It's quite safe for me to visit musical instrument shops nowadays as there's nothing I want or need at the moment... well, perhaps a new kazoo might be nice because my current kazoo is rubbish, but nothing else, really.
The trip is on in Rog's luxury auto-ma-car:
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| Hmmm, Road Trippin' |
It takes about an hour to get to Crawley which is a riot of 1960's brutalism the kind I quite like as there are very few examples of it surviving or destined to survive much longer.
Sadly I didn't have time to take pictures.
So, Hobgoblin Acoustic and Traditional Musical Instrument Shop:
Everything from accordions to zithers.
I bought my baritone uke from this shop and the washboard I stained yesterday.
I tried out a Hamano mahogany concert uke, a Katho Ebano Cajon, a Sansula Renaissance Thumb Piano, a Blue Moon Dulcimer Stick in D, a Banjolele, a Olympia Handmade Walkabout Dulcimer, and a Cymbala, child's small zither.
All of the above instruments were very 'nice' but no match for my new resonator uke.
Then I found the instrument I would gladly take home with me, the Atlas 21 String Guzheng.
It blew me away:
Along with most of the rest of the planet I think I maybe turning Chinese.
I would happily sit in a room and play this instrument for hours on end.
(Players of the Guzheng please note I could't bend the notes as I was filming at the same time as playing).
What was Mystic Rog up to all this time?
He was playing the more complex stringed instruments most of which seem to be based on the mandolin.
Lots of strings in tunings (violin) that confuse me no end.
Here he is being disappointed by a guitar:
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| Disappointment. You are doing it right! |
It wasn't until he played the Blueridge BR-60 Tenor Guitar that his face lit up (then he looked at the price tag).
BTW, don't be fooled by the 'Blueridge' name, this guitar is made in China (Oh, what a surprise!)
It sounded wonderful.
I think Rog is as good as convinced he has to have one.
The only other instrument that caught Rog's imagination was the Remo Thunder Tube which makes a great noise that sounds nothing at all like thunder.
Then the shop manager noticed us and politely asked if there was anything we wanted.
Fortunately Rog wanted two sets of mandolin strings.
I thought we were only there to faff about trying things, like the shop staff's patience.
Then I remembered I needed a new kazoo:
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| Metal Kazoo, Is It You? |
So ladies, in case you were wondering, that's what happens when two middle-aged men visit a musical instrument shop and this is how the Guzheng should be played:
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