Equipped To Survive Equipped To Survive® Presents
The Survival Forum
Where do you want to go on ETS?

Page 7 of 8 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >
Topic Options
#296194 - 05/21/20 08:03 PM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
My sister plays ukelele. She tells me that any time you show up with a ukelele, someone will insist that you play "Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho. So you'd better bring your best red velour jacket and lounge lizard crooner voice. You have been warned. grin


Edited by dougwalkabout (05/21/20 08:07 PM)

Top
#296199 - 05/22/20 12:09 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
Jeanette_Isabelle Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 11/13/06
Posts: 2946
Loc: Nacogdoches, Texas
Does she play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow?"

Jeanette Isabelle
_________________________
I'm not sure whose twisted idea it was to put hundreds of adolescents in underfunded schools run by people whose dreams were crushed years ago, but I admire the sadism. -- Wednesday Adams, Wednesday

Top
#296200 - 05/22/20 12:51 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
I'm pretty sure the chord structure would work, for both the original and the Garland/Armstrong Hawaiian mashup.

I will hassle her about it the next time we get together. laugh

But to move the conversation forward: what uke classics should you learn to make you a 4-string hero around the fire? Thoughts? Help me out here.


Edited by dougwalkabout (05/22/20 05:00 AM)

Top
#296553 - 07/05/20 04:13 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
It's curious, but since covid took hold there have been something like 7,000 new views on this thread but almost no posts except mine.

So to whoever is stopping by, welcome! I hope you found value here. And please consider pulling up a stump around the fire and telling us your story. We always have more to learn. Maybe you know the words to a song that we've been wrestling with. smile

Top
#297191 - 10/03/20 02:50 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
So, three years ago the electric guitar was declared dead. (Comment: pfft!)

This pandemic-stir-crazy year, Fender is slated to sell more electric guitars than it has in its entire history.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/lifestyle/the-slow-secret-death-of-the-electric-guitar/

Guess I should dig out my old electrics out of the archives. It's been a long while since I went back to acoustics, taking all those electric chops with me. But rock and roll never forgets!

Top
#297192 - 10/03/20 08:41 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
M_a_x Offline
Veteran

Registered: 08/16/02
Posts: 1203
Loc: Germany
Originally Posted By: dougwalkabout
So, three years ago the electric guitar was declared dead. (Comment: pfft!)


That declaration may indeed be premature. The electric guitar found itīs way into different music categories. Sites like Youtube will also help to keep it alive. People are bound to hear Carlos Santana or Jimmy Hendrix and some will think "Wow, I want to do that too".
A retailer just beyond my backyard carries 335 T models, 187 made by Fender. Overall it would be around 2000 different models. They would not do that with a dead instrument.
I own one too. It can be played in several neighborhood friendly modes. Starting with quiet just for myself, using head phones all the way up to sharing with the entire neighborhood using a powerfull amplifier cranked up to the max.


Edited by M_a_x (10/03/20 09:05 AM)
_________________________
If it isnīt broken, it doesnīt have enough features yet.

Top
#297356 - 10/24/20 01:20 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Good point -- electrics can fill the neigbourhood or be a silent practice buddy in a shared room.

In terms of technique, playing electric, amplified, might as well be a light year away from playing acoustic. But I have noticed that guitar players who move back and forth from electric to acoustic are considerably more versatile. An electric is exacting, with every note clearly defined; but with an acoustic, you create your own harmonics as a player, manipulating that magnificent living thing made of wood, and you cannot hide behind volume and signal processing.

Top
#297741 - 12/10/20 03:38 PM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Way back when air travel was a thing (remember that?), I discovered that a lot of people at any given destination have older acoustic guitars kicking around. Or if they don't, they know two neighbours who do.

I travelled without baggage (at least the physical type) to save money. So, I found it useful to take a minimalist "guitar first aid kit" with me, with the goal of making a "found" guitar playable (-ish) with a little work and a lotta luck.

Keep in mind that this stuff is for carry-on, so it has to clear security. I you are pretty sure you can scrounge some of these tools at your destination, you can travel a bit lighter.

Guitar First Aid Kit:

1. Mini needle-nose pliers with sturdy wire cutters -- for changing strings and other minor maintenance.

2. Allen key, L-shaped with a long reach, 1/4" for old guitars -- for adjusting the truss rod in the neck, which offsets the pull of the strings, straighening the neck and moving the string height to a playable level. (Unfortunately, newer guitars use a smaller size, varying by manufacturer.)

3. Small tuning fork, A440 -- mine is decades old and hasn't needed a battery change yet. Some prefer E but I like to use A as my reference for tuning. Tap and hold the base against the bridge and you will instantly realize how effectively acoustic guitars amplify sound.

4. Peg winder -- a little plastic crank that winds the tuning pegs quickly when changing strings.

5. Fresh strings. It's hard to play well on rusty old barbed wire. What size for steel string instruments? Extra light gauge "10s" (10-46ish) are a pretty safe bet for old guitars, although better instruments (and players) will be happier with "11s" (11-52ish).

I confess that I have never taken strings as carry-on; I have always been able to source them locally. I can't think of a reason security would object, but then again they look pretty closely at my bag of interesting stuff ...

Top
#297742 - 12/11/20 01:06 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
Almost all my air travel has been within the USA. So, I’d expect guitar strings to never be an issue, and needle nose pliers to most likely be confiscated by the TSA if noticed.

Metal tools are, in my opinion, the single most likely thing for TSA to object to.

Top
#297743 - 12/11/20 01:44 AM Re: Musical Instruments and Survival Situations? [Re: dougwalkabout]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3217
Loc: Alberta, Canada
That's interesting. I haven't travelled through the USA in a looong time, but I believe our specs are harmonized with yours (with the exception of tiny blades, now allowed on Cdn. domestic flights, reluctantly).

My needle nose pliers are super-mini, sort of a crafts plier with a stout wire cutter, so they meet the specs for overall length and distance from the pivot. Never had a problem. But I never travel with anything I'm not willing to lose.

Top
Page 7 of 8 < 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >



Moderator:  Alan_Romania, Blast, chaosmagnet, cliff 
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online
0 registered (), 173 Guests and 12 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
GallenR, Jeebo, NicholasMarshall, Yadav, BenFoakes
5367 Registered Users
Newest Posts
Question about a "Backyard Mutitool"
by Ren
03/17/24 01:00 AM
Problem in my WhatsApp configuration
by Chisel
03/09/24 01:55 PM
What did you do today to prepare?
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/06/24 06:18 PM
New Madrid Seismic Zone
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/04/24 02:44 PM
EDC Reduction
by EchoingLaugh
03/02/24 04:12 PM
Using a Compass Without a Map
by KenK
02/28/24 12:22 AM
China and Taiwan
by brandtb
02/19/24 02:18 PM
No More Ritter Knives?
by KenK
02/19/24 01:33 AM
Newest Images
Tiny knife / wrench
Handmade knives
2"x2" Glass Signal Mirror, Retroreflective Mesh
Trade School Tool Kit
My Pocket Kit
Glossary
Test

WARNING & DISCLAIMER: SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this site.