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  • #31
    Nice little story jonah.... i wonder where that tea chest is now!...

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    • #32
      Used to carry it for miles, riding one-handed on my push-bike. I'd screwed a bar across the open bottom so could hook it onto the "free" arm. It used to get heavier if it was raining.

      Where would you find a tea chest at all nowadays?

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      • #33
        Tea Chest

        In my garage, three of them ! I have got to start getting rid of stuff that's been
        Waiting to be useful for the last 50 years, if I remember there is a Wash Board in the loft, no thimbles unfortunately .

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        • #34
          .......... but are they tuned? There are tea chests and ....... well ....... tea chests, you know?

          Have to admit to having let my washboard, thimbles and all, go in a weak moment last time I sorted out the garage, 40 years ago. There's still a bike or five in there ..............., somewhere, .......... if memory serves me right?

          Incidentally, wasn't going to mention the washboard because it didn't twang ........ didn't want to see this thread go off-piste!

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          • #35
            Originally posted by johnrunnacles View Post
            My first bass was "acoustic", an upturned tea chest with a single cord threaded through the centre-top and tensioned manually with an attached broomstick rested loosely on its other end at one corner of the box. I had a cymbal mounted on the opposite corner which was set off with every twang of the cord through the box, to complement the bass thump of the tea-chest. That was in 1956.
            And me John. It actually sounded quite good in our skiffle group.

            I was probably better at playing the tea chest bass rather than the real thing.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by johnrunnacles View Post
              Used to carry it for miles, riding one-handed on my push-bike. I'd screwed a bar across the open bottom so could hook it onto the "free" arm. It used to get heavier if it was raining.

              Where would you find a tea chest at all nowadays?
              TEA CHESTS R US!!!! Lol

              You are right, some were better than others. The ones with foil inside needed to have the foil removed and the joints screwed up tight.

              Freight Train ... Freight Train .......
              Now where's those paisley insert flares??

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              • #37
                Here you are ... all different keys from A to G



                How about a T-chest band ... The Greevonians!!!

                Lol

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                • #38
                  Thanks Keith ......... I think???

                  Pleased now that I asked!!!

                  (This IS a great thread, Brian!!)

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                  • #39
                    Fretboard Wear.

                    Originally posted by aa will View Post
                    brian do you still make or repair guitars , as i have a 1937 trumello jazz , it has been played so much the fingerboard has worn so much in places it is getting harder to fret properly so its is due a new fretboard, must bad quality as its onlly been played for 77 years, or am i to heavy handed, ..will(ex dr k`s blues band and mad s/car rider)
                    Hi Will,

                    Apologies for late reply....

                    Firstly, definitely seek advice from the manufacturer.....it should still be covered under warranty and it's appalling to hear that your fretboard has worn out so quickly....!! Shoddy materials, I dunno....

                    As you surmise, it sounds as though it could well benefit from a new fretboard (aka fingerboard) and this is a repair that can be done. However, to get it done properly needs a skilled tech and will cost a few bob....Pics would help me assess it for you, but here are a few considerations. Is the fretboard 'bound' at the edges, or 'plain' wood? (which makes things easier.) Is the neck in good condition, no warps, and straight (ish)? Will you be doing this to make the guitar more playable (for you to use) or to 'restore' to maintain it's 'value'? If it's about having something to actually play/use, the cost of the repairs might outweigh the purchase of a 'new' guitar of similar style. There's a lot of good and inexpensive stuff out there at the moment, especially for 'home' use/enjoyment, or more! Here's a link showing just one example of the 'higher end' (cost wise) of what I'm talking about;


                    The repair would involve removing the original binding (plastic or cellulose ? - the later more likely due to it's age and will be very fragile now may need replacing with modern material) removing all the frets, getting the neck as straight as possible (does it have a truss rod? full length?) and then carefully either heating and softening the original glue attaching the fretboard, or planning it off it situ. Then a new fretboard can be sourced as a blank or made from a suitable peice of timber (rosewood? ebony? what does it have?), fret-slots cut according to scale length of original and then new fret wire sourced, installed and levelled/dressed, with a final set -up to complete. That's it, in a nut shell. Easier to type than do though!

                    It all comes down to how much you value the guitar and what you want to do with it. Me, I'd probably leave 'as is' and get something cheap and cheerful to mess around on if it's just for a bit of fun.

                    Anyway, hope this gives you some idea of what's involved.

                    Incidently, one of the worst things for wearing wood on fretboards is over long fingernails on the fretting hand. I've seen loads of old guitars with those tell-tale 'crescent' indentations/markings in the wood from years of playing. A nice action, good frets and a positive but light touch just before the fret to get a clean note is what's needed.

                    Brian.
                    Last edited by Brian Thompson; 03/12/2014, 12:14 PM. Reason: Spelling and tidy-up, link attached.

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                    • #40
                      Depending on how many fret positions are involved, Gents, you may get away with a remedy I successfully adopted in the way distant past, i.e. chopping out the worn sections of the finger board and banging in some fresh pieces of carefully cut ebony. In the case of my mod, only a couple of pieces were needed in the positions most used by a first position three chord strummer, so hardly justified a complete new fretboard.

                      As I say, it was in my way distant past, when I was a bit more shall we say "adventurous" (?) and when I had perhaps more incentive to get things done on a shoe-string (I did eventually fit a proper set ...... of strings, that is!) but it worked fine for me at the time, and I managed to sell on the instrument later without so much as a murmur about its continuing playability.

                      bodgerofburstall
                      Last edited by johnrunnacles; 03/12/2014, 12:55 PM.

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                      • #41
                        Good tip!

                        Hiya John.

                        Yeah, that's a good point mate. Same with 'partial re-frets' too. I've found that a lot of guitars have most of their wear in the first 3-5 frets.....it's only us 'techies' that venture up to the 'dusty end' after all.....

                        Brian.

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                        • #42
                          Have yet to get there, Brian. Have recently been making a couple of reccies, though!
                          Last edited by johnrunnacles; 03/12/2014, 02:54 PM.

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                          • #43
                            Balancing the Scales (geddit? groan!)

                            I always like to start in the middle.....that way you can go either way. Is it because I'm a Libran? (or is it librarian.....)

                            Brian.

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                            • #44
                              There's not a lot you can tell me about scales, Brian, due to my professional career (now thankfully extinct!)
                              Last edited by johnrunnacles; 03/12/2014, 01:14 PM.

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                              • #45
                                Ha...!!!! Nice one John!

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