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Double Bass hacklinger guage

james condino

james condino

Spruce dork
Commercial User
Sep 30, 2007
5,444
13,485
asheville, nc
www.condino.com
#1
I've been consistantly borrowing a Hacklinger guage often enough for several years that it is time to buy one of my own. I've only used the older one with the shorter single scale. Can anyone give me a review of the newer (and more expensive) one that has two magnets and goes up to 12 mm?

I work on and build a range of instruments from very small up to basses, so I need the full range on a regular basis. The prices are crazy on these things, even more so with the US dollar in the toilet right now. Does anyone know the cheapest place to buy one, saving me untold hours wasted surfing the web for prices?

I'd be pretty excited if somone would spill the beans and publish an artiicle that would show us all how to build one for the $15 worth of parts that they seem to be made out of. They have been around for a while- seems like the patent should have expired by now.

Thanks for the help.

j.
www.condino.com
 
#2
I've seen this question come up at least a dozen times in various publications. I knew one guy who attempted to make his own, but ended up buying a Hacklinger after several failures. Apparently, it is more difficult to make and calibrate than it looks. As far as I know, there is little or no discounting on this tool since distribution is very limited.
 
#4
Ken:

Thanks for the pm. Someone else sent me the link to Dave Stewart's article on the Official Luthier's Website. It was a pretty good article and very interesting considering the $10-15cost for supplies. I believe it was posted on the Musical Instrument Maker's Forum earlier this year, but was removed.

I've been in contact with a couple of other luthiers to refine the process. All of their results seem to be of high enough quality that I'll be giving it a try. I don't really need another project at this point; I've got 4 new instruments in various stages that need to be finished before I take off in about 60 days for the summer trade shows. I'll most likely get to it this summer when the humidity is too high to do serious work in Dixie. I'll post t he results here, or a link to them.

j.
www.condino.com
 

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