Cittern. (Was: New Forum! HOt-Diggity-Dog!)

Donald E Baltus · Post by **Donald E Baltus** » Mon Oct 03, 2005 10:48 pm

Nanohedron wrote:Ah! A Sobell. That's the guy who purportedly revived the instrument.

Doesn't beat a Foley, though.

Can't touch this Jimmy Moon special though, neither of 'em....

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue Oct 04, 2005 2:42 pm

Holy frickin' Shamoley!!!! Um, *cough* "Donald" *cough*, I see now what you were talking about re: the misadventures of the tail block on that ill-starred gizmo. Poor baby. Lemme know what the Moon-people have to say about it.

That tailpiece pretty much covers all bases though, doesn't it! I'll bet it has a cover that keeps trying to escape.

(Edit: for the record, folks, that is not a standard-issue Moon tailpiece but a cast-bronze or -brass replacement and well sturdier than the usual you'd otherwise get.)

Donald E Baltus · Post by **Donald E Baltus** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:21 am

The Moon Solution

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 10:53 am

innocent bystander!!!

poor table

Post by **Nanohedron** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 11:51 am

Puts a whole new spin on "shootin' the moon". At this juncture that table's as capable of music as the gizmo. Moreso, if you think of it as a bodhrán.

Chains, tongs, and a bed of coals...I'm starting to get an idea about what you do for laughs, Mr. Baltus.

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:15 pm

hum, looks like he has used that table as an anvil...

Post by **Nanohedron** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:33 pm

Denny wrote:hum, looks like he has used that table as an anvil...

Never had an anvil in MY dungeon. He must be pretty skilful, making his own custom specialty items like hooks and other instruments of tort.....I mean entertainment.

Donald, don't tell me you actually eat on that.

Donald E Baltus · Post by **Donald E Baltus** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 2:08 pm

Nanohedron wrote:
Denny wrote:hum, looks like he has used that table as an anvil...
Never had an anvil in MY dungeon. He must be pretty skilful, making his own custom specialty items like hooks and other instruments of tort.....I mean entertainment.

Donald, don't tell me you actually eat on that.

Well, I'd probably bleach it up and scrub it a bit. But that's after it dissappeared up over the house a while and then set back down during the tornado a couple of weeks back so it's a bit grimey and beaten up.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:59 pm

So back on the topic of citterns, the Moon gizmo has suffered a detachment -due to glue failure- of the tail block, which was also of too small a size in the first place according a luthier that Donald consulted, the result of which accounts for the unfortunate condition of the body at the tailpiece. Poor Donald is at his wits' end trying to figure out how to repair this, or even if it's worth it any more.

Those of you with Moon products may want to keep an eye on your babies.

Donald E Baltus · Post by **Donald E Baltus** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 1:26 am

I'm probably going to have to fork out a couple of hundred dollars or more to have a new top made, assuming the internals can be salvaged. There is the claim that this is due to a knock on the tail but of course, there's no evidence of that nor can I say anything other than it exploded in its case--the same way it split to begin with under the bridge and had to be bisquited before it did this. Might just be a lemon but it makes me uneasy thinking I could repair it and then have something else let go.

I was going to try stringing it up GDAE with a high A or B if some skinny strings will go that high and try learning plain old melody picking. I know most would go CGDAE but I'm not sure how useful the C course would be in actual play.

In the meantime I have a Walden guitar that's nicer than I'm ever going to learn to play it, so maybe I'll just stick to pipes....

And here's a present for you:

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Post by **Nanohedron** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 1:37 pm

Hey, thanks, Don! Just posted it over in the Flute Forum. I trust that my invention, the drip-catcher, will be a boon to fluteplayers everywhere. Now we needn't be ashamed of flute incontinence.

Wormdiet · Post by **Wormdiet** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 2:20 pm

Nanohedron wrote:Hey, thanks, Don! Just posted it over in the Flute Forum. I trust that my invention, the drip-catcher, will be a boon to fluteplayers everywhere. Now we needn't be ashamed of flute incontinence.

Sometimes being a lefty is very cool - because then TWO fluters can use somebody else's beer as a drool receptacle.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 2:27 pm

And with that teamwork you can bet good odds on where people aren't likely to sit, too.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Sat Oct 08, 2005 3:27 pm

Donald E Baltus wrote:I'm probably going to have to fork out a couple of hundred dollars or more to have a new top made, assuming the internals can be salvaged. There is the claim that this is due to a knock on the tail but of course, there's no evidence of that nor can I say anything other than it exploded in its case--the same way it split to begin with under the bridge and had to be bisquited before it did this. Might just be a lemon but it makes me uneasy thinking I could repair it and then have something else let go.

No luthier, me, but my assumption is that the tension of the array of strings exposed the weakness of the tail block. My guess is that, the block's inadequate dimensions aside, the glue was itself weak or improperly applied. One consequently wonders about the rest of the gizmo, but the biggest concerns to my mind would be the strength of the head-to-tail span, and the of bracing in the body.

Donald E. Baltus wrote:In the meantime I have a Walden guitar that's nicer than I'm ever going to learn to play it...

That is a very nice guitar, and inexpensive into the bargain. Its sound is perfect for Trad, I think.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 12:37 pm

Okay, during a break last night, I got the usual question, "What do you call that stringed instrument?" I replied, and it turned out she asked because her husband called it, spot-on, and she wasn't convinced. He's not even a musician. I just about had a heart attack, and made a point of shaking his hand. I might just mark that day on my calendar and make a private holiday out of it.

Of course, I had to wade thru all the usual for her about citterns and sitars not being the same thing at all, but you get used to it.