Thursday LR , March 14

Happy Pi day !



Lunch for me today was some homemade energy bars, coconut milk and a couple banana's.

Seemed I was on the run again and was happy to have to snacks on hand to keep me goin' good.

I'm making some sprouted whheat bread for the first time tonight, maybe tomorrow I'll have some yummy
sandwiches in the lunch box. The recipe calls only for soaked wheat berries that are then mashed and used
for the dough...no refined flour needed (maybe some for dusting the board). I tried some bagels made this way
and they just melted in your mouth, a little sugar and they could have passed as raised donuts...very tender and the sprouted wheat has a nice sweetness that you don't get with refined flour.
I'll take some pics to share (might not be pretty, got my fingers crossed though).

Here I am late again ...I'm getting pretty good at copying and pasting pics with industrious ferver.

I'm really happy with the L2000 that I scored on deBay. One little ding on the bottom ( I won't have to worry about making the first one), and a dead battery that the seller probably never knew about ; are the only
things that needed attention.
The neck has turned to a perfect whiskey yellow ...and it's finish has an amazingly subtle transition to the burst, very rosy.

Here's some shots :















To keep with the pretty Bass theme, my Michael Kelly acoustic bass was hanging out and wanted some
camera time . I bought her when the company was just getting started, the value has kept up and the bass sounds great after 7 or 8 years of love and a little abuse ( I lent her to my bro' for a couple years) .










And some other Big things :



The didge is a found Agave stalk (from arizona or N.Mexico) IIRC , there's a guy in portland that collects them once a year and then works his magic. Here's the mouthpiece and a shot of the inside.





Have you bought any instruments that you couldn't play with confidence , but really look forward to tackling that first bump on the learning curve ?

I've had that didge for 8 or so years, it's tuned to a Low 'D' , and I've got pretty good at driving the fundamental. Just the other night I tightened my embature up to the mouthpiece a bit and found I could explore the higher partials (octave,oct +5,2nd oct,3rd,5th,7th,etc.) with a smoothness that was very nice.

Think of the Ricolla commercials...LOL

Recently I've been liking the .71 pink Delron dunlops for picks, the nylon greys (.73 and .88) have been a favorite and since they've been around a while they have a warm comfortable vibe to them. I like the 1mm (black) when I'm using one for bass. The green tortex are cool too, they have a strange gritty/slipperyness that
is unique.
Anyone tried V-picks?
...the thin ones are still thick and the thick ones are , well insane...there must be some appeal, I'll admit it peaks my curiosity at times ;

11+ mm ?? ( I wouldn't leave it in direct sunlight for long !!):



The Insanity



Back soon, thanks for all replies .
It's almost next week, any new guys feel like taking the reigns? ...just respond to Craig's request post in the Lunch Report section.

Elwood

I'm keen to hear about and see that bread, Elwood. We've been making our own for a couple of weeks now and are getting bored with plain unhealthy white bread.

I also have a didgeridoo lying around somewhere that I never bothered learning. I bought a violin with the intention of learning, but found it too painful, embarrassing and loud. At the time I had it I was living next door to an incredibly gorgeous chick who was really keen on music, and I wanted to stay on her good side

Well, when I first bought my banjo it was pretty intimidating. I play it well enough to know that I'm a terrible banjo player.

I'm going up to Seattle next week for a harmonica seminar. Hey, it's just blowing, sucking and using my tongue...so I should be pretty good at it, right?

Bill

Well, when I first bought my banjo it was pretty intimidating. I play it well enough to know that I'm a terrible banjo player.

I'm going up to Seattle next week for a harmonica seminar. Hey, it's just blowing, sucking and using my tongue...so I should be pretty good at it, right?

Bill

you have to ask him.

Hey Elwood, that Michael Kelly is beautiful, I'll have to research them. Excuse me for asking but do you play guitar as well as Bass?As an Australian I am very happy to hear you play the didge.

Elwwod, you have some interesting things lying around! When I was studying music we had to learn most instrument although I was a reed guy and never go into brass. I did a fair amount of work on bassoon. I always liked them and later on in life I found they were used a lot in cartoons for background music.

Has the weather gotten any better where you are. We are having a cold spring and lots of snow. We will not see melting on St Pats day.

The L2000 in the picture is beautiful. I suspect it is a Cherry Burst that has aged perfectly. The necks just get better with age. The pie looks delicious, apple being my favorite.-- Darwin.

Elwwod, you have some interesting things lying around! When I was studying music we had to learn most instrument although I was a reed guy and never go into brass. I did a fair amount of work on bassoon. I always liked them and later on in life I found they were used a lot in cartoons for background music.

Has the weather gotten any better where you are. We are having a cold spring and lots of snow. We will not see melting on St Pats day.

The L2000 in the picture is beautiful. I suspect it is a Cherry Burst that has aged perfectly. The necks just get better with age. The pie looks delicious, apple being my favorite.-- Darwin.

Did you catch that yesterday was 3-14-13 (Pi-3.14... etc.),
I'm getting better on standup, it took me a while to cognize just how much real estate on the fretboard
those first 5 semitones takes up. The action was insanely high when I bought her, I realize that for punch
on acoustic instruments you have to drive the bridge and higher action usually translates to a stronger attack.
I don't think it was meant to be that high...so I started working on it and she plays easy now.
I also recut the slots at the nut ,it really helped to give them a bit of a fallaway on the peghead side.

Maybe Ken will let me know if my mods were par for making a student model standup play easier,
or if I'm just a p*ssy who can't push down on a bass string so it rings clearly
I'm hoping it's the former (...goes back to finger excersizing )

The bread looked good when I pulled it from the oven right before I fell asleep...I'll have to go cut a loaf open and check to see if I have good bread for lunch.

back soon with friday's report.

elwood

Elwood,

That L-2K is seriously beautiful. Is that a maple body?

I'm getting better on standup, it took me a while to cognize just how much real estate on the fretboard
those first 5 semitones takes up.

FWIW, I spent a LOT of time just playing intervals up to where the 7th or 9th frets would be, against an open string drone. I also put my electrics away for a couple of years until I felt comfortable that I had made the transition completely.

Maybe Ken will let me know if my mods were par for making a student model standup play easier,

I'm far from an expert...maybe even far from competent. My upright was also unplayable when I bought it. The previous owner had moved the bridge so far forward that the action at the end of the fingerboard was at least an inch high. Seriously. Moving the bridge back to a 42" scale did wonders. It's sort of like setting up an electric guitar or electric bass, yet somehow it's also completely different. The trade-off you have to work with the upright is between string height (based on the cut and location of the bridge), string tension (based on the types of strings) and the amount of boom or growl you want in the tone. Higher action gives more volume and a stronger attack. Lower action gives more growl. The higher the action, the softer the strings need to be if you want a reasonably soft touch...but going too soft can lead to a flabby tone. If you don't have Rufus Reid's "The Evolving Bassist" I would strongly recommend it. Lots of great info on setups (not how to do them, but what a good one should look like), and tons of exercises for developing good intonation.

I've been running a mixed string set of Helicore Hybrids for the E and A, and Pirastro Obligato D and G. They're about 3/16" high at the end of the fingerboard. It's worked for me so far. Bowing takes some effort with those strings, but I can also manage a bit of rockabilly-style slapping. I've thought about changing to Velvet Garbo strings for more of a gut sound without the gut headaches (or re-cutting my nut and bridge), but the $300 price tag keeps me away.

or if I'm just a p*ssy who can't push down on a bass string so it rings clearly

Real men ignore the pain. Just keep playing on those blood blisters. Once they pop you can get a nice callus going.

Have you bought any instruments that you couldn't play with confidence , but really look forward to tackling that first bump on the learning curve ?

Aside from the upright, I've also jumped into playing the oud and some hand percussion when I was doing world music. I got the oud to break up the monotony of playing bass on every number and to give my fingers some rest during long sets. I strung it C-E-A-D-G-C, so I could carry over some melodies from the upright. I was able to gig with it pretty quickly, although my playing was far from authentic.

he didge is a found Agave stalk (from arizona or N.Mexico) IIRC , there's a guy in portland that collects them once a year and then works his magic. Here's the mouthpiece and a shot of the inside.

I used to have to suffer through didge players sitting in back in my world music days. I never did quite understand the appeal, but then again I probably never heard it done well. The players I encountered brought nothing to the music but a vague audience impression that the rest of us were out of tune, and left nothing behind but a puddle of saliva in the middle of the stage...

Ken

Happy Pi day !

We had pizza pie at work yesterday because of 'pi' day but I had to make sure everybody understood they made a similar error ar Dan Quayle. The is as much of an 'e' at the end of 'pi' as there is at the end of 'potato'

[youtube]Wdqbi66oNuI[/youtube]

- Jos

Elwood,

That L-2K is seriously beautiful. Is that a maple body?

I'm pretty sure it is, you can see little birdseyes that are real tight, not much open grain and a few mineral streaks. It's not heavy at all though . If you look at the control cavity pic you can see a cross section of the grain.

Thanks for the Standup advice, it never occurred to me that I could change scale lengths...seems so obvious now. I've got it set up for 'growl/mwahhh' now. No worries about my fingertips...I guess after decades of playing we get the good skin that can deal with hours of abuse.
I'll cut some bridges from scratch for experimenting and fun, and maybe try some different soundpost dowel material. I haven't seen much dense bridge woods used , I might try something bizarre or maybe laminate up some wood sandwiches for carving.

elwood

I guess after decades of playing we get the good skin that can deal with hours of abuse.

I still get blisters sometimes, especially when I slap too long!

One other thing...I noticed the way your upright is leaning in the corner. That can cause the neck joint to separate over time. My son's bass teacher is rebuilding one that that happened to.

Ken

One other thing...I noticed the way your upright is leaning in the corner. That can cause the neck joint to separate over time. My son's bass teacher is rebuilding one that that happened to.

Ken

Great info, thanks !
We were cleaning the carpets (notice nothin' in the bookcase) and it just ended up there for a day ...but it's something I wouldn't have watched for (and I have plenty of instruments to work on atm).
I'll make a little stand for it, that'll look much better than a box with a blanket in it

elwood

We had pizza pie at work yesterday because of 'pi' day but I had to make sure everybody understood they made a similar error ar Dan Quayle.

The (very believable) claim by Quayle was that he was handed a card from the teacher with an incorrect spelling and he took it verbatim. Seems believable to me.

The same media that blew the whole potatoe bit out of proportion also got Howard Dean out of the running for president for "the scream".
[youtube]KDwODbl3muE[/youtube]

This is not a political page, and I'm not saying good, bad, or indifferent on any candidate, but I will trash on the media. Obama voted for Patriot Act renewals in 2006 as a senator. Regardless of your feeling of the Patriot Act good or bad, that vote was notably under reported while a scream and an extra 'e' were political poison.

-Brock

...and in case you were wondering, you're more likely to offend Idaho by not recognizing a potato as a tuber than by adding an 'e' at the end of 'potato'. The plural is 'potatoes' after all.

idaho can be offended?

I have just been reminded of that great B52's song ,Your own private Idaho.

I have just been reminded of that great B52's song ,Your own private Idaho.

The media has an uncanny ability to undermine common sense with regard to the democratic process, SQUIRREL!