Author Topic: Readers' Instruments (Read 166492 times)

The French Tandem · « **Reply #100 on:** 22 December, 2016, 08:16:12 am »

Quote from: Plug1n on 21 December, 2016, 11:55:40 am

The mention of B&H and Edgware a few days back prompted me to take this:

1. Pre-war B&H 1010 B flat with articulated g# and forked B flat
2. Pre-war B&H 1010 A

While bikes come in n+1, clarinets generally come in n+2

Pre-war!! Can you still play them? In my (very limited) experience, clarinets tend to age very poorly!

T42 · « **Reply #101 on:** 22 December, 2016, 09:08:23 am »

Son bought a Xaphoon when they were being heavily plugged a while back, and is well pleased.

https://www.thomann.de/intl/xaphoon_del_xaphoon_standard.htm?ref=search_rslt_xaphoon_114668_2

He's one of those irritating people who can play just about anything they get their hands on. I have trouble with door-bells.

Plug1n · « **Reply #102 on:** 22 December, 2016, 11:10:19 am »

Quote from: The French Tandem on 22 December, 2016, 08:16:12 am

Pre-war!! Can you still play them? In my (very limited) experience, clarinets tend to age very poorly!

Absolutely, as long as there are no mechanical show stoppers or leaks, but they can all be fixed. It helps to have a good repair person and they are very rare.

#3 & #4 are in perfect condition and even came with an original pre-war mouthpiece which is a true delight to play. B&H seemed to loose that part of their manufacturing skill set after the war, sadly.

I could go on.......

Woofage · « **Reply #103 on:** 22 December, 2016, 01:52:53 pm »

Tweeter jnr plays alto sax (he's just passed grade 6 Jazz Saxophone) and his instrument is a c. 1941 King "Zephyr" by HN White. We bought it cheap at an auction just for fun but when he started having private lessons we were faced with either buying a £Nk Yamaha or similar but instead had the Zephyr overhauled. Although this cost as much as a s/h student instrument it was well worth it as it's a top-quality instrument with sub-zero cool factor compared with what others of his age group play. Plus our local instrument repairer loves it so there'll be no problem with its maintenance. I'll post some pics soon.

David Martin · « **Reply #104 on:** 22 December, 2016, 02:06:11 pm »

my 1950's B&H regent (when they were African Blackwood rather than plastic) was awful to play until I got a mouthpiece that was playable (5RV, which I like). It does have a crack in the barrel so I had a friend run up a perspex one on a lathe. it is a fraction of a mm too long though so I will get him to rework it at some point so I can play in tune. Lovely sound though. The clarinet I have at work is also wooden - the clarinet of a late friend of my father who had had it since the 60's/70's. Again wooden and a Buffet I think.

The keys on the Regent are rather poor quality, they give cheese a bad name.

Plug1n · « **Reply #105 on:** 22 December, 2016, 04:01:52 pm »

Cracks in a barrel are not necessarily fatal. The rings should hold the thing together and bees wax can fill any small crevices, depends how bad it is though.

Key work on the mid to higher end Booseys was intended to survive trips around the empire, better keys are drop forged rather than cast. Also longer spindles rather than the pointed pivots favoured by the French makers tend to degrade more benignly at the cost of some extra friction.

LEE · « **Reply #106 on:** 22 December, 2016, 04:54:06 pm »

Quote from: T42 on 19 December, 2016, 08:43:27 am

The only kind of harp I'll ever manage

I can honestly say I've never seen a Harmonica with a HeadUp Display before. Did you get the idea from the US Airforce F16?

Here's T42 playing harmonica on his way to Afghanistan

LEE · « **Reply #107 on:** 22 December, 2016, 05:09:00 pm »

For you guitar-heads out there....

My best friend from school plays in a few bands and has clearly developed an EBay guitar habit. His son makes videos and put this very short video together of "me mate" Andy.

60 Guitars

David Martin · « **Reply #108 on:** 22 December, 2016, 09:12:43 pm »

Quote from: Plug1n on 22 December, 2016, 04:01:52 pm

Cracks in a barrel are not necessarily fatal. The rings should hold the thing together and bees wax can fill any small crevices, depends how bad it is though.

Key work on the mid to higher end Booseys was intended to survive trips around the empire, better keys are drop forged rather than cast. Also longer spindles rather than the pointed pivots favoured by the French makers tend to degrade more benignly at the cost of some extra friction.

I think mine dates from the '50s. The barrel is kind of mixed. I'll find some more beeswax and see if I can improve the sealing.

Never played an A clarinet. Maybe that is something to try at some point. I've played Bass though. And Soprano -> Baritone sax though I only have an alto now (and my old one which needs a touch of repair)

T42 · « **Reply #109 on:** 23 December, 2016, 08:11:07 am »

Quote from: LEE on 22 December, 2016, 04:54:06 pm

Quote from: T42 on 19 December, 2016, 08:43:27 am

The only kind of harp I'll ever manage

I can honestly say I've never seen a Harmonica with a HeadUp Display before. Did you get the idea from the US Airforce F16?

Here's T42 playing harmonica on his way to Afghanistan

That looks more like the chromatic version, whereas mine is the asthmatic.

firedfromthecircus · « **Reply #110 on:** 23 December, 2016, 02:05:07 pm »

Quote from: LEE on 22 December, 2016, 05:09:00 pm

For you guitar-heads out there....

My best friend from school plays in a few bands and has clearly developed an EBay guitar habit. His son makes videos and put this very short video together of "me mate" Andy.

60 Guitars

Nicely made little video. Interesting to see such a variety of instruments of differing values. I wonder if he has a favourite?

I have a few instruments.

Fender American Standard Strat.
Fender cheap acoustic.
Simon and Patrick 12 string acoustic.
Korg Minilogue.
Roland TB-03
Roland TR-09
Yamaha Trumpet
Hohner Cross Harp
Kintail Bagpipes

The electronic stuff is new but I've played the rest on and off for years. Funnily the only one I have ever been good at is the bagpipes, and I don't play them at all now. I wasn't even all that good on them!

Anyway, everyone loves a picture so here is the strat.

T42 · « **Reply #111 on:** 25 December, 2016, 04:15:43 pm »

Missus gave me a Strat for Christmas, just a Squier to see if I would enjoy it. Definitely going to have a go at building one now.

Have to panel the hall first, of course...

Andrij · « **Reply #112 on:** 25 December, 2016, 04:56:32 pm »

Quote from: Andrij on 15 May, 2014, 11:58:31 am

Bandura - 'Poltava/Kharkiv' style

Not good.

Poltavka (Vetzal) - crack by Andrij, on Flickr
click to embiggen

bobb · « **Reply #113 on:** 25 December, 2016, 05:06:27 pm »

Restringing that must be fun

Andrij · « **Reply #114 on:** 25 December, 2016, 05:12:56 pm »

Quote from: bobb on 25 December, 2016, 05:06:27 pm

Restringing that must be fun

Thankfully I've never had to completely restring it. IIRC, the most was three. Tuning can be a pain if it's been a while, but usually takes less than five minutes.

bobb · « **Reply #115 on:** 26 December, 2016, 12:10:09 pm »

Quote from: T42 on 25 December, 2016, 04:15:43 pm

Missus gave me a Strat for Christmas

Let's see it then!

T42 · « **Reply #116 on:** 27 December, 2016, 10:20:55 am »

Will do presently. I want to do a group photo of the lot and I'm lazy.

bumper · « **Reply #117 on:** 28 December, 2016, 03:59:51 pm »

My Goodtime2, Scruggs style but much slower and now trying clawhammer.

I can play a few tunes now, about 6 that aren't too bad and a few that aren't as good

currently trying to learn Thunderstruck by ACDC and Blackbird by The Beatles

T42 · « **Reply #118 on:** 29 December, 2016, 10:29:41 am »

Mine's a straight Goodtime. I had to buy the arm rest as an extra. Like US Grant I know two tunes: one of them's Cripple Creek and the other one ain't. Guitars keep interfering.

bumper · « **Reply #119 on:** 29 December, 2016, 01:44:12 pm »

Only having the single instrument gives me only one choice for tunes. Are you clawhammer or 3 finger style on the open back?

I almost had the open back but wanted the extra volume and twang of the resonator. I didn't know at the time that there is a resonator conversion kit for the open back giving you the best of both.

My wife would've preferred I had the open back when I'm playing

T42 · « **Reply #120 on:** 29 December, 2016, 04:23:54 pm »

Mine's an open-back which I "play" 3-fingered, usually with picks but also without. I do have a resonator 6-string but the sound is horrible even with good strings. The Deering is much more pleasant to listen to and the big tall frets much easier to finger. My fingers are too short to stretch some of the basic chords quickly, though, which is aggravating.

My wife claims to like the sound but I don't believe her.

bumper · « **Reply #121 on:** 29 December, 2016, 05:34:18 pm »

The Goodtime series sound more expensive than they actually are, I played a few brands before buying and nothing comes close unless you start to increase the spend. I may invest in an open back eventually. Wouldn't touch a 6 string, that's why I dumped the guitar about 25 years ago. I've only got 5 fingers on each hand not 6

When I started on the banjo, I struggled reaching certain chords. The problem, I was holding it like a guitar. I then changed the position pointing it more upwards and setting my strap right. This has dropped my wrist more and pointed my fingers very slightly down towards the pot giving more reach. Holding the neck like a guitar also didn't help me. The narrow necks/close strings for me are also a slight issue, fat ended fingertips tend to hit more than string inventing new chords! I also play better standing up than sitting down for some reason. I think I slouch with it when I sit down and it throws my hands out slightly, I've just changed to angled picks and it's helped me to play better when seated.

I've found a couple of teachers close by (within 30 miles ). I may take up lessons in the spring. I don't fancy online lessons, prefer a teacher in person. Self taught is okay but I can imagine that I've started a few bad habits already.

My wife thought it was fun to try and guess the tune I was learning. Then I learnt duelling banjos and played it over and over and over. She now closes every door when I play

Had a try at clawhammer today, don't think I'll take to it. I think it's for singalong folks, I'd have my balls cut off i started to sing too!!!

bumper · « **Reply #122 on:** 29 December, 2016, 06:51:48 pm »

This is how I held my guitar, maybe a few degrees more towards the horizontal. Definitely horizontal when sitting.

I hold my banjo like this standing and sitting, approx 1-2 o'clock with my thumb centered behind on the back of the neck. I find this angle keeps my picking fingers clear of the strings when needed and my left wrist has more flexibility for stretching the fingers out for chords. Keeping the thumb in that position also gives me more reach with my fingers and raises them off the strings when I'm stretched on certain chords.

I started without a strap, that didn't help. Since using a strap, I can keep the banjo in position and not take any weight on my hands. Allowing me to drop my wrist as the pic.

I've only been playing a few months, it may be right or wrong but it works great for me. Look at the wrists in the photos.

I don't look as good as her when I play though. A few years older, fatter and way uglier

bumper · « **Reply #123 on:** 29 December, 2016, 06:57:59 pm »

and another showing the angle difference. It's easier for me to drop my wrist with the banjo at 2 o'clock.

bumper · « **Reply #124 on:** 29 December, 2016, 07:14:08 pm »

and let's not forget Dave Hum.

I always fancied playing Banjo but saw Dave in Chester a few years ago and was hypnotised by his playing. My wife carried on shopping and I stood for over an hour watching him. Another taken too early, RIP Dave.

Hope the pics have helped some