Weekly Flylady Thread 6th November 2017

Fayolle

Fab guitar advice Jojo. I know it wasn't 'meant' for me, but I have a DD who drops the names "Taylor" and "Les Paul" into the conversation frequently, so now I feel just ever so slightly armed to reply. Flylady power strikes again!

ATB - awesome sign off update. :T
Ionafan - I'm probably too late for you to get this, but I hope you have an enjoyable - if hardworking - weekend.
HB - be kind to yourself x
LW - do tell us - what "type" is snoozy Suzie??
YL - I hope your DS is ok

Am I a really bad Flylady?? Don't feel obliged to answer! I have spider slowly making its way down the utility room window, but I could have sworn that I cleaned in there just a day or so ago. And the landing carpet is covered in white bits. I just KNOW I vacuumed there yesterday....

pigpen

Next week OH is being sent to The W0rks and buying up a full box of wrapping paper.. I have decided!!

DW been on twice.
We had proper real food for dinner for once.. OH is home so it is a nice change.

Girlies in bed apart from Twinkle and the cat is yowling at the bottom of the stairs because he is too fat to jump over the fence.

It is blooming freezing here today.. I am going to get my dressing gown on.. and I need new peeps, mine have holes in the soles so I shall add it to my christmas list...

Peeps

There.. one list! haha.. there is nothing else I want or need!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Fayolle wrote: »

Fab guitar advice Jojo. I know it wasn't 'meant' for me, but I have a DD who drops the names "Taylor" and "Les Paul" into the conversation frequently, so now I feel just ever so slightly armed to reply. Flylady power strikes again!

ATB - awesome sign off update. :T
Ionafan - I'm probably too late for you to get this, but I hope you have an enjoyable - if hardworking - weekend.
HB - be kind to yourself x
LW - do tell us - what "type" is snoozy Suzie??
YL - I hope your DS is ok

Am I a really bad Flylady?? Don't feel obliged to answer! I have spider slowly making its way down the utility room window, but I could have sworn that I cleaned in there just a day or so ago. And the landing carpet is covered in white bits. I just KNOW I vacuumed there yesterday....

Better answer (best delivered from an offside position, such as when doing the washing up/cooking - and with a witness to confirm her facial expression afterwards) -

'well, apart from the fact that every guitarist has to serve their apprenticeship with a crap guitar before they earn the right to play something fancy, as you wouldn't want to turn up to a gig and have somebody ask 'did you get that for your birthday?' would you?, considering the Epiphone

[pronounced eppyphone or epi]

LPs are available with P90s

[soapbar - from the shape - pickups]

or the same humbuckers as old school Gibson LPs had

[another type of pickup, this time from the way they are wired to stop electrical noise]

and the majority of the cost of Gibsons is due to the 'Made in America' tag, just as it is with American Teles rather than Mexican ones, even though the Mexicans often have a smoother neck profile

[both made by Fender, the type of guitar she doesn't want],

I'd have thought you would have been more likely to go for a similar spec. and sound without chucking over a grand towards keeping Donald Trump happy - and getting backache from the weight of the Gibsons.

[Gibsons are monstrously heavy as guitars go - 50% of bass guitars don't weigh as much - which is good for sustain, but a sod for backache - most guitarists I know in their mid forties who have always played one are on a waiting list for or have had back surgery, especially when they play them in an extreme low slung position to try and offset the weight pulling them forwards, which is awful for back, shoulder and arm ergonomics]

In any case, you want the growl and Epis take Slinky Skinny Tops and Heavy Bottoms

[strings - the higher pitched 3 are quite light, so can be bent for solo work, whilst the lower pitched 3 are relatively thick, so give a lot of grunt for things like chugging along on power chords or drop tuning, whether half a step down/in E flat or playing in Drop D - where the lowest pitched string is slackened to play a D rather than an E, making power chords easier than they are already - and creates a darker, more ominous sound if you like that kind of thing, because people are used to guitars with a lowest pitch of E]

far more happily than a Strat or Tele would, you'd have to put 9s or 10s

[light string gauge]

on those and wouldn't get the same punch from either, as they go a bit clangy or chimey, especially on the clean channel. You're also more likely to be able to afford three hundred quid from your paper round money than you are twelve hundred plus, which would then give you some cash to put towards a Blackstar Combo or Head/Cab setup

[amplifier things - the first is all in one but not suitable for a gig, the head is the computery bit, the cab is the speaker section, so better to take a head and then plug into whatever backline cab is provided by a venue]

the latter being the best for gig situations, especially if you want to add in something like a couple of BOSS pedals, say a powerstack

[distortion and overdrive pedal - what will make her Epi sound like Led Zeppelin/Green Day/Guns n Roses/etc]

and a tuner, plus you'll need about twenty quid to put aside for a set of Alpine ear filters with the three attenuation levels so you can still hear at the age of 25...well, it just seems silly to spend so much when you won't be able to get the best from a Gibson, as you won't be able to afford anything to go with it....

[exactly what is says - it's a pedal that can be used to tune on stage - and ear filters are what will stop her going deaf or getting tinnitus - people who aren't stupid use them without embarrassment all the time]



Translation: 'Just let that sink in for a moment. And then you'll realise my answer is - NO.'

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Hmmm. I'm getting a vague suspicion that I might actually know what I'm talking about these days. Especially as I've written essential resources for the GCSE Music kids this week in relation to theory and terminology and they've been accepted and issued to them without a single alteration or criticism.


I have absolutely no idea why, when or how that happened.

pigpen

Right.. I've had time to read now Monster is in bed..

Jojo.. thank you.. no she doesn't know and a good point I think about the size.. she is 5ft5 so pretty average but her hands are tiny.. she wears child mittens.. seriously tiny.. she may struggle with an acoustic with wider everything.. we may be better with the 3/4 size in which case she may as well keep the one she has. There is a pretty good music shop round the corner with a fierce rival right next door owned in part by my mothers friend so we would get royalty treatment if we were to go in... I KNOW if we go in she wants an electric guitar with amp, foot doodad, mic, and the whole shenanigans.. She also wants a keyboard and her room soundproofing!! DD2 plays drums, DS1 has a Les Paul/something else hybrid electric monster... drove me to the brink of la-la land. She can't even try DS3's guitar because he is left handed so that won't work.

Hand size has thrown me, I never even considered it, I, of normal hand proportions and a total inability to play even the triangle and OH with ginormous pan shovels...So, padded case for her 3/4 Aldi guitar and a keyboard with a very very good set of headphones?? And her free phone upgrade with accessories.. it's her birthday 19th December too so I can get away with extras. That might be a plan... So glad I asked, I knew there was something important I wasn't conscious of. My former parent played bass and normally I would have asked that but it is dead to me so that is no longer a possibility.. I just want to encourage her and I quite like activities that do not involve a computer.

Back to discussions.. ooh, I shall do what I normally do and get a sibling on board to ask relevant questions.. Thank you Jojo.. much appreciated!

pigpen

I'll be back in a few days after speaking to siblings and you watch it turn out what she wants most in all the world is a pair of golden crocs, or Ugg boots or a new leather jacket... bet ya'!

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

pigpen wrote: »

I'll be back in a few days after speaking to siblings and you watch it turn out what she wants most in all the world is a pair of golden crocs, or Ugg boots or a new leather jacket... bet ya'!

If she announces she really wants an electric, just remember that amps take headphones and all you are left with is just the sound of the strings themselves. And if she's interested in bass (and lots of bands struggle to find bassists, by the way, whereas solo girl singer-songwriters with an acoustic are ten-a-penny and not in particularly high demand), a £120 short scale Cort (a passive one, not active as that leads to a world of wiring issues and a recurring Amazon order for 9v batteries...) is perfect for a player with child size hands and gives a perfectly adequate sound for a foray into gigging before she's ready to stand at the front all the time. My old bass tutor gigged professionally at a very high level with one because it was easier to get onto flights.

You'll hardly ever have to replace the strings - oh, and a bass amp is able to be used as a practice amp for guitar - it just lacks the overdrive, which would need to be provided by a pedal instead - the reverse is not true, as basses can blow guitar amps very easily.

That would leave enough for a £30 'leather' biker jacket from Primarni or Chavsda (which I have, it's knackered, but looks just like a knackered coated leather jacket).


Keyboard - you need a weighted one, ideally, touch sensitive, to feel most like a real piano. Nowt wrong with Yamaha keyboards before ever going near things like Korgs. And a decent stand meant for it (not a generic one), plus a sustain pedal and if poss, a proper adjustable piano stool for best posture and playing position (poor position on keyboard is bad for the wrists - if she drops them, rather than having them straight and relaxed, as though there's an orange underneath them at all times (yes, that is one way of visualising how to keep the wrists up - or there's a kitten underneath that you don't want to squish). Carpal tunnel sucks.


Oh, and mics. There's a tale and a half. If you do go that way, she needs a lockable case for it, you need a soldering iron, and she'll need at the very least an XLR-Jack lead. £120 (what is it about that price band?) would get a Shure SM58, which is pretty much standard everywhere and will save her the frustration of going to a venue with a rubbish set of mics. But you only get one repair attempt if somebody unscrews it to look at what's inside and pulls the hair thin wires off the terminals.



I could go on like this hours.

I really should get out more.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Urgh.

Just had a message from the Guitarist.

Himself has had a fullblown anxiety meltdown lasting pretty much all day and evening. He made it through the gig, but promptly melted down again once they were offstage.

So they've gone into full Band Emergency Mode and carted him off to the lead singer's place for the night, after which he'll be dispatched home when they think he's ready.

I hope this isn't the start of another downward spiral.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Wow JoJo you do know your stuff. Hope the man is OK, he did well to do his stuff on stage with the anxiety. I have niggling worries about DS1, he seemed better last night but he doesnt want to talk to anyone about his mental health nowadays - not even me - which I can very well understand but as we all know bottling it up is not good.

So, what am I doing here at 5.40am? Had a couple of glasses of port last night and alcohol nowadays seems to have the effect of making me wake up very very early. I know I am not going back to sleep for a while so I am up and getting on with the day.

Things to do:
Parcels to return (sweatshirt for DS and a Christmas present that looks a bit small)
Library books back to library
Online banking to check, couple of bills to pay
Laundry (as ever)
Some Christmas presents to buy online and a proper list to make

And some paid stuff to do.

But first some coffee I think.

roundtuit

Oh my, once again the whole house looks :eek: It's been a long night with sleep evading me at every opportunity and I've had a sore throat on and off for two weeks and it's back with a vengeance So I am not going to knock myself out trying to perform miracles in a day, but I am going to do a bit, sit a bit, which tends to mean more gets done anyway
So while the kettle was boiling for my Lems!p I unearthed the draining board.... oh my :eek: DS obviously brought in the lunch box which mysteriously disappeared over a week ago... there's something growing in there!!! I'd get him to 'kill' the contents, but he's over in pigpen land at a Uni reunion all weekend.

I'm going out tonight (almost unheard of these days): three singers on in the village hall, byob... think I can manage that. Cider was purchased last night ready for the occasion:D

And last night I had my hair dyed - purple. I love it. :T

There's something wrong with the toilet flush - must remember only to push the light flush button until I get a plumber in. Light flush produces a gargantuan amount of water, but it does stop; heavy flush won't stop until I've delved in the cistern and waggled every moving part. If it comes to it I'll turn the valve to stop water entering the cistern unless required, but that's really not on on my 'how I want to spend my weekend' list!

happy weekend everyone.

Rx