FIDDLE CASE CONTEST!

this is to see whose instrument (doesnt have to be a fiddle) lives in the most deplorable habitat. before i got my new case the old one had:

1. Cat hair

2. dirt.

3. candy wrappers

4. straw

5. rabbit food (i took my fiddle to work, and some spilled!)

6. plain old nastiness

so, here's my new case now, all clean and organized. all snuggled in

big pocket, with all my stuff.

teeny tiny pocket for my rosin, or snacks!

she's well and hydrated

the only trace of messiness, some photos and the instructions for my hydrator tube.

and there's the hydrator tube.

now everybody, lets see your case! the dirt! the SQUALOR!

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it's not so bad.

**before you get mad at someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Because then you will be a mile away, and you will have their shoes**

The outside of my case has all of the cat & dog hair. It's a 'Gig Bag', a bit different from a typical case, but nice & sturdy with lots of room for random junk. Sadly, the fabric doesn't allow for stickers. At least it's never had beer spilled on it. Can't say the same for my other gear.  Nobody gets near my stuff on stage anymore! Well, unless I invite them.



In the front pouch - cloth, spare strings, tuner, resin, guitar picks (don't remember putting those there), a 9 volt battery (see guitar picks), and a pen (always handy!). There's a bit of dirt at the bottom, but it looks a little better since I took out the candy bar wrapper & nearly empty pack of gum.

I got some new stuff, too. I've been using Helicore strings, which I like, but they seem to break a lot. Since I often change tunings, I need something more resilient, so I went back to Dominants. They never seem to break. I also picked up a pack of the Thomastik "Super Flexible" strings to try them out. I've never seen them before. I'm trying out a Glasser carbon fiber bow, too.

I finally decided to get a Zeta Strados electric...but a bit too late. It seems they've been having supply trouble for the last few months. I have to keep checking with the local dealer to see if he gets one in.

http://www.zaretandsonsviolins.com/fiddlebyear.html

 

A neat article posted on an fiddle e-list about learning tunes by ear. I t might help someone here.

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Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus
"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." E. Wiesel
OKP's Resident B****
Imprudens est draconem vivum de consiliis tuis omittere.
Steet team Leader for NYS, OH and Southern Ontario.

I'll start off with my most recent beauty as I'm proud to say that this is my first attempt to construct an instrument plus I still have to take some pictures of my string bass and case to post.  On the instrument below, I had the neck made for me mostly because the dust of the wood utilized for the neck has some toxic properties I didn't want to encounter. 

 This instrument is a semi-acoustic frettless electric bass with a body of mahogany and top wood of Koa.  The neck is made of wenge wood with ebony fingerboard.  There are serveral sound chambers within the body of the bass for resonance.  The pick-up resides under the saddle and is a fishman piezo.  The finish is a blend of tung oil, linseed oil and mineral spirits. 

 It turned out to be a great instrument and is very usefull when my string bass will not fit.  (I still much prefer my string bass)  The amplified sound is very similar to a string bass with a pick-up

 Because I finished the instrument a few months ago, the case is still nice and clean with a few cables, pre-amp and odds and ends.

 

   If you look closely, you can see the string bass off to the left in it's case.

 Not a great picture, but it does show some of the figuring of the KOA wood

 close up of the back the whole back.....

 

I'll post some pictures of the string bass along with  some case pictures soon too.

 

 Murray, if you are out there and would like me to make one for you, look me up!!!!!

Beautiful bass!  Where is the pickup?  Is it hollow-bodied? 

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http://mjbphotos.tripod.com
http://www.myspace.com/mikebirchmusic

1. i have named/re-named my instrument. it's Phil: like PHIDDLE bit different. AND i had it appraised for insurance, and it was suspected to be French (let me explain, it's been appraised THREE times to my knowledge, and all three have said something different. i've hard "geman," "from the german-italy area" (??!!) and france. so, lets just say the dang thing is european.) anyhoo: european sounding name? PHILLIPE!!! so it's phil for short.

2. Jefe: i love your case! yeah... i need to put a pencil in my case, im always borrowing one during rehersals. (PS- ill be at shamrockfest, and will be sure to catch your gig!)

3. Andi- thanks so much for that link! there was some really good advice, such as trying a scale before launching into the tune, ill defintely be doing that from now on.

4. Kayabear: THAT IS AMAZING! the bass is gorgeous, i LOVE electrics that are still finished like that, im generally not such a fan of sparkly instruments. I LOVE yours! i cant wait for the upright pictures...

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it's not so bad.

**before you get mad at someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Because then you will be a mile away, and you will have their shoes**

Hi Mike,

thanks for the compliments on my bass.  The pickup is located under the saddle in the Bridge.  It is a Fishman Piezo.  the electronics are located in the control cavity. I made the control cavity out of some left over Koa wood.

 The body has chambers hollowed out on either side of the strings.  I built templates for the chambers and for the body. 

 

I have some pictures of the construction before I put the top on.  I will try to post those in the near future.

 

CK (aka kayakbear)....

Kayakbear: Awesome.  How much to make me one?

Case contest:  If I knew how to post pictures I think I could win this one with guitar cases.  Maybe not on a single one but I've got about fourteen cases that have seen better days.

A random list of things found in and wrong with my cases as I look at them today:

Cat hair.  Cat urine.  Cigarette butts.  Empty packs.  Loose tobacco.  Lighters (one even worked!)  Rusty saddles (replaed with graphite.)  Original strap buttons (replaced with Strap-Loks.)  Road salt stains.  Chunks of road salt.  Water stains.  Beer labels (crumpled up inside.)  Beer labels (one case is covered in beer labels from over the years, put there on purpose with white glue.)  Assorted screw drivers.  Every case has at least three broken strings/ball ends.  Patch cords, working or not.  Dead batteries.  Packaging from batteries.  Old pick ups.  New pick ups that I never put in.  Wiring schematics.  String packaging.  Strings.  New picks, old picks, picks that should have been tossed years ago.  Empty and full polish bottles.  Set lists from a month ago.  Set lists from a decade or two ago.  Bent clasps.  Bridge pins.  A history of the capo (I don't think there's a type that I don't have)  Slides of all sorts (Glass, steel, brass, pinky, ring and pedal/lap steel slides.)  Buttons.  Socks.  Microphone cables.  Microphones.  Posters from old gigs (up to ten years.)  Chamois (shammies?)  Random tuners.  Pictures.  Phone numbers.  Bottle caps.  Bottle openers.  Hairballs.  Lyric sheets, hand written and printed.  The original price tags, warrenty cards, manuals and stickers.  T-shirts still stinky from gigs.  Random bits of wire.  Solder(sp?) drippings.  Baseball caps from sponsers.  Various playing cards.  Tapes and CDs.  Debit receipts.  An SD card (I wondered where that was)  A scrabble tile (W)  One and a half shoe laces.  A gold hoop earring.  Maybe a dozen business cards.  A pitch pipe.  An "E" Harmonica that I never learned to play.  Sheet music and tabs.  Old concert tickets.  Tire tracks!  A short piece of 2X4.  Two DI boxes.  Three hair elastics.  A hand full of nuts, bolts and screws that have nothing to do with musical instruments.  Another handful that does.  Two forklift keys.  A speeding ticket receipt from years ago.  Pens, pencils, markers and a crayon.  All have scratches, most have dents.

Raise a glass for cases.  Can you imagine what our instruments would look like if it wasn't for cases?

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But I know I'm going to do it again!
Oh Yeah!
Robbie

robbie, you win.

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it's not so bad.

**before you get mad at someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Because then you will be a mile away, and you will have their shoes**

Before I win, what's everyone else got in their cases?

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But I know I'm going to do it again!
Oh Yeah!
Robbie

Robbie,

 

I have been slowly updating my profile which now includes my email address.  If you are really interested in an instrument, send me an email.

 

Thanks for the compliments and congrats on the lead in the case race!

In my case, I have a few pencils and an industrial-sized art store eraser, name tags from early-1990s Suzuki institutes, knee-highs, tissues, cough drops, concert programs, rosin shards...

And my instrument's name is Chip.

RobbieMc:

Before I win, what's everyone else got in their cases?

 

 

fiddle

bow

rosin

sheet music

instruction book

extra money

extra strings

rosin

extra bow

violin cleaner

Embroidery hoop

material

patterns

flosses ( right now 6 different dmc colours)

needles ( 6)

scissors

tape

measuring tape

 

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Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus
"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." E. Wiesel
OKP's Resident B****
Imprudens est draconem vivum de consiliis tuis omittere.
Steet team Leader for NYS, OH and Southern Ontario.

i think embroidery supplies should be about 903845984 points, because:

1. randomness of having them in the case in the first place

2. embroidery rocks (my mom does a LOT of it)

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it's not so bad.

**before you get mad at someone, walk a mile in their shoes. Because then you will be a mile away, and you will have their shoes**