Recent content by 32-20-Blues

Purely out of curiosity, when dealing with solid top archtops, is the difference between a carved top and a pressed top hugely noticeable? I know that other aspects of the build come into play, but is there a general rule of thumb that states that one method is better than the other? It seems...

...for very little money (25 bucks) in a local antique/junk shop. http://www.thinkmusic.co.uk/product.asp?P_ID=8009 I know, I know, cheap violins are terrible, but with that in mind... For just messing around on, did I make a big mistake?

Muttley, on my balalaika (as on all balalaikas), the bridge is very long. The 3 strings passing over it in the middle take up about an inch, but the bridge itself is about 6 inches long. Does this give it a characteristic sound? In other words, with a shorter bridge, would it sound different...

Have wanted one of these for such a long time, and I got one as a present. A cheap, simple machine, but it's cool as hell.

So, my parents bought me a balalaika for my birthday. It's a prima sized instrument, if that means anything (I think it's the most common size). They got it from the Early Music Shop for 75 pounds sterling. I'll put pics up in a couple o' hours. Here are the bad points first (although they are...

Guitar playing might be out of the question for a while. :( :mad: This afternoon, I was doing some work around the house - running some cables under the floorboards in my living room. I was drilling into the floor when the drillbit (a hole-cutting bit) got jammed tight. The drill started to...

So, when I'm playing fingerstyle I often tune down a half step and capo at the first fret. I like the way it evens out my string tone, if you know what I mean. I understand that a zero fret will do the same thing. Given the benefits of the zero-fret (the fact that the cut of nut slots is less...

Some guy on another forum was wondering why the fret placement on his Epiphone was very slightly different to the fret placement on his Gibson, despite the fact that they both had the same scale length. Bill Lawrence - yeah, the Bill Lawrence - posted this: This has nothing to do with USA...

So, this guy on another forum keeps telling me that I should change the bridge pins on my acoustic from the stock plastic ones to brass or ebony versions. He claims that the change will improve my tone. I'm sceptical - I figure the saddle is between the ringing string and the bridge pin, and...

Hey Muttley, I know you have talked about this before, and I have read all your posts that I could find about it, but can I run some things by you about tuning? I just want to make sure I have some basics straight... 1) The frets on a guitar are placed according to equal temperament. Pianos are...

Is this a stupid idea, or can I paint my drum head? Reso head, obviously. Thank you. :)

Just got one of these today. I'm very happy with it - plays nicely, sounds great, looks good, and smells fantastic (I know, it's a strange thing to say, but trust me, when you open the case, there's a smell of trees :)). I had been looking for one for a few weeks, and the shop finally got one...

Like the title says, this might be a stupid question. However, I was wondering what people would think about using a toy 'echo mic' to add a cheap, strange reverb to a recording. Obviously, I'm not expecting quality results. I figure, though, that if you grab a bunch of those and arrange them...

My brother bought me one of these - it's a Stewart Macdonald ukulele kit, all solid mahogany. I'm stoked about it - I've been playing the ukulele quite a bit recently, and this will give me a nice instrument and some woodworking experience. The only part I'm majorly concerned about is...

I just bought a new ukulele (very cheap) to experiment with some new tunings. It sounds fine, but the intonation is problematic. It's a soprano size, so the problem is even bigger due to the short scale length. So far, I have lowered the action by sanding the bottom of the saddle, which...