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i'm bored of guitar now...

S t e v e

By S t e v e
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milod

milod

Posted
Posted

Rob...

 

I've got a fiddle that was a gift from an "old time" fiddler I accompanied at state fiddle contests and such for years back in the '70s.

 

I figured since I could play a little mandolin that it shouldn't be that hard to learn. When the cat vomited on the living room rug every time I gave it a try, I figured I'd stick with stuff that has frets and no bow.

 

<grin> The fiddle player is long gone; the fiddle somebody painted a skull and crossbones onto more than a half century ago is one of my treasures. I doubt it's worth a C note. It's still a treasure.

 

EDIT: BTW, yes, folks should do more than just work and play guitar, I'm a strong believer in that, but also figure that the guitar is such a versatile instrument that switching from rock on a solidbody to fingerstyle on a classical guitar is a whole different animal.

 

m

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DanvillRob

DanvillRob

Posted
Posted

Rob...

 

I've got a fiddle that was a gift from an "old time" fiddler I accompanied at state fiddle contests and such for years back in the '70s.

 

I figured since I could play a little mandolin that it shouldn't be that hard to learn. When the cat vomited on the living room rug every time I gave it a try, I figured I'd stick with stuff that has frets and no bow.

 

<grin> The fiddle player is long gone; the fiddle somebody painted a skull and crossbones onto more than a half century ago is one of my treasures. I doubt it's worth a C note. It's still a treasure.

 

m

 

Milo...well you're no damn help! Here I was thinkin' I could be like Charlie Daniels!

 

I got the basics..... no frets, so I gotta figure where I am by finger placement... I can tune it, (just like a mandolin), but the bow is tough, no only how to hold it, and how to turn it around, but the angle of the dangle gets me..... and if you move the bow out of the

body relief area you end up scraping it across the body and missing the "E" or the "G" string!

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milod

milod

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Ain't touched mine in 30 years. Literally.

 

Cleaning cat barf from the living room carpet is just toooooooo much.

 

Seriously, I should take it to somebody who knows fiddles and have it checked up on, etc. Just never got to it. I'm certain that at least the old wooden case is older than I am, so it's certainly an antique by any criterion.

 

I actually sorta got it, but... I could see that it would be far more work than I was willing to put into a tertiary instrument. Then... ain't played my banjo or mandolins in 10 years either.

 

Darn it.

 

m

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DanvillRob

DanvillRob

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Ain't touched mine in 30 years. Literally.

 

Cleaning cat barf from the living room carpet is just toooooooo much.

 

Seriously, I should take it to somebody who knows fiddles and have it checked up on, etc. Just never got to it. I'm certain that at least the old wooden case is older than I am, so it's certainly an antique by any criterion.

 

I actually sorta got it, but... I could see that it would be far more work than I was willing to put into a tertiary instrument. Then... ain't played my banjo or mandolins in 10 years either.

 

Darn it.

 

m

 

Mine was my F-I-L's when he was a little kid...so it HAS to be 80-90 years old! When I got it, it was still in the wooden case, but I put that away and bought a nice ABS, (or PVC), case.

 

It was in pretty rough shape, so I took it to a repair place, (luthier?), who put it all together for me, and I replaced the bow. The head of the repair shop played it for me to see which bow

would be best for it...and i couldn't BELIEVE how good it sounded.... by when I have it, it sounds like someday I might play as well as Jack Benny!

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milod

milod

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Actually Jack Benny was a pretty good fiddle player. As I recall, he started adding comedy to his fiddling and pretty soon it was in reverse.

 

I actually had breakfast with him and got an interview... maybe 8 million years ago??? <grin>

 

Okay, it was 1966.

 

<grin>

 

I think both of our fiddles have far greater values by the meaning of their background than any intrinsic value. <sigh>

 

I dunno.

 

m

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DanvillRob

DanvillRob

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Actually Jack Benny was a pretty good fiddle player. As I recall, he started adding comedy to his fiddling and pretty soon it was in reverse.

 

I actually had breakfast with him and got an interview... maybe 8 million years ago??? <grin>

 

Okay, it was 1966.

 

<grin>

 

I think both of our fiddles have far greater values by the meaning of their background than any intrinsic value. <sigh>

 

I dunno.

 

m

 

I actually knew Jack Benny could really play....but I'll go pretty far for a joke.

 

My fiddle is in our family for good..... never a chance to pawn it off. I just hope I have a G/K that will play it.

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milod

milod

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This is not a joke: I waver between wanting my instruments destroyed when I'm "gone" and wanting them just sold to cover back taxes or whatever. The ego in me favors destruction. The responsible adult wants any old bills paid. None of the nieces/nephews are really pickers and my baby bro - who's not quite 40, has kinda left the guitar behind for computerized keyboards.

 

There's some come here for to see me hung

And some to buy my fiddle

But before that I do part with her

I'll break her through the middle

 

He took his fiddle in both of his hands

And he broke it o'er a stone

Saying 'There's nae ither hand shall play on thee

When I am dead and gone'

 

m

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DanvillRob

DanvillRob

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This is not a joke: I waver between wanting my instruments destroyed when I'm "gone" and wanting them just sold to cover back taxes or whatever. The ego in me favors destruction. The responsible adult wants any old bills paid. None of the nieces/nephews are really pickers and my baby bro - who's not quite 40, has kinda left the guitar behind for computerized keyboards.

 

There's some come here for to see me hung

And some to buy my fiddle

But before that I do part with her

I'll break her through the middle

 

He took his fiddle in both of his hands

And he broke it o'er a stone

Saying 'There's nae ither hand shall play on thee

When I am dead and gone'

 

m

 

You can always adopt.... there HAS to be some worthy picker.....maybe someone older.......

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milod

milod

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I useta do a variation of this... but... <grin>

Today's "metal" kids ain't got much on a certain darker segment of the folkies of 50 years ago.

 

Oh my name is Sam'l Hall, Sam'l Hall

Oh my Name is Sam'l Hall

And I hate you one and all

You're a gang of muckers all

Damn your eyes --------- (Version I used began this line with mention of deity.)

 

Oh I killed a man they said, so they said

Yes, I killed a man they said

For I cracked him on the head

And I left him there for dead

Damn his eyes

 

So they put me in the quad, in the quad

Yes they put me in the quad

=-=-=-=-=- (Lines I used were "they put me in the quad,

-=-=-=-=-=- ( ... "Said, 'Sam, you'll hang, by God,... so I'll hang...'")

Damn their eyes

 

And the parson he did come, he did come

And the parson he did come

And he looked so GD glum

With his talk of kingdom come (version I used was "He can kiss my ruddy b_m")

Damn his eyes

 

Saw my Nellie in the crowd, in the crowd

Saw my Nellie in the crowd

And I hollered right out loud,

"Needn't look so --- proud

Damn yer eyes"

 

<chortle-schnarf>

 

m

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Andy R

Andy R

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I have to have about 5 or 6 hobbies to keep my brain busy. I only had guitar for about 20 years that would hold my interest fro very long now...

 

* Home Remodeling

* Car restoration ( have 3 Trans Ams in various states of restoration)

* Building Guitars

* Bands

* Recording

* Keyboard

* Drums

* Tube amp Building and modification

* Fishing ( occasionally)

* DIY tools ( Home made tools etc...)

 

I get in a slump on one and move to another and it seems to cycle around.... Keeps me happy though. You can't force creativity or inspiration. I find I am the happiest when I am inspired.

 

 

Andy

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milod

milod

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Besides neither of us considering ourselves "extremely old," I don't think the term "man crush" is appropriate for various sorts of friendships among men of our age group's subculture.

 

And yes, it is a subculture that has been changed significantly by a number of factors since our teen years. Relationships among men and women are significantly different, and that plays a role in those subcultural changes.

 

I could go on and on about that. For example, I "covered" Title 9 entering schools as girls began to become involved in "equal" sports as the boys. Since that time I've seen incredible cultural changes in high schools and colleges in terms of how "kids" develop relationships.

 

That's not a value judgment, just a statement of fact. Given that I'm technically even a bit older than the post WWII "baby boomer" generation, I've thought at times that I have more cultural similarity to my Dad, Grandpa and Great Grandpa than to today's 30s and 40s generation that would be the age to be my own children were I to have had any.

 

Their children - the teens and 20s - are in ways, I think trying to find some of the older paradigm of "virtue." And don't forget for a minute that the very word "virtue" comes from the Latin root meaning "man," an adult male. That's because of the major cultural changes experienced by their parents and grandparents that brought some of this "virtue" stuff into question.

 

m

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