...ouch
In which I whinge about how my instruments do batter me.
I caught cold at Labour Day weekend. Shaddow was visiting, and we'd agreed to help a friend out at Dragon*Con (which is a post for another day or never at all). I'll not say that the commitment was more than I'd expected it would be, 'cos this friend helps us out at A-Kon, and well he knows the sheer wealth of hours we put into that show (fairly all hours from Wednesday to Monday, and a bit of Tuesday as well); this was a great lot fewer. However, there were many more people, and no established place to hide from them. Needless to say, I was never immune to all of them, and come Monday I was fagged beyond belief.
As a result, Shaddow and I didn't make the Monday seisiún at Fadó. ...and then I didn't make the Wednesday night one at the OBD ...and then had to think better of the next Monday's Fadó seisiún - such that I was beginning to pass out of reality and into mythology as far as my seisiún mates were concerned.
Virii aren't a common occurrence for me. Usually when they come rapping at my immunity's door, they're met with a scoff and a vicious dog. It takes rather the determined microscopic organism to wriggle its way past the usual defences. Creme de la natural selection creme, really. It's the especially sprightly ones that tend to do me in for a little while. Since I never wanted to find myself at the quack shack being told what I already knew ('You've caught a virus. Sorry.'), I laid low, and my instruments hung about in their cases, twiddling their tuning pegs).
And...at my age (waaaail), I do really need to handle each one for a little while every day to keep the organic mechanisms from freezing stiff. I
Ouch.
I understand that after a bout of ailment, it can take one a space of time to bounce back. I understand, as well, that my right hand (I know, I'd suspect the left one first myself, but it's assuredly dexter - the one I'm supposed to be keeping loose. Oops.) feels as though I'm after landing a palm heel strike against something solid - a wall, say.
I have played guitar a bit since then, so my fingertips didn't suffer the same fate, but everything's dusty. I suppose it's a bit dismaying at how little time it took for that much dust to gather, but there you are. Time is marching on whether I give it permission to do or I don't do.
And we were playing rather faster than usual last night, so.
But still. Ouch.
In other related news, a piper I play with is after telling me that I 'need a real guitar'. Ouch again. Dorian (which is a funny name, really, 'cos I'm fairly sure I don't play much in dorian mode), the black Ovation that has been my stringed companion for 21 years now, is quite possibly banjaxed beyond repair. I injured it badly once (1996, I think it was?), which necessitated a stay in Ovation hospital (we can rebuild it; we have the technology), and it did come back good as new. Only in recent years (perhaps two), I've noticed a bit of trouble with the low E. I can tune it up perfectly, but when I attempt to play a note? Sharp - and it isn't as though I can merely down-tune it to compensate, 'cos then it's flat when it's played open - which is rather often, actually. I've had it round one luthier's thus far, and they're after telling me that the space between the nut and the bridge is too short, and that's mucking up the waves coming from the sound hole.
'...the divil?' sez I. The thing didn't come back from hospital with a new top. It simply didn't do - unless they nicked and scratched it in the identical places it'd been nicked and scratched before merely to throw me off. There would be signs in the varnish of the bridge having been shifted. Fullstop. So...unless the neck ended up shorter (which...sure - but why is it only recently become a problem?), I cannot see how this distance could have been shortened over the years. Not that much (yer man at the luthier's suggested adding at least half an inch), I'm sure. However, this luthier's is not an Authorised! Ovation! Shop!TM and anybody who loves them will attest to them being curious beasties. They simply aren't like other guitars, so it really would serve me to have an expert look it over. Fortunately, I've found one (mostly) nearby.
So, we'll see. The thought of a new guitar chokes me a bit. Sigh. Entropy blows goats, dunnit.
I caught cold at Labour Day weekend. Shaddow was visiting, and we'd agreed to help a friend out at Dragon*Con (which is a post for another day or never at all). I'll not say that the commitment was more than I'd expected it would be, 'cos this friend helps us out at A-Kon, and well he knows the sheer wealth of hours we put into that show (fairly all hours from Wednesday to Monday, and a bit of Tuesday as well); this was a great lot fewer. However, there were many more people, and no established place to hide from them. Needless to say, I was never immune to all of them, and come Monday I was fagged beyond belief.
As a result, Shaddow and I didn't make the Monday seisiún at Fadó. ...and then I didn't make the Wednesday night one at the OBD ...and then had to think better of the next Monday's Fadó seisiún - such that I was beginning to pass out of reality and into mythology as far as my seisiún mates were concerned.
Virii aren't a common occurrence for me. Usually when they come rapping at my immunity's door, they're met with a scoff and a vicious dog. It takes rather the determined microscopic organism to wriggle its way past the usual defences. Creme de la natural selection creme, really. It's the especially sprightly ones that tend to do me in for a little while. Since I never wanted to find myself at the quack shack being told what I already knew ('You've caught a virus. Sorry.'), I laid low, and my instruments hung about in their cases, twiddling their tuning pegs).
And...at my age (waaaail), I do really need to handle each one for a little while every day to keep the organic mechanisms from freezing stiff. I
Ouch.
I understand that after a bout of ailment, it can take one a space of time to bounce back. I understand, as well, that my right hand (I know, I'd suspect the left one first myself, but it's assuredly dexter - the one I'm supposed to be keeping loose. Oops.) feels as though I'm after landing a palm heel strike against something solid - a wall, say.
I have played guitar a bit since then, so my fingertips didn't suffer the same fate, but everything's dusty. I suppose it's a bit dismaying at how little time it took for that much dust to gather, but there you are. Time is marching on whether I give it permission to do or I don't do.
And we were playing rather faster than usual last night, so.
But still. Ouch.
In other related news, a piper I play with is after telling me that I 'need a real guitar'. Ouch again. Dorian (which is a funny name, really, 'cos I'm fairly sure I don't play much in dorian mode), the black Ovation that has been my stringed companion for 21 years now, is quite possibly banjaxed beyond repair. I injured it badly once (1996, I think it was?), which necessitated a stay in Ovation hospital (we can rebuild it; we have the technology), and it did come back good as new. Only in recent years (perhaps two), I've noticed a bit of trouble with the low E. I can tune it up perfectly, but when I attempt to play a note? Sharp - and it isn't as though I can merely down-tune it to compensate, 'cos then it's flat when it's played open - which is rather often, actually. I've had it round one luthier's thus far, and they're after telling me that the space between the nut and the bridge is too short, and that's mucking up the waves coming from the sound hole.
'...the divil?' sez I. The thing didn't come back from hospital with a new top. It simply didn't do - unless they nicked and scratched it in the identical places it'd been nicked and scratched before merely to throw me off. There would be signs in the varnish of the bridge having been shifted. Fullstop. So...unless the neck ended up shorter (which...sure - but why is it only recently become a problem?), I cannot see how this distance could have been shortened over the years. Not that much (yer man at the luthier's suggested adding at least half an inch), I'm sure. However, this luthier's is not an Authorised! Ovation! Shop!TM and anybody who loves them will attest to them being curious beasties. They simply aren't like other guitars, so it really would serve me to have an expert look it over. Fortunately, I've found one (mostly) nearby.
So, we'll see. The thought of a new guitar chokes me a bit. Sigh. Entropy blows goats, dunnit.