The Bluegrass Shack is a music store in Southern Illinois dedicated to acoustic music. This blog describes the town, store activities, bluegrass music in general, instrument repair, and my own personal opinions about all things bluegrass. You can visit our website at www.thebluegrassshack.com.
I didn't even know these existed until today. Bob appealed to my "I can't say no" side looking for some help with this old set of church chimes. I was curious enough that I had to at least take a look inside. We took the screws out of the back, hooked it up to a small PA system, and then watched it all in action. Bob thought they were out of tune. With the help of a guitar and an electronic tuner, we actually determined it had to be the church's organ that was out of tune. I marked two keys that don't work, and hopefully Steve, our eletronic wizard from Collinsville, can help us out with this one. Anyway, if you are as curious as I am, you'll enjoy these pictures and the video I am posting. Be sure to take a look at how the rods are suspended with thread and springs. It's pretty amazing!Have fun!
In case you are wondering how these things are tuned, take a look at this next photo. You will see a slight indentation on each rod. The back side of each rod is filed little by little until it is in perfect tune. Unlike a string, these will stay in tune forever unless the rods are disturbed and metal is removed or added to them. Since the rods are housed in a box that is screwed shut, this protects them pretty well.
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