Woodstock Wind Chimes for Outside, Outdoor Decor, Patio and Garden Decor for Outside, Front Porch Decor Wind Gong Style Wind Chimes (34") Emperor Gong Medium Natural Christmas/Hanukkah Gifts (EGC)

This is one of the most beautiful things. Sound is so regal and relaxing

After seeing these for sale while on vacation over four years ago at a flea market, my wife had to have one. However, being a tourist hot spot, the asking price was beyond unreasonable.. This is where Amazon comes in. We were able to locate this with ease, the price was reasonable and shipping was quick!We hung it on our patio where it got plenty of breeze to keep it singing. It's not a loud gong, as there is a rubber ring around the "mallet," but it's very relaxing to sit and listen to. We got lots of compliments on it. After four years of ownership though, it was time to retire this gong. We live in the midwest, and the weather has not kind. And, although we only hung it three out of our four seasons; the wood was badly pitted and chipped, the varnish was all but gone, and the metal looked as if it had been through battle.. but it was still functional! The sound wasn't as vibrant as it once was, but it held up well.

The sound is soothing.

Have had this same gong for five years before it needed replacing. It held up to 24/7, 365 outdoor exposure. The wood held up, but weathered. The strings do frey after that length of time. I love the sound and look of this gong. Good quality and construction. Keep the old gong to make something else.

Had high hopes for this gong but was disappointed as it's just not a good design all but requiring high winds and even then it could be improved.I've ordered a 6mm x 1.5mm x300mm brass tube which I cut and inserted in the existing hole on the top wooden bar and then expand the hole on the lower wood bar and cemented with gel super glue with the goal of permanently securing the wood bars in a perpendicular arrangement. This will keep the striker from resting on the gong which even if it strikes creates a mute. The natural resting state needs to be close but not touching which this will achieve. In addition, moving the striker to the reverse side results in a slightly greater gap enabling the sail to be blown away from the gong and leaves the front unobstructed presenting a better appearance. With this design you'll want to hang facing into the wind, then both the sail and the gong itself which is an even greater sail will help improve the potential for sound.Another mod that's key is using two points to hang it instead of one to limit the rotation tendency since the gong is itself a sail causing a lot of rotation which can be hard on a single hanging point. This may also help increase and create heavier gongs. In addition, I rubber grommeted the 6mm holes in the gong and used 1mm paracord doubled up with two separate strands to prevent sliding. and wear. I didn't feel confident in just using a large knot so I tied the ends to a second grommet since I had them handy, I think a wooden bead drilled to hide the knot would improve appearance here.Last mod I've done is using a 8" copper helix art decor wind spinner from Regal Arts that's actually very light and greatly enhances the looks and functionality IMO and really spins after removing the heavy crystal it comes with making a better sail. It's effectively 3D while spinning fast catching even light winds from any direction effectively while giving a great show. I also lengthened the sail hanging string in hopes that may create heavier strikes. I've also ordered a hopefully lighter 2"flat teardrop amber crystal to replace the heavier globe to see if that improves its sail functionality even more. I hope Woodstock monitors this feedback and would greatly welcome these improvements in future designs. It looks like they did use a gold bolt in one of their other gongs to fix the perpendicular arrangement.Mark IV update: To date all efforts to make this gong chime have been fairly fruitless, the spinner with painted acrylic decor did help but the strikes are weak and it's fairly drowned out by other chimes in the light breezes I get in my cove. I had a Jasper ring salvaged from another Windsock which I've recommitted for the front of the gong, it barely takes a strike for this stone clapper to produce sound so I have high hopes this will the final solution. First will try without a sail and if necessary, add a sail. I don't expect I'll need it. The jasper ring is flat giving a chance for a miss and it's that random factor that makes the fun.MarkV update: With the success of the MarkIV in actually producing sound with a breeze I've decided to move the rubber clapper back up front only freed like the stone clapper was. The stone clapper did make louder sounds only they tended to be repedative and a bit annoying, the tone from the rubber clapper should resolve that. I'm not thrilled with the look of this clapper, somewhat unbalanced though and may replace it with a Lacrosse ball. Let's see if it performs first. There's a good possibility this gong may perform better with no sail or counterweight at all which serves to stabilize it. Using the gong itself as a sail without the counter weight of the spinner would likely improve it. It's just a handy space for the spinner currently, may need to experiment without it.

The 'gong' sound of this wind chime is low, relaxing and peaceful. Not only does it sound beautiful but the look is appealing too. In very gusty or strong winds, it can go a little crazy and get tangled up but it straightens itself out soon enough.

The wind catcher is constantly wrapped around the back side so it can't strike the gong, I regularly move it back to the proper position and the moment there is any wind it wraps around the gong and does not work. I do not recommend purchasing this item. It is lovely to look at, high quality and well made, but it has a major design flaw. Too late to return it.

The only design flaw is the wind spins the whole device, instead of just the sounding hammer. This can be easily fixed with an extra bit of string to hold the gong in place, but why did Woodstock not just fix the design flaw to begin with?