play it. I'm deducting a star here because the kit comes with exactly as much fishing line as is needed for one try. If you screw up like I did, then an alternative is needed. Luckily I had a monofilament line that worked great. After I set it up and set it up, it sounds pretty awful. It's hard to get right in tune and the two strings squeak horribly against the rosin wheel. Terrible sound, probably due to a number of factors. The hurdy-gurdy is sized to only play high notes, the hurdy-gurdy's body is plywood and pegged and will never vibrate as well as a professionally made instrument, and line strings will likely never sound great. I intend to further revise some of these items and replace the included strings with something more professional. Nevertheless, the model is nice to look at. I painted the wooden parts with a dark stain to give them a real medieval look. I intend to add painted details and make it look really awesome. As long as you keep your expectations down and understand that this is a $70 kit and not a professionally assembled tool, you should be very happy with the end results. I hope that over time I can turn this model into something playable, but with a set like this, the most interesting thing is the journey, not the destination.