Author Topic: Readers' Instruments  (Read 164548 times)

interzen

  • Venture Altruist
  • Agent Orange
    • interzen.homeunix.org
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #25 on: 29 April, 2011, 10:25:30 pm »
Some instruments I put in my mouth:


I've got an ocarina kicking about somewhere - sounds really, erm, interesting if you run it through enough effects ;D

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #26 on: 30 April, 2011, 02:57:14 pm »
76/77 Fender P, pretty beaten up. I've had it about 18 years.



This is new- a "Vintage" fretless jazz copy (it has fret markings). Cost just over £200 (new), plays and sounds very nice considering. Recently I've used nothing else for rehearsal and recording, I'll use it at our next gig too.


Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #27 on: 30 April, 2011, 05:33:04 pm »


Fender "Squier Series" Jazz Bass, a £100 wreck bought off ebay as a restoration project:


IMG_0205 by rhys_caerdydd, on Flickr



I like the look of that.

Rhys W

  • I'm single, bilingual
    • Cardiff Ajax
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #28 on: 30 April, 2011, 09:22:38 pm »
There's something about an offset-body in yellowed Olympic White paired with a tortoiseshell pickguard I find irresistible. There's no way I'd find a Jazzmaster for £100, and I could use a bass, so... If you click on the flickr set you can see its progress from the ugly duckling it originally was.

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #29 on: 30 April, 2011, 11:05:28 pm »
My favourite fiddle


fs 001 by RWPD, on Flickr

It's a bit rough in places - it's been repaired with super glue


fs 005 by RWPD, on Flickr

and has a crack on the front very near the sound post


fs 004 by RWPD, on Flickr


Very nasty transfers on the back


fs 009 by RWPD, on Flickr

I bought it as a disposable fiddle to go busking with, but it's become my number 1.  I think it's a German 19th century factory made fiddle, but I could be wrong. 

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #30 on: 02 May, 2011, 04:22:36 pm »
Some lovely guitar porn here. That Yamaha SG in particular is lush. Always loved those. A goldtop Yamaha SG is at the top of my list of dream guitars.

In the meantime I'll have to make do with these budget offerings.

Epiphone Thunderbird. Note the extra strap button (there's another extra one on the heel of the neck). Thunderbirds are notoriously neck heavy, but a simple re-positioning of the strap buttons fixes that. Why Gibson don't put them there in the first place I don't know. Sorts the balance right out.


Just fitted some new pickups to my latest acquisition, a Hofner Colorama II. The thing weighs a ton, more than the Thunderbird in fact, but I do love it, especially with those new P90's in there.



Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #31 on: 03 May, 2011, 02:11:44 pm »
Lots of YACF bass action going on. Here's my Dean Edge 4:







I disturbed the cat taking the last one. He was under the duvet!

Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

interzen

  • Venture Altruist
  • Agent Orange
    • interzen.homeunix.org
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #32 on: 03 May, 2011, 04:45:30 pm »
Here's my Dean Edge 4:

That is a stunning quilt finish (to the Dean, not the duvet).
They're really nice to play, too - I've got an Edge fretless on my bass 'n+1' list, along with many other guitars which I'll never be able to afford in a month of Sundays ;)

I used to have one of these: Peavey Cirrus 6 fretless Pictures - TalkBass Forums until I had to flog it after getting turfed from my last job  :'(

Tourist Tony

  • Supermassive mobile flesh-toned black hole
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #33 on: 03 May, 2011, 05:41:33 pm »
I went with a friend to look at an electric-acoustic bass for her son, and played it to see what the action was like. Buzzy as all hell.

"Oh, that's what all basses do" said the salesman.

Yeah mate, course they do.

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #34 on: 04 May, 2011, 11:10:39 pm »
Flatwounds - currently light gauge LaBella "Deep Talkin'" (0.039,0.056,0.077,0.096).
I always use stainless steel strings, mainly 'cos I have a nickel allergy.

I've just put a set of Rotosound TruBass nylon-wound strings on. Wow, what a sound! Gone is the metallic twang which has been replaced with a really solid bottom end thump (ooh, er, missus). The total slipperiness will take some getting used to, however, but they are surprisingly easy to play for such a heavy string.
Pen Pusher

IanDG

  • The p*** artist formerly known as 'Windy'
    • the_dandg_rouleur
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #35 on: 12 May, 2011, 11:12:38 pm »
Nothing special - an ES335 copy and a Headliner Djembe


instruments by windy_, on Flickr

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #36 on: 13 May, 2011, 01:24:32 pm »



IGMwhiteC

RJ

  • Droll rat
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #37 on: 13 May, 2011, 08:44:34 pm »

Tourist Tony

  • Supermassive mobile flesh-toned black hole
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #38 on: 16 May, 2011, 11:29:15 pm »
'Is it safe?'

mcshroom

  • Mushroom
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #39 on: 07 May, 2014, 08:44:41 pm »
My cello, restored after 9 years languishing in my parents loft :D




The restorer's done a very good job. He's filled in the lumps I knocked out of it lugging it backwards and forwards to school and revarnished the body, fitted a new spike and plug to the bottom, re-strung it and fitted a new bridge.
Climbs like a sprinter, sprints like a climber!

Mrs Pingu

  • Who ate all the pies? Me
    • Twitter
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #40 on: 07 May, 2014, 09:53:13 pm »
Wonders what sort of state my school clarinet is in after 22 years sitting in the loft.
I should really sell it and let someone have the use of it, but as my parents bought it after much saving for my older brother I expect my name would be mud.
Do not clench. It only makes it worse.

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #41 on: 07 May, 2014, 10:11:03 pm »
Yay, cello! Cellos are good. Almost as good as double basses, though not quite. :D

Nice purple walls, too.

Andrij

  • Андрій
  • Ερασιτεχνικός μισάνθρωπος
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #42 on: 07 May, 2014, 10:15:59 pm »
*photo deleted for decency sake*

IGMwhiteC

The horror!  :o
;D  Andrij.  I pronounce you Complete and Utter GIT   :thumbsup:

David Martin

  • Thats Dr Oi You thankyouverymuch
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #43 on: 07 May, 2014, 11:20:36 pm »
Well my old school clarinet (a wooden Boosey and Hawkes Regent which is about a dozen years older than me) is doing fine, though with a perspex barrel made by a friend as the original one has hairline cracks that render it unplayable.
"By creating we think. By living we learn" - Patrick Geddes

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #44 on: 08 May, 2014, 09:54:31 am »
Pen Pusher

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #45 on: 08 May, 2014, 11:37:50 am »
How does it sound? Awesome! Like a deep, slightly growly fretless bass (guitar) but not really like a proper acoustic DB. I'll qualify this statement by adding that it's the only one I've ever tried. I had a modest windfall last year so I bought it on a bit of a whim. Love it though so don't regret the purchase. There's a piezo pickup under the bridge and a pre-amp built in. You can also just plug in headphones and play without an amp.

How does it play? Well, I'm really a beginner so probably not qualified to do a proper review. A friend plays DB in the orchestra I'm in and her acoustic instrument is a bit easier to play in terms of string tension and/or action so mine would definitely benefit from a better setup and I suspect that the strings are not the best they could be. When I'm feeling flush again I'll invest in some better strings (they're over £100 per set :o). That said, it's not difficult to play at all and, unlike a proper db, it has side dots to help you navigate. Need to learn to bow though. I thought that as a violin player bowing would be easy but it seems that it's almost like I've never used one! Luckily when I was taught to play the bass guitar I learned the 3 finger (Simandl) technique so this translates directly to upright.

Overall it was good value. I paid about £350 new which although well into very decent bass guitar territory uprights are relatively uncommon so have prices to match. Apparently it's very similar to the Aria which is about double the price new.
Pen Pusher

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #46 on: 08 May, 2014, 11:46:27 am »
Ooh,I like the electric double bass. Doesn't take up much space, either...

Woofage

  • Tofu-eating Wokerati
  • Ain't no hooves on my bike.
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #47 on: 08 May, 2014, 12:01:26 pm »
Ooh,I like the electric double bass. Doesn't take up much space, either...

Mrs W has almost banned me from owning an acoustic db. Master W had db lessons for a term (before he saw the light and took up saxophone) and even a little one was too much of a PITA for her. Not sure our current car would fit one either. The electric is perfect as I can just fold down the middle rear seat and slide it in (phnaar phnaar).
Pen Pusher

billplumtree

  • Plumbing the well of gitness
Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #48 on: 08 May, 2014, 12:55:59 pm »
Oh, it's an electric double bass?  I wondered what that thing was, getting in the way of the interesting-looking piano...

Re: Reader's Instruments
« Reply #49 on: 09 May, 2014, 11:38:42 pm »
I play a variety of peculiar and odd looking instruments, none of them it has to be said, particularly well. I'm in a band called "What's That Dreadful Noise?". This is my old battered brass helicon. I also have a Martin Horn and a set of bagpipes which I made myself from bits found in the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink and the syphons from a tropical fish tank cleaning kit.