Dad3353

That's great once you've acquired the physique for the job. As a beginner, such punishment is counter-productive, as the sore fingers then stop one's playing. Building up to your level is a matter of time, patience and working on solving the problem before it becomes a problem. You did that (as did I, drumming...); a beginner cannot expect to have the same results as an experienced player. Slow but sure, that's the answer; the rest will come, easily, over time.

Personally, I think that there's a lot of inner soul-searching merely to assuage some individual notion of 'conscience'. There is no 'right' or 'wrong'; each has (or has not...) a particular view on things. What were the morals of the person that made the chair you're sitting on..? What stuff does the bus driver in front of you get up to of an evening..? Is that creepy dentist really smiling, or enjoying some private fantasy whilst you're under his influence..? Why stop at Art..? It's not an issue for those who just get on with things, and look at the World in an innocent, positive, light. Would Mozart have turned out 'bad' if he'd lived longer..? What do we know of the doings of Bruckner, or Wagner, or Benjamin Britten..? Why pick on the few pop idols that fell from their pedestals..? No, to me, it's irrelevant, and more time and energy spent studying and performing the excellent music they produced should outweigh any misgivings about their conduct (or that which has been portrayed in the Media, who have their own agenda...) The paintings of Adolf would have been praised at a certain point of recent History. For those paintings, nothing has changed; they are the same. That he turned out to be something of a Bad Egg hasn't changed their intrinsic properties; Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder. An innocent, unaware of their provenance would base judgement on the article itself; I would hope to be able to do the same. (Not that I appreciate paintings at all, really, and the little I've seen of Adolf's work hasn't inspired me anyway...). Just my tuppence-worth.

Don't play so hard and for so long at a time. Keen practice sessions are great, but your fingers aren't 'up to it' yet. It's not all that productive, either, as a beginner, to play for too long at a time. 10-15 minute sessions, then doing something else for a while (it could be reading through a method book or a song, or brewing a cuppa...), two or three times a day (every day...) is a fast way forward. Once the fingers are in shape, it's reasonable to 'up' the dose a little, but hammering away for a couple of hours is not practice time well spent. Don't rush things; it'll all work out just fine if you give yourself time, and work regularly at it. Hope this helps Douglas

Should be in the 'Marketplace'; Mods, please move. ...

No need to make it so difficult ...

I might drum up enough energy to have a bash on my e-drums, whilst waiting for the F1 racing at 18h00. Other than that, rehearsing is at a quite low ebb. Maybe in a month or two, if the weather warms up a tad...

This ^^^^ looks to be the most likely. It's definitely not a Hayman, despite the similarities.

Well, you know what's coming next...

Many thanks for the link. Indeed, he has a lot of very interesting stock, and is right plumb in the middle of the sort of stuff that gets my attention. Amazingly, even the prices aren't daft..! I'll contact him, certainly, and see what a few midnight incantations and black goat sacrifices to the gods can do. A decade or so ago, I hosted a few French Hofner Bashes, and own several very nice specimens myself, gathered over the years, so it's nice to see the brand still around, commercially. Their current models, of guitars and basses, are worthy of interest. The model I'm hankering after was only a short run at the time, so there aren't all that many in the world, however, which makes the hunt a little more 'interesting'. Thanks again; meanwhile... Have a great day. Douglas

Not a bass, but my very first electric guitar, a Hofner Thin President E2, Florentine cutaway, just like this one... I've been looking for one like it for over half a century, to no avail. The stupidity of youth.

And rightly so. Whatever were you thinking of..? ...

The frets were all parallel. ...

No, it's just daft.

... and sod the abstinence if there's something that gives you a Birthday Buzz.

Yes, I'm just back from a much-needed eye check-up, and I'll be getting new specs soon. Meanwhile, I'll keep on reading things wrongly at first passage.

To be fair, there are, now, many different products and formulae sold under the WD40 (and 3in1...) brand names, including contact cleaners. It's a bit like thinking that a Citroen must be a 2CV (no longer made by them...), when there are dozens of different models these days. Just sayin'.

This is the 3in1 equivalent contact cleaner... Don't use anything but contact cleaner to clean contacts. If i doesn't cure the crackling: change the pot.

Worth a read..? WD40; History ... It was for treating stuff as a water repellent, anti-rust.

Some of their products do... Silicone Lubricant Spray ...

Here is my contribution to the March 2023 Basschat Composition Challenge, illustrated with a picture chosen by NickD. Inspired really after watching the Markus Miller group in concert, playing Miles Davis 'Tutu' stuff. It brought images of this spiv; maybe it's the hat, I don't know. I started off with the brass lines, all played 'live', one take, on my Xaviere guitar through a Sonuus MIDI converter, into Kontakt brass Vst's, to a drum metronome. Once the three horns were done, I played my Verithin bass, again, 'live', one take, with the same drum track. I then took away the drums and added a new cross-stick rhythm, using Superior Drummer 3. Some fiddling around with tracking the volume faders, a spot of Ozone 8 here and there, and it's done, warts and all. Thanks for listening, if you already have; if you're about to, enjoy.

There are dozens of WD40 and '3in1' products; the important part is to use 'Contact cleaner', not chain lubricant or oil for hinges. Contact cleaner may fix the issue; other spray products are capable of ruining the whole caboodle. Contact cleaner, not just random WD40 or the like. For over half a century I've been using KF F2 contact cleaner, both professionally and my own domestic use, Deoxit is a good one, too. I've never used the WD40 equivalents, but they are probably fine, as long as they are contact cleaner, and not any kind of lubricating oil. Accept no substitute, and know what you're using; contact cleaner. Hope this helps.

This ^^ 👆 ^^. If giving them a wiggle (a technical term...) doesn't do the job, then change 'em (or get 'em changed...) for decent ones.

Proper old-school Music; none of this modern EDM stuff, or ('gags'...) 'slap'. The World needs more like it.