Michael J

[quote name='Lifer' timestamp='1422377412' post='2671881']
Now that's a good idea! I'm having a crack at the Major's theory lessons first but will be scouring ebay if that fails.
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Brought to you by Good Ideas R Us.

I've gone right back to the beginning, I'm pretending that I am eight years old again, and I have obtained Grade 1 and 2 piano scales exercise books. Just a few minutes at a time, several times a day. It was a particular pleasure when something sorted itself out in my brain and I was suddenly able to play different scales in parallel without having tried to do that... I do enjoy French horn or cello in F or G in one hand while I play clarinet/oboe/violin C in the other.

[quote name='Lifer' timestamp='1422364623' post='2671624']... so thinking picking up another instrument from scratch and learning theory/sight reading with that. ... anyone recommend a [s]brass[/s] instrument that learning theory on would help bass (Bass clef obvs!) , but also something I could play in non-brass bands (eg ska!)?
[/quote]
Keyboard of some sort. It will help with everything and is wonderfully straightforward in layout, theory just seems to fall out of it. I picked up an old Yamaha organ (two manuals, bass pedals, built-in drum machine, etc.) a few weeks ago. I am learning like never before.

You build speed by practising more slowly. Seriously. It's the best and most efficient way to learn to play fast - by [i]not[/i] playing fast. Accuracy is the key, pay careful attention to even timing and clean sounding notes. The speed-up "just happens" without you necessarily doing anything to chase after it.

Try further up the neck, where the frets are closer together. Put your index finger on 7th fret of the E (thickest) string, and it will sound B, the 8th fret gives C. Now using the A (second thickest) string, 7th fret is E, 8th fret is F. Add in the open A to start, and the open D (second thinnest) in between, hey presto! A, B, C, D, E, F, and we haven't stretched at all. Working out the rest of the walk up through G, A, B, C, D, E, and F, is left as an exercise to the reader.

Your hand stretch will almost certainly improve with time and practice, there's no need to force it and there is usually more than one way to skin the cat. There are those who say there ain't no money above the fifth fret, however there are only four notes below it that can't also be played somewhere else.

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1421412195' post='2660872']
What if someone played right-handed but used a left-handed music stand?
[/quote][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7yb-JncKow]Playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order?[/url]

Left-handed blues harp, yes, turn it upside down. Left-handed vocals?

[quote name='Thunderbird' timestamp='1421304860' post='2659527']
Micro tilt cut out hole?
[/quote]
That one gets mentioned a lot. Have a look at the micro-tilt setup, it's obviously in a different place.

[quote name='FinnDave' timestamp='1421271729' post='2659319']
I believe that can be treated these days, though probably not on the NHS.

Meanwhile, back on topic....I was under the impression that an excessively high action would make it impossible to set the intonation correctly, ...
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Excessively high will do that, yes. My bass is on standard pitch and in tune with correct intonation. I have had the action quite a bit higher.

http://www.guitarforum.co.za/setup-mods-and-repair/strange-neck-pocket-hole-strat/

Scroll to bottom of that page.

I can slide a pencil in between my E string and the fingerboard at the 12th fret. I guess that means I have quite a high action...

I think the total on my archtop is a little more than the classicals, about 95 lbs, and the stainless steels on my bass guitar are around 40-45 lbs per string.

It is easy, sometimes that's just how things are.

E.g. from the back of a pack of D'Addario classical guitar strings that I happen to have here:

1 E 15.3 lbs / 6.94 kg
2 B 11.6 lbs / 5.26 kg
3 G 12.1 lbs / 5.49 kg
4 D 15.6 lbs / 7.08 kg
5 A 15.0 lbs / 6.80 kg
6 E 14.0 lbs / 6.35 kg

25.5" (648mm) scale length used for tension measurements.

There is a total of 83.6 lbs tension trying to haul the bridge off the face of the guitar. I seem to remember the phosphor-bronze wound steel strings on my archtop with floating bridge gave tensions for at least two pitches. The physics difference is that instead of hauling the bridge off the pressure tries to crush it through the face and yank the anchor out of the tail. Both attempt to make the guitar fold up into a V.

Ed: pedantry above is quite correct.

Add the individual string tensions. Job done.

Decent string manufacturers will have that information available, often on the packaging, usually for a given reference scale length and often at more than one tuned pitch.

[quote name='yorks5stringer' timestamp='1420799799' post='2653478']... need to invest heavily in equipment- table sanders, planers, pillar drills, dust extraction, Routers ,Table saws,hand tools ... and a spray booth with guns and all the extraction too!
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Stradivarius had loads of that stuff.

[quote name='mike313' timestamp='1420470959' post='2649671']Does anybody knows from where this technique comes and what is the advantage of using the ring finger instead of the middle finger?
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It's probably from classical guitar. Pick a pair of fingers, any pair, and alternate them starting on either - essential practice with scales. Now introduce the thumb and alternate/co-ordinate it with the fingers in all possible combinations. It's not (exclusively) flamenco, their speciality is use of the little finger for enhanced strumming. As said before, index and ring are usually close in length, so may be more comfortable for some work or present the fingers at a better angle than tilting the hand to drop on the middle finger without having to bend it so much.

And he does use his middle finger...

[quote name='Lord Sausage' timestamp='1420037998' post='2645065']Who is right?[/quote]
Your drummer.

[quote name='Woodinblack' timestamp='1419707022' post='2642127']
I would say if you naturally use 2 fingers, I am not sure what using 3 will give you.
[/quote]
A greater facility in crossing from any string to any other string, it gives you options. Having said that, whilst I started out with two-finger walking on bass, I'm now pretty much just using the index finger. It won't stay that way, but it's good enough at the moment. I think I should spend some time with just the middle, then just the ring, then back to guitar alternations.

[quote name='taunton-hobbit' timestamp='1419676223' post='2641765']
Just a cautionary note:
Extension leads on drums should always be unwound completely - there is a very real risk of the cable left on the drum overheating/igniting if sufficient load is imposed -


[/quote]
Or you could tell the drummer to hit things harder, no need for leads then.

[quote name='wishface' timestamp='1419253445' post='2637991']Can this be overcome with practice or am I wasting my time?
[/quote]
Classical guitarists (of which I am one) seem to manage it. Don't give up, it's useful for tremolo at 400+ notes per minute...

I saw that too, it's a G5[b]V[/b], but might be a suitable alternative.

[url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G5Z-2A-5A-12V-RELAY-OMRON-/281489233107"]http://www.ebay.co.u...N-/281489233107[/url]

[quote name='Ancient Mariner' timestamp='1406658775' post='2513525']
On this basis I'd request it for use in church, but I suspect it's a fake.
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I can recommend [i]The Parish Churches of England[/i] by J. Charles Cox, published by B.T. Batsford Ltd., in The British Heritage Series, to help you avoid fake churches in future.

[url=http://sound.westhost.com/lr-passive.htm#s3.2]This guy knows what he's talking about[/url]
[quote][i]A word of warning is worthwhile here. [b]Never[/b] operate an amplifier into a crossover network with the drivers disconnected. It may be tempting to look at the response, but at a frequency equal to the series resonant frequency of the inductor and capacitor, the network may present almost a dead short circuit to the amplifier (depending on the filter type - second order filters are the greatest risk).

[i]Current is limited only by series resistance, and dangerous voltages can be developed across the capacitor and inductor. These can be sufficient to damage the capacitor (due to over-voltage), and can give you a very nasty electric shock. The amplifier may not survive this abuse either, so it could be a very expensive temptation indeed.

With only 10V RMS applied at the resonant frequency of the 3kHz filter shown below (and assuming a total series resistance of 1 ohm), the amplifier will be supplying 8.3A RMS, and there will be 98V RMS across the inductor and capacitor. Provided the Zobel network is left in place, the resonance is damped so heavily that any risk is eliminated.[/i][/i][/quote]
So find out what sort of circuit you have, presuming that you don't want to fry your amplifier.

[color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][url="https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=88014765C749B87%21243=%21AD0NYa23nhcLidc&ithint=file%2C.pdf"]Minuet En So[/url][size=3]l, by JS Bach is a dead link. [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][size=3] [/size][/font][/color][/size][/font][/color]

Speaking/writing as someone who actually owns a sitar, that looks nothing like the real thing.