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Thread: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

  1. #76
    Mandolin Player trodgers's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by journeybear View Post
    Oh, oh, even better - does the car the accordion player is in with the banjo picker, the bagpiper, the spoons rattler, and the musical saw guy go over a cliff, ending in a fiery blaze?
    Careful now. Remember the patron saint of mandolinists, St. Lloyd Loar, was an accomplished musical saw artist. We wouldn't want to invoke his wrath...

    Here is St. Loar's instrument case.

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    “Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher ‘standard of living’ is worth its cost in things natural, wild and free.” -- Aldo Leopold

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  3. #77
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Well, in the hands of a master ... sure. In the encounter I mentioned, the offender was a clown - literally. That was his day job. And he didn't even ask. He just whipped it out, because he was a friend of the fiddler who was sitting in. Somehow he thought it would be just the thing, to jam at someone else's gig on a song he didn't know in a genre that doesn't call for that sort of "embellishment." Yeesh!

    I've heard it played amazingly well. It shows up on a song or two by R. Crumb And The Cheap Suit Serenaders. Novelty tunes. In a studio. Planned in advance. None of these were true in this instance.

    So, I thought I'd include the all-but-forgotten device, rescue it from its overlooked oblivion. Didn't mean to cause any distress.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  5. #78
    Registered User Ranald's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by journeybear View Post
    Well, in the hands of a master ... sure. In the encounter I mentioned, the offender was a clown - literally. That was his day job. And he didn't even ask. He just whipped it out, because he was a friend of the fiddler who was sitting in. Somehow he thought it would be just the thing, to jam at someone else's gig on a song he didn't know in a genre that doesn't call for that sort of "embellishment." Yeesh!

    I've heard it played amazingly well. It shows up on a song or two by R. Crumb And The Cheap Suit Serenaders. Novelty tunes. In a studio. Planned in advance. None of these were true in this instance.
    I enjoy a musical saw, well played, but not for every tune in a show.
    In a similar experience to journeybear's, my brother told me that once at an outdoor festival he attended, a harmonica player planted himself on the corner of a stage and started playing along with a bluesman, uninvited. After a while, the performer asked, "Can I see that?" The proud amateur smiled and passed over his harmonica. The performer studied it carefully for a bit, then pitched it stage left, into an unmown field. A bit harsh perhaps, but he made his point.
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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  7. #79
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    To be fair to the aforementioned clown, he did knock it off after a song or two, and did at least look for a yea or nay. It was indeed "nay."

    Your bluesman should have tossed the offender a ten spot for his trouble. Maybe not.

    A long long time ago - 90s? - there was an elderly gent with a bit of a bent-over back who got quite a kick out of playing bones at festivals, Philly mostly, that I saw. Double bones, actually, a set in each hands. He got called Mr. Bones, naturally, and would hang out near the stage, merrily clacking away. He would get invited on stage now and then, as he did make a loud enough racket and was actually pretty good. The thing was, he would keep at it for the whole set. Even on slow numbers. If you were nearby, you had better like what he was doing, as he was inescapable. And being elderly and somewhat physically disadvantaged, people were reluctant to ask him to stop. It was a problem.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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  9. #80

    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    More from the Erlewine's regarding distress
    https://youtu.be/uhQuJTc5yFY

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    Mando-Accumulator Jim Garber's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by MrMoe View Post
    More from the Erlewine's regarding distress
    https://youtu.be/uhQuJTc5yFY
    Fascinating. I hope he kept some of Willie’s dead skin so we can create a clone of him. He is, after all, one of a kind.
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  13. #82
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by trodgers View Post
    Careful now. Remember the patron saint of mandolinists, St. Lloyd Loar, was an accomplished musical saw artist. We wouldn't want to invoke his wrath...

    Here is St. Loar's instrument case.

    Click image for larger version. 

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    That's a disturbing image...I personally would feel uneasy about having a handsaw in the case with my precious instruments! Hopefully it's held very securely in place

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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Is that a crosscut saw or a rip saw? How many TPI? Is the handle torrified? Is there any distressing on the blade? I'm guessing that Lloyd would only have played a a high end saw, perhaps a Disston from the early Pennsylvania era. I'll now crawl back into my cave.
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    I have two very distressed hand saws for sale cheap.

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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bazz Jass View Post
    That's a disturbing image...I personally would feel uneasy about having a handsaw in the case with my precious instruments! Hopefully it's held very securely in place
    Ahem ... I believe musical saws have no teeth. No need. Also, one wouldn't want to damage one's tuxedo whilst presenting a concert.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  19. #86
    Mandolingerer Bazz Jass's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by journeybear View Post
    Also, one wouldn't want to damage one's tuxedo whilst presenting a concert.
    Well, as long as the suit's sharp, I guess it doesn't matter if the saw doesn't cut it.

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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Ha ha ha! Ouch! That's how it is when things get so funny they hurt. Another reason you wouldn't want teeth on a musical saw is they're hard enough to rassle into being in tune, one wouldn't want to add anything to their character that would make them be sharp.

    Oh, by the way, Marlene Dietrich was quite adept with the saw. Wish I could find her playing "Aloha Oe." But there's this - live audio from a radio broadcast, with some stills of her in action.

    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    I like to do un-relicing. I was often heckled for the trash guitars that I find value in. Many of my projects the shopmates said "No way you are going to fix that" to.
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    Registered User Eric Platt's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Now, if we're talking musical saw, this is probably the best use out there -

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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    JB, was the Bones guy Percy Danforth by any chance?
    We ad him at a local one day festival here in Kalamazoo in maybe 1976(?) he was really amazing! He really made the normally annoying clatter very interesting!
    That was a lifetime ago, wow!
    Timothy F. Lewis
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  28. #91
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Back in the day when you were looking to purchase a hand saw you picked your saw by how it sounded playing it. The better the sound the higher quality and consistency of the steel.
    THE WORLD IS A BETTER PLACE JUST FOR YOUR SMILE!

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  30. #92
    Professional Dreamer journeybear's Avatar
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by Eric Platt View Post
    Now, if we're talking musical saw, this is probably the best use out there
    A marvelous, mirthful, majestic extension of "Monster Mash!" Magnificent! I think there's even a bit of MC, most clearly heard toward the end.

    My ear worm of the musical saw is this gem from R. Crumb And The Cheap Suit Serenaders. As was often the custom of the era they extol, there are a couple of instrumental rounds before the song is sung, once, after which more instrumental rounds ensue. It is here, about 2:30-3:00, that one's attention should be alerted - or diverted. Fair warning - this passage includes not only musical saw, but also accordion and banjo. A rarely heard, terrible trifecta.



    It's a charming novelty tune, done tongue-in-cheek yet with great respect and reverence for the form, era, and genre. I can scarcely believe my first band took a stab at this musical oddity. We did several others by these glorious galoots, notably "Singing In The Bathtub," our claim to fame. This one proved to be a bit beyond us. We had no musical saw; that part was shared between the fiddler and me.
    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

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  32. #93
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by Timbofood View Post
    JB, was the Bones guy Percy Danforth by any chance?
    Could be. Sounds vaguely familiar. My experience was from a generation later. Whoever it was, his "contribution" was conflicting. He was good, all right, but it was also a distraction, and thus a bit much. People had come to see and hear the performers on stage, not someone in the crowd, regardless of his talent. As the old philosopher once said, "Too much of a good thing does more harm than good."

    Looking at this video, I think not. The guy I saw had a fairly pronounced bent back, perhaps evidence of scoliosis, which I don't see in Percy's presence. Again, fair warning: bones and banjo, a killer kombo.

    But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller

    Furthering Mandolin Consciousness

    Finders Keepers, my duo with the astoundingly talented and versatile Patti Rothberg. Our EP is finally done, and available! PM me, while they last!

  33. #94
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Wow, never heard anyone ever play a paper bag and harmonica at the same time. Bones playing seems to have much in common with clogging. I noticed those are antiqued / distressed bones which I think is the only way they come.

  34. #95
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    Default Re: Antiqued/distressed instruments?

    Quote Originally Posted by Hudmister View Post
    Wow, never heard anyone ever play a paper bag and harmonica at the same time. Bones playing seems to have much in common with clogging. I noticed those are antiqued / distressed bones which I think is the only way they come.
    No, but as a lad, I could whip out a mean tune with comb and wax paper!
    Robert Johnson's mother, describing blues musicians:
    "I never did have no trouble with him until he got big enough to be round with bigger boys and off from home. Then he used to follow all these harp blowers, mandoleen (sic) and guitar players."
    Lomax, Alan, The Land where The Blues Began, NY: Pantheon, 1993, p.14.

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