Author Topic: Readers' Instruments  (Read 164234 times)

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #225 on: 13 July, 2018, 09:59:20 am »
PaulF:   Shagadelic!

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #226 on: 13 July, 2018, 10:05:53 am »
:thumbsup: Needs a built-in cocktail bar.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #227 on: 13 July, 2018, 10:22:24 am »


I reckon Keef would dig that  :P

I've just been reviewing my latest guitar build (which I should have finished ages ago!) and I'm thinking I need to stump up for a half decent band saw. I've made life ridiculously difficult for myself with my laminate through neck design. Running before walking and all that....
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #228 on: 13 July, 2018, 01:05:02 pm »
I've just been reviewing my latest guitar build (which I should have finished ages ago!) and I'm thinking I need to stump up for a half decent band saw. I've made life ridiculously difficult for myself with my laminate through neck design. Running before walking and all that....

That's my wail too.  I had an E. German cheapo for >20 years and it was wonderful, but then it died. My current Metabo is shit. Apart from the fact that it won't cut true no matter what the blade tension, the blade guard is so constructed that you can't see the blade with both eyes at once when you're cutting, and the wee LED light throws it into shadow.

I could do with a table saw, too.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #229 on: 14 July, 2018, 07:56:58 am »
Thanks!  I screwed up with the neck break angle, though - as in there isn't any - so I've added a nut extension and now I try to play slide. Sounds like an old steam turntable with a dickey drive-belt.  But hey, the neighbours' kids drench the neighbourhood in [c]rap so I figure that adding a wail like a seasick cow improves things.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #230 on: 19 July, 2018, 08:07:04 pm »
Good luck!

Got the results today - distinction: 133/150.  Stop sniggering at the back - you haven't spent the last 40 years travelling all over the UK and half the globe, away for weeks at a time, and dealing with tricky Furriner clients in languages you don't speak.  Now I need to get my Tenor up to speed and on to the next exam - Grade 3 I'm told!

Had an ice cream and a couple of beers to celebrate.

nicknack

  • Hornblower
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #231 on: 19 July, 2018, 08:18:00 pm »
Congratulations!
Same score as I got for grade 8 35 years ago.
There's no vibrations, but wait.

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #232 on: 19 July, 2018, 08:27:53 pm »
Congratulations!
Same score as I got for grade 8 35 years ago.

Thx - can't see me taking grade 8 aged 99 somehow!

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #233 on: 20 July, 2018, 08:12:40 am »
Well done, Andy. Take it easy: rushed progress will be short lived and provide plenty of frustrating moments. I guess progress is music is a bit like the hare and the tortoise story.

Thx RR.  I was totally exhausted for a couple of days after the exam, presumably the after effect of several months of concentration,  trying to learn a lot of new skills all at once - plus Grade 3 Theory, and the exam being way out of my comfort zone.  Got my mojo back now, but have moved over mostly to the tenor sax to bring that up to my alto standard (which I still play every day), but it's a new learning curve as the embouchure and blowing is different.  Fortunately, the keys are in the same relative places, but a bit further apart.  Progress frustratingly slow, and two steps forward, one back, but my teacher is excellent - loads of patience and I completely let her set the pace and direction. She only puts pupils into exams when she knows they'll get a strong pass. 

Becoming 'legitimate' (in that I've passed a music exam - beyond my wildest imagination a few years ago)  has given me some confidence that I can do this, given enough time and diligence, and it's only anno domini and my natural limit of ability that will curtail how far I get.

And I really enjoy playing the sax.

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #234 on: 20 July, 2018, 08:15:41 am »
Good luck!

Got the results today - distinction: 133/150.  Stop sniggering at the back - you haven't spent the last 40 years travelling all over the UK and half the globe, away for weeks at a time, and dealing with tricky Furriner clients in languages you don't speak.  Now I need to get my Tenor up to speed and on to the next exam - Grade 3 I'm told!

Had an ice cream and a couple of beers to celebrate.

Congratulations!


Understand how you feel about switching between tenor and alto. I have the same issue switching between mandolin with a 14" scale and the octave with a 20" scale.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #235 on: 20 July, 2018, 08:40:58 am »
:thumbsup: Well done!
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #236 on: 20 July, 2018, 04:14:27 pm »
Congratulations!
Same score as I got for grade 8 35 years ago.

& a lot more than I got for my Grade 8 Violin 34 years ago :(.

#1 son has been looking at baris on eBay :o. He volunteers gets roped in to play bari sometimes at school (including in the recent school production) as a) the fingering is the same as alto, apparently and b) at 6'3"" he's big enough.

I think he's been somewhat inspired by this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krLYZmPRtnc
Pen Pusher

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #237 on: 20 July, 2018, 05:47:37 pm »
#1 son has been looking at baris on eBay :o. He volunteers gets roped in to play bari sometimes at school (including in the recent school production) as a) the fingering is the same as alto, apparently and b) at 6'3"" he's big enough.

He'd need to be a big lad.  I was surprised at just how much heavier the tenor is than the alto.  Daren't think about the weight of the baritone. I had a 3 level disc decompression and fusion in my neck a few years ago - before I started playing the sax - and I have to use a braces style of neck strap to keep the weight off my neck.  They fasten to my trousers belt.  I suggest he looks at the same otherwise he'll hurt his neck!

nicknack

  • Hornblower
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #238 on: 21 July, 2018, 09:56:45 am »
He'd need to be a big lad.
Not necessarily.
Here's a really big person showing what you can do with a baritone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ilm1ZB3dexI
There's no vibrations, but wait.

nicknack

  • Hornblower
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #239 on: 21 July, 2018, 10:02:13 am »
Actually, when I come to think of it, most of the baritone players I have known over the years have been small women.

I'm lucky in that I've never suffered from neck problems when playing baritone. Lower back yes, neck no. There isn't a harness around that can take the pressure off your lower back. If it's a big problem then a stand is the only way to go.
There's no vibrations, but wait.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #240 on: 17 September, 2018, 10:54:36 am »
Cigar-box guitar I built for daughter's partner.  My second build and first fretting job. I missed a day due to illness during the week and had to go flat out from Thursday on, but it worked. The boy (age 37) loves it - he played for >2 hours, but dear Lord I hate the stuff he plays.



Pentatonic blues scale w. 2nd fret & flat 5th ==> versatile, easy to play and only half the frets to bugger up.  Bridge is skew here, he probably knocked it going for the volume knob.

I put a gallery of most of the build on here.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #241 on: 17 September, 2018, 11:09:40 am »
Great, the revised bridge position will definitely affect the intonation ;D Could that be why you don't like the sound of his playing :)

What pickup did you use?

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #242 on: 17 September, 2018, 11:11:54 am »
Not quite an instrument but in the spirit of home built and related:



The gap is now occupied by a tremolo pedal

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #243 on: 17 September, 2018, 11:25:36 am »
Great, the revised bridge position will definitely affect the intonation ;D Could that be why you don't like the sound of his playing :)

What pickup did you use?

An el cheapo piezo under inside the box under the bridge.  Works pretty well.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #244 on: 21 September, 2018, 03:32:40 pm »
Introducing The Pingfuckit Resonator (prototype)



Piezo under the sink-trap: instant oil-drum.

Built into soundhole:



Going to hook it up with under-bridge piezo via a Gibson 3-way switch.  Needs more elegant screws, but this guitar is a test-bed so I'm not too fussy.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #245 on: 21 September, 2018, 04:23:58 pm »
You sir are totally barking ;D

I salute you!

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #246 on: 21 September, 2018, 04:52:25 pm »
Woof!

CB guitars are lots of fun.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #247 on: 16 November, 2018, 03:44:03 pm »
Just finished today, the Brazen Beast:






Tha can't 'ave too much brass.



The box comes from spare tongue & groove, the neck is from red pin des Landes left over from building our current bed in 1994, and the fretboard is mahogany from a knock-off G-Plan dining table MrsT's folks had built in Uganda in 1959.  It has a 3-pole CB guitar pickup at the neck and a disc piezo inside the dogbowl under the bridge.

Sounds pretty mellow in a twangy sort of way.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

PaulF

  • "World's Scariest Barman"
  • It's only impossible if you stop to think about it
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #248 on: 16 November, 2018, 04:23:43 pm »
Amazing!

andytheflyer

  • Andytheex-flyer.....
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #249 on: 16 November, 2018, 04:58:14 pm »
Just finished today, the Brazen Beast:



Ooooo.  A proper workshop.  Great bench, face vice, and a table saw on castors.  I did the same to mine, and my B&D Workmate with its extended top.  Makes working in a small space so much easier.

Top fettling, Mr T42.