Latest gear you've acquired.....

[kslight]

BTW -anyone around Mpls got a 388-I'll take it for my band guy,so I can
extricate.

I know of 3 of them less than 500 miles away that aren't for sale?I know?I'm not helping?but they do get used they aren't just rotting somewhere...

Seriously though?last time I was in Minneapolis there actually were 3 of them for sale I think?priced too rich for my blood?but 2 of them came together (one was a parts machine)? I guess though since its been 6 months those are probably gone. Still, what it does say is that they are there you just have to convince people to let go of them?

Put a want ad out on Craigslist? It sounds stupid, but that is how I got one of my 388s because some people just have them sitting around without any idea they are worth anything on the hipster market.

[CraigS63]

One of those Bob Dylan harmonica neck racks. Not sure why, but I got one just in case.

[vvv]

Another weird buy:

You know how a lot of (most of? but not the MXL Gemini ) tube mic's come inna aluminum case, foam cut-outs? Those cases are big, clumsy and a pain to easily store and access the mic's.

So I went to Target (pronounced tar-JAY wiffa soft "j") and bought some 18"x11"x3" clear storage boxes made for, like, sewing supplies and such - mic's and accouterments fit perfect, you can see and get at 'em easily, and they stack neatly in less space, about US$5 each. And I bought some 1.5" deep ones off the E-Bog for stray dynamics (the ones not in my hanging shoe storage thing).

[blungo2]

Just bought a dilruba, now i have to figure out how to play it...

If you already play sitar, the left hand technique is the same. The bow is held underhand, unlike a cello bow (though there's an alternative cello bow technique (French?) that's similar). If you don't play sitar, then I suggest you take some lessons. It's pretty different from guitar, for example. On the left hand you're only going to use the first two fingers, and the second one is only for the highest note you play before descending. You should be able to bend accurately to each note in the scale up to about a perfect fifth higher starting from each fret that's a note in the scale. And of course, if you're playing traditionally, you'll need to learn the ascending and descending versions of the ragas you want to play, and listen to as many renditions of them as you can find. Beautiful instrument. Good luck.

Thanks ubertar! I don't play sitar but i have a friend who does. he can give me some instruction on fretting technique. I've watched some videos and tried to emulate them.
The bow that came with it is already falling apart although the dilruba itself seems to of good quality. I've been playing it with my 4/4 bass bow, but that's a little big. Do most people use a cello bow?

Thanks again!

[ubertar]

Just bought a dilruba, now i have to figure out how to play it...

If you already play sitar, the left hand technique is the same. The bow is held underhand, unlike a cello bow (though there's an alternative cello bow technique (French?) that's similar). If you don't play sitar, then I suggest you take some lessons. It's pretty different from guitar, for example. On the left hand you're only going to use the first two fingers, and the second one is only for the highest note you play before descending. You should be able to bend accurately to each note in the scale up to about a perfect fifth higher starting from each fret that's a note in the scale. And of course, if you're playing traditionally, you'll need to learn the ascending and descending versions of the ragas you want to play, and listen to as many renditions of them as you can find. Beautiful instrument. Good luck.

Thanks ubertar! I don't play sitar but i have a friend who does. he can give me some instruction on fretting technique. I've watched some videos and tried to emulate them.
The bow that came with it is already falling apart although the dilruba itself seems to of good quality. I've been playing it with my 4/4 bass bow, but that's a little big. Do most people use a cello bow?

Thanks again!

I would imagine most people use a dilruba bow. Which is probably the same as a sarangi bow; I haven't looked into it. But a cello bow will work fine. I have a cello bow from a company called Incredibow, which I like a lot. It's carbon fiber and has some kind of synthetic hair instead of horsehair. It's always tensioned and the hairs don't break... I've had it for years and used it a lot and have never broken a single hair. It needs very little rosin, too. I got mine when the company was just starting out, so it was pretty cheap at the time. I know their prices have gone up significantly, but don't know what they currently cost.

I was just messing around with my dilruba a few days before you posted. I was going to use it on a piece I was working on, in 13 tone equal temperament. Unfortunately, even though the frets are movable, not all notes are possible because the tuning pegs for the sympathetic strings get in the way. So I had to do something else. I have a dilruba bow, but use the cello bow anyway. There's a lot of hair on the dilruba bow... it's actually more like a bass bow than a cello bow, though not in terms of length.

[blungo2]

I was a little agfraid of the dilruba bows i've seen because i've heard bad things about synthetic hair. Then i heard about the incredibow which uses synthetic hair and now you giving them a positive review makes me think that's what i'll go with. The are pricey now, $125.00 and up, but i guess that's nothing for a decent bow.
I've heard that the lightness of the incredibow makes it easier to coax non-squeaky sounds out of the dilruba.
Pretty sure i'll try one next month.

[ubertar]

I was a little agfraid of the dilruba bows i've seen because i've heard bad things about synthetic hair. Then i heard about the incredibow which uses synthetic hair and now you giving them a positive review makes me think that's what i'll go with. The are pricey now, $125.00 and up, but i guess that's nothing for a decent bow.
I've heard that the lightness of the incredibow makes it easier to coax non-squeaky sounds out of the dilruba.
Pretty sure i'll try one next month.

I actually like them with a little more weight, especially in the handle end. When I ordered mine, they were just starting out-- when I told them about the weights I added to mine, they sent me a new one for free with added weight inside, but the balance was still not quite right. More weight works better for heavier strings (cello, bass), too. With dilruba that's not an issue; the strings are thin. It's been probably ten years or so since I got mine, so I'd imagine the quality is even better now. I wish I knew what those hairs were made of!
At $125, it will pay for itself over time when you consider the re-hairs you would have to do periodically on a regular horsehair bow.

This is all making me think...
I just bought an Eastern European bowed instrument off ebay. It's called a gusle and has one string made of horse hair, like a bow. The one I got is missing the hair-string. Maybe I'll contact Incredibow and see if they'll sell me some of that synthetic hair. Then I won't have to worry about ever breaking it.

[ubertar]

The gusle came today. It's smaller than I expected. It's just over a foot long (13 1/2"). It's cool-looking, and has lots of interesting carving on it, and a horse head at the top. The tuning peg is broken, something I hadn't noticed in the pics. I knew it was missing the bridge and string. No biggie; I got it for a dollar, plus five for shipping. I put a violin tuning peg in, made a bridge out of maple and based it on pics from the net, and used some horse hair for the string from an old bow that badly needed rehairing. The instrument is so dinky it was probably either made for a child or to be hung on the wall.

It's playable, though. It's one of those bowed instruments where you don't press the string to a fingerboard but instead press sideways against the string with your fingernail. It's not as hard as you might expect. It's intonation that's giving me trouble, given the small scale of the instrument. Nothing that practice wouldn't help.

Horse hair as a string gives it a scratchy sound, without any clear advantage to offset that, like a unique character. I wonder if the only reason some cultures chose horse hair for strings is because it was readily available... it's mostly found in nomadic cultures of the Genghis Khan variety who spent most of their time on horseback. Maybe I'll just swap it out for nylon. I think that's what a lot of people do on these nowadays. Then again, maybe it just belongs on the wall...

On second thought, that's really not true about the character of the sound. Listening to real guslars (gusle players) on normal-size instruments leaves no doubt it's a very cool-sounding instrument. Also I was wrong about it being played with the fingernail... it's played with fingertips, but pressing to the side. The Indian sarangi is played with the fingernail. Fingertips are easier for static notes, but fingernail is much better for sliding, so the difference in technique makes sense for the different musical styles. Chicken or egg as far as whether the technique determined the style or the other way around...

[blungo2]

Gusle looks really cool. I've seen Mongolian players playing a quite large version. They were amazing.

Incredibow charges extra for the heavier versions, i'm sure the lighter one will be fine for me. For some reason i thought the hairs were nylon, but that may not be correct.

[The Real MC]

Not a recent purchase, but recently restored

[vvv]

Gotta RE20 for US$100 - defective, returning.

Gotta pair of RNLAs with Funklogic rack - awesome, thanks Hogfish!

Gotta new lappy with Win8.1, so now my beloved old XP Pro DAW (CEP 2.1) is off the net.

[Randyman...]

Recently Snapped up:

* A-Designs REDDI from GC-Pro (sounds fan-freaking-tastic!!!)
* Purple 500-Series Sweet Ten Rack from GC-Pro (S-O-L-I-D!)
* Purple 500-Series Action Compressor from the TapeOp Classifieds
* Pair of 500-Series Hairball Lola preamps from the TapeOp Classifieds
* Awaiting pair of 500-Series "Colour" Modules to be delivered (DIY)
* Senheiser MD421-II from GC-Pro about a month ago (second one!)
* EV RE-20 from GC-Pro (mine works, but cost an arm and a leg! )
* And had Jim Williams repair and upgrade my vintage Valley People Dynamite Limiter (love it!)

Will be selling my pair of Grace Designs 101 Preamps soon to cover some of my debt if anyone wants early dibs. They have newer PSU's straight from Grace (about 3 years old), and work perfectly. Chrome plating has minor pitting. Will post a Classifieds thread here with pics and pricing next week once I yank them out of the rack...

Back to work

[vvv]

Yeah, rub it in.

I consoled myself with a used Studio Projects TB1 at a nice price (under US$210!).

Love my MD421II, BTW - nice on vocals (altho' I prefer the MD421n I have) and very nice on amps, clean or dirty. It will be all over the new Bustouts record we are in the middle of - commencing lead guitar overdubs later this AM and I already have it on the stand in front of the Marshall.

[Gregg Juke]

Hmmm... Grace Design 101. Keep me in mind when it's go-time...

GJ

[Randyman...]

Lol vvv - couldn't resist . Indeed - Love those 421's! The crazy thing - I still haven't used them on toms

Gregg - I'll shoot you a PM with details on the Grace 101's.

Back to it