Music related stuff on eBay/Aliexpress/anywhere else - instruments, equipment, etc

[vanessa_fetish]

I like these two:

  

   

The top one is a refinish of my wife's Washburn guitar

The bottom one is a custom job I did for a friend in a steampunk theme. Going to be making a more steampunk guitar or bass soon

[Like Ra]

Interesting... This multiscale model: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_AL6P7I

They say: 40 inches. I take it, it's the whole length, right? What means - it's 2" shorter, than Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro, yet it has got 24 frets. How come? Just because of the fanned frets?

The fretboard and the body is "one piece". Is there a rod inside? Is it tunable? Hm....

[Like Ra]

The top one is a refinish of my wife's Washburn guitar

Is it the Cheshire Cat? Love it!

[vanessa_fetish]

Interesting... This multiscale model: https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_AL6P7I

They say: 40 inches. I take it, it's the whole length, right? What means - it's 2" shorter, than Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro, yet it has got 24 frets. How come? Just because of the fanned frets?

The fretboard and the body is "one piece". Is there a rod inside? Is it tunable? Hm....

They don't show the head stock, so it might be a small one. The fretboard will be roughly same size-ish, at least at the bottom (the fanned frets at top will of course be different). 

Scale length is measured from the middle of the nut to the middle of the bridge (or to twelfth fret and from twelfth fret). For instance a 34" scale length will be 17" at the twelfth, and 17" from twelfth to bridge)

Can't tell if it has a truss rod for adjustment (no head stock shown...) but most have now.

Buying from Ali I'd put in new pickups and tuners at the least. The pickups will very likely have ceramic magnets on the bottom, which aren't as powerful as others and won't last as long (and sound will be a little more muted I find).

[B1u3]

Mainly I play guitar, but sometimes bass, too. For this I use at the moment a Yamaha RBX 375.
As an interface I use the Maya 22+ USB.
And then I have a lot of other gear 😉

[Like Ra]

my first bass will be VERY short scale eBay: Ibanez GSRM20 Mikro

Has arrived yesterday! Together with:

Focusrite Scarlett? 2i2

eBay: Yamaha PSS-A50
eBay: Rotosound RS88S
eBay: Thomastik JS110

My first ever BASS! And I love it! I'm using it with the stock Ibanez strings so far (never liked roundwounds, though). That feeling, that it's YOUR instrument! It's not perfect, but it's super short scale 28"!, what is VERY convenient.

Experimenting with pianos definitely helps to understand the music theory (Marcus Miller keeps saying, that playing piano is essential in getting the feeling of harmony and theory right). And it's also a huge fun!

I have issues with getting the Focusrite (and PSS-A50) working though the computer. That's a different steep learning curve (JACK/ALSA/etc) I've been trying to avoid so far. Anyway, something new. And I feel excited and energized again!


Bonus: bass and piano are compatible with long nails on BOTH hands!

[vanessa_fetish]

Coolness!!!!

[thominhose]

My 2 cents:

I have years of education in classical guitar, nonetheless, I know I'm rather limited regarding my musical IQ (meaning the "audio processing" of my brain) and also regarding my fine motorics, but I work quite well when contributing rhythm focused parts. I also play a Telecaster (with which I really have a hard time getting along with my left hand. But that goes for any e-guitar I get my hands on) and a 4-string Jazz Bass that I adore, although I have to solder the connections all the time. I bought this buddy second hand in the largest music store my closest city had to offer, and I did so because I simply took the time to try out a few models to choose the one I like the sound and feel to play with, which is what I highly recommend to do, when chosing an instrument. This stems also from the experience I had with the Telecaster I bought before, simply cause I had to have one, because fanboy.
To this day, I haven't found out the brand/producer of the bass.
My fingers also aren't the largest and instead of the scale I rather find the diameter of the neck a much more limiting factor instead of the fret distance (especially as a beginner, you won't play patterns that require you to stretch the fingers excessively). That's why I consider any bass with more then 5 strings an abomination (and the 5th string is justified for lower frequencies only...).

Bad news is that you might want to consider checking your manicure if you are really ambitious with string instruments, having the neck hand one's short and the ones you pick with (IF you fingerpick) in a well shaped condition is a must, else you just won't have the correct approaching angle and friction to perform well.

I got the FocusRite Solo Studio, which is the same as 2i2 but less connections, cause, since I intend to use it on my own, I saw no point in paying more for additonal connections. I'm very happy with it. So far I've used it with Ableton Live Lite that comes along with it. The learning curve for that DAW is incredibly steep, especially with Live's intended use for EDM live performances but it didn't take long to aeady record multi-track stuff with my full range of instruments, and the microphone picks up acoustic guitar and voice just fine.
Afaik Live is not available for Linux, but the plugins you got along with the Scarlett should work in any DAW nonetheless (but will they do so in Linux???)
Oh, "JACK" and "ALSA" rings some bells when I had the time to try out Linux...

[thominhose]

btw. my motivation is, that with the aforementioned limited musical talent of mine, picking up the guitar and regularly playing at least 30 minutes to achieve any notable increase got frustrating, using the means I grew up with 20 years ago meant that you'd never get anywhere close to output you'd probably enjoy listening to.

Now, interface and DAW enable you to record in incremental steps which is way less frustrating when time and talent are limited.
So far I'd like to employ it for recording all the shenanigans that come into my mind and I'm positive that this may lead to some kind of a Charlie Harper'esque song collection for the kid that is on the way 😁.
And the other project is trying to nail Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights. Found a public music sheet for piano that I transcribed into a lead voice, bass voice and palm muted chords. Main benefit is that I aeady developed a quicker reading of bass clef notes...
So when I'm done with this and hopefully accelerate my output, another thing that comes to mind is to arrange tunes/jingles I like in a way I see fit and update my ringtones on a monthly basis.

[Like Ra]

my motivation is, that with the aforementioned limited musical talent of mine, picking up the guitar and regularly playing at least 30 minutes to achieve any notable increase got frustrating, using the means I grew up with 20 years ago meant that you'd never get anywhere close to output you'd probably enjoy listening to.

20 years ago I played many hours a day with no progress, so I stopped. At that time there were no youtube, smartphones, tutorials, apps, etc. And I tried to learn by myself (I received no musical training at all) and failed.

So far I'd like to employ it for recording all the shenanigans that come into my mind

And this is one of the reasons why I relapsed 😆

 Main benefit is that I aeady developed a quicker reading of bass clef notes.

To be done 😉

Bad news is that you might want to consider checking your manicure if you are really ambitious with string instruments,

"Normal" guitars are out of question with nails on the left hand (Dolly Parton proved me wrong, BTW), but I have no problems with the bass. Right hand nails is a different story! Since I played acoustic guitar for many years, I a;ways had very long nails on my right hand. Recently, under my wife's lead, I changed the shape of my nails (what improved the overall look - their 3d form changed significantly), but, indeed, playing became much more difficult! I had flat nails, what was perfect for finger style, now they are more tubular like.