Blood, tears and ... hackbretts

Today I've been re-stringing a hackbrett - which is a sort of hammered dulcimer, but hackbrett, which means "chopping board", is the sort of word you want to use when re-stringing one. "What's involved in re-stringing a hackbrett, then?", I don't hear you saying. Well, mostly it's blood, tears and quite a few curse words. Actually, a lot of curse words. You'll use up those your mother taught before you've got properly started. The ones your friends and siblings gave you will be used up before you're halfway through the job and then you're onto anything you can possibly remember or invent. By the time you've finished the job there'll be a few new words that you've just invented ready and worn in for inclusion in the dictionary. Why does anyone re-string a hackbrett then? The answer is probably insanity. The other answer is that someone paid them to do it. Because no-one actually re-strings a hackbrett - they pay someone else to do it. Anything else is madness. But since this is my own hackbrett I'm talking about and I'm too stupid ( and broke) to pay anyone else to do it, (besides I've yet to find anyone insane enough to take it on) I'm doing it myself. So if you need new swear words, just ask, I've got a few corkers to spare.