Reply To: About round gongs…

[pkamargo]

Doug, it is very interesting the musician approach you gave to the subject. I will wait you post something more as you study this. I am sure that two main points make the most of difference: the metal used for the coil and the wood used for the case. And I believe the wood takes great responsability on the ‘sustain’ quality you mentioned. Perhaps a luthier can provide more information about.

Bob, talking about cuckoos is quite easy. Specially if you are talking about those little ones.
-the gong is a thin wire and it is almost directly attached to the wooden back of case. There is not much ‘substace’ to make sound. I think the makers considered it way less important than the cuckoo sound, so made it carelessly.
Here in Brazil there was a cuckoo clock factory that produced excellent clocks. The clocks were big, the gong wire was thicker and there was a solid iron base to attach the gong to case back. No way to compare with the small ones.
Later I will come back to post pictures of my big “H” cuckoo and its gong.