bass_dinger

Rhiannon Giddens can.

Hobgoblin is more your folk music shop - they do have acoustic basses (4 string, fretless and even a 5 string which they made for me). But they specialise in stuff that other shops don't stock: accordions, thumb pianos, erhu (Chinese violin), Indian lap-harmoniums, fretless banjos, marimba, chambord, bagpipes, and a couple of zebra-hides worth of African drums. If you haven't heard of it, can't play it, and don't need it, Hobgoblin stock it.

One of the chaps there (John, who has since left) told me how Paul McCartney was a regular visitor to the shop, and he sold him a Hathway mandolin. Paul McCartney asked for a discount, and after a few minutes of negotiation, John said "in the time that we have been talking, you have earned enough in royalties to buy it!". All in good humour, and Paul McCartney paid full price. John also taught Paul McCartney a few chords, which he used in a song that he later released - Dance Tonight.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry! Poor mandolin! Silly man for storing it in a van!

That's a shame - a lost sale for them, and off-putting for you. About 20 years ago, I visited Hobgoblin in Rathbone Place, with my 7 year old daughter. They let her try every instrument in the shop (even a Low Whistle - the holes were so big that her fingers went inside them!). She eventually settled on the violins, and told me that her two favourites "played good and sounded nice". They happened to be the two most expensive in the shop, and the chap behind the counter was so impressed with her technique and her ear, that he offered to let her borrow his own personal violin while we were looking for a ¼-size instrument for her. Hobgoblin - YMMV.

Even though PMT (and other big chains) have sadly shut down, music shops still seem to be viable in the UK. We have.... The specialists who sell just one type of instrument: eg The Gallery, selling nothing but basses and bass gear. Add to the list of specialists Just Flutes in Croydon, T A Craig (a violin shop in Sevenoaks), Laurence Dixon for Double bass, sax.co.uk The quirky: Hobgoblin, for folk instruments. Richards Guitars for high-end acoustic guitars and mandolins, with each instrument set up before it leaves the store. The traditional shops which provide excellent service: people here often commend single-store music shops, and which have built a good reputation. So, Rich Tone Music in Sheffield, and Rock Bottom in Croydon. As @SumOne describes them, such shops are "a go-to hub for musicians ". When I go shopping for an instrument, I want a seller who knows more about the item than I do - not someone who got a discount because they bought 20 boxes of guitars, and needs to shift them quickly.

From that helpful link, we see the following: "Immediately following their appointment, the joint administrators concluded a knock-down sale of £2.4 million worth of stock and “certain intangible assets including websites, trademarks, and commercial data,” for £1.2 million to York-based Gear4music, which said it is not acquiring any part of PMT’s trading business, nor any other assets or liabilities, and has no current plans to use the PMT trading name." So, Gear4Music has purchased the PMT stock.

I recall reading Michael J Fox's autobiography, in which he shared his own battle with Parkinson's (and his open-head, conscious, brain surgery to relieve him of the symptoms). He was unable to act, but could do voiceover work - Stuart Little was him. So, perhaps the voice will be unaffected by the illness?

You are right - when I see just a name as a thread title, I think that the person has passed away.

But @NancyJohnson, ... I wanted to become 'The Man Who Used The Handy Bit of MDF', which has been stored in my garage for 7 years for just such a purpose. I will see what plywood my dad has in his garage (38 years of storage, so, more than 5 times more legendary...). More seriously, I plan for the outside to be the pretty veneered MDF, with the inside frame to be a hardwood (garage, 7 years...). The Rack Strips mentioned by @nekomatic looks like a useful addition too - no need to worry about threads on the wood failing then.

I don't appear to have one. Either that, or my arm is too fat to reveal it.... In other news, here is a research article that shares data on the prevalence of the tendon, according to people-groups. It appears that the 15% refers to the global population, but different populations have a different prevelance. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4596262/#:~:text=The PL muscle is one,the global population [12].

I shall Follow @Rosie C with interest, and a cheque book open.

EMU Classic Keys Module; later, a Behringer umc404hd (PC sound interface). If I go too high, then the unit won't be able to double as a plinth for a PC monitor screen. So, I will perhaps leave a slight gap, for air circulation, but not a full 3-Unit vertical spacing.

Tier 2 fail for me. I am now the owner of an EMU Classic Keys Module, formerly owned by @ash. I can use the midi capability on my Kurzweil SP76 to drive it. Sadly, I don't yet have much piano playing capability to play it well, but so far I am enjoying the extra sounds.

I want to make a 2-unit wooden sleeve rack, like this https://ebay.us/m/o2Ms5z I have the wood (veneered MDF), and can get it cut to size. However, I don't know the internal dimensions of a 2u Rack; I need to buy the internal metal brackets; and I wondered if I need ventilation in the box. Can anyone advise? Robert