Rudi

So fed up with taking leave to sort out problems with my mothers bank (Barclays) I opened up similar accounts in RBS and transferred the money over after I closed the Barclays ones. Should have solved the problem, but the hitherto exemplary RBS have now out Barclay’d Barclays. I spent 90 minutes talking to Anna Marie of RBS as she set up the accounts, ordered the cheque books and cards, copied & registered my Enduring Power of Attorney document etc. Explained in detail that mother was in full time residential care at an EMI (Elderly Mental Infirm) home due to advanced Vascular Dementia (very similar to Alzheimer's disease). Now all my mail from RBS is being sent to the care home. My mother has been sent a cheque book, a paying in book, a bank card, a credit card and an activation code for Internet Banking. All this for a woman who when asked how old she was by a hospital doctor, replied “I don’t want any more potatoes”. They even sent me a cheque book with her name on the cheques (to the care home of course). The bank has a specimen signature of mine but not hers. How am I supposed to sign my name on a cheque bearing her name? Supposed I’m asked for proof of identity. What would people make of a man signing a cheque with ‘Mrs.’ clearly printed on them? So all the accounts will have to be re-identified, the two chequebooks destroyed along with the pay in book and the three cards (yes they sent one to me too). The internet banking facility removed and my own amended. I now face another premium day off work to try to get them to sort it out. When I visited mum Saturday, I knew they had letters for her & me from RBS (they phoned and told me). When I got there I was handed two RBS letters that had arrived that morning. They spent the next hour looking for the others I had been informed of. After visiting mum, they still had not found them. I eventually found them myself among a mass of papers in someone else’s ‘in tray’. There were seven off them. This made a total of nine letters containing personal information all mislaid at an address they should not have been sent to in the first place. Anna Marie is a very pleasant girl though.

Good luck Dylan. Hang on in there.

Thanks for the insight Hari, always get good to get your reponse & take on things. Strings I had not even thought about. They are relatively expensive so I should have expected that. tone/sound ideally will be clean, and the pickups should deliver evenly across the strings (cheap pickups sometimes favour the mid or upper range at the expense of the bottom which will be quieter) Budget is what ever it costs to get the above.

Regrets. We all seem to have em. My dental hygienist scolds me at every visit. I now use a electric rotary brush & spend 10 seconds on each tooth (or try to). I too had a fascination for space etc as a youngster. I too was poor at maths. I too have been a keen photographer. You’re gonna get fat next.

This homespun blues site has all sorts of info including how to: Make a resonator guitar (conversion) for next to nothing. Build an electric diddley bow. http://tweedsblues.net/trader/coffee.html

Stan, the bassist in our band replaced his old axe with a (much superior) 5 string a year ago. He could'nt get on with it and has now re-jigged it as a 4 string. I felt it a shame he didnt rise to the challenge.

I am looking to find an inexpensive bass. It will not be gigged, but used solely for recording. It doesnt matter if it has crap action. A clear signal is best priority. Any views / advice ?

Hi Jared. Fine list of influences. Welcome aboard. Rudi Portsmouth England

Hi Nick. Sure you will find what you need here. Welcome aboard. Rudi Portsmouth UK

The Duval County Ho-down I know I have to go soon little darling, another man is waiting at your door Sit a while by me little darling, there’s another part of you to explore Tell me why you cried so sweetly, and tell me why you lied when I saw I’m a family man and a sinner, I think you’ve seen me many times before Rose Marie, there’s a little piece of heaven, between your smile and my dirty dollar bills You give more comfort to your brethren, than any preacher from here to Jacksonville I thought of you when I woke up this morning, laying next to my wife Billie Jean I heard your voice in a song on the radio, I saw your face in Hustler Magazine. I’m going home and have me a shower, to wash away the guilt and Maybelline Another thousand miles until I see you, another week of burning gasoline Rose Marie, there’s a little piece of heaven, between your smile and my dirty dollar bills You give more comfort to your brethren, than any preacher from here to Jacksonville And promenade…..

Chalk Dust; the Umpire Strikes Back - The Brat

Dont ask me to ponder such things. It will jinx the music!

Deep ends whether it is musically or lyrically inspired. It is extremely rare to have both at inception. If by some miracle, both are present then I have a 75% clear idea. If it is otherwise I have no clear idea. I have no idea. I have never even bothered to wonder. Lyric: rarely. Music: no. Both: Usually Ideally it will be organically. This is rare though. At some point I have to plan and often need to shoehorn a round idea into an existing square structure. Sometimes it won’t go in. In that case I have to try hard to remember the round idea for another venture. I forget lots of stuff. The organically conceived rarities are always best. They have to be worked through fast though, If not, the mojo will disappear and it wont come back.

Welcome to SS Jluu, Certainly admire the influences. Rudi Portsmouth UK

Glad that Dylan has turned the corner. Was he freaked out by the fireworks yesterday?

Tenuous? I should think it is, considering that May is in Spring. The first day of summer is the summer solstice which this year fell on June 24th (2 days ago). I Am Thinking of My Pickanniny Days Scott Joplin Or maybe Pimpin’ 101 by Ice T tenuous link from Jan(ice) Joplin

Photography. Been taking a keen interest in what cameras are out there. Is there such a thing as an Ideal solution? Large Format. A Large Format Digital back for my field camera. They don’t exist. The betterlight co. make some, but they are essentially studio bound (for monorail cameras). In any case it runs into some serious money. At 416 million pixels I suppose it’s to be expected. http://www.betterlight.com/ So I’m stuck with film for that baby, and I would use it if I could find someone to develop the film. I no longer have the time & patience to do it myself. Of course, no-one offers this service. Medium Format. Digital Medium Format is too expensive, despite being one hell of a lot smaller. The Mamiya ZD looks nice. http://www.dpreview.com/news/0409/04092902mamiya_zd.asp (its £8,000) As for Hasselblad, £20,000 for digi-back? Dream on….. 35mm Film & Digital. I have a film scanner for 35mm negs & slides, but because this is an additional process, the results can’t compete with images from a digital camera. A digital back for a Contax SLR ? No such animal. Worse still, Contax/Yashica withdrew from the market in 2005. The good news was that Contax made a digital camera just before this; the N Digital. If I could find one I’d be able to use all my old lenses with it. Trouble is I can’t find one anywhere. Someone on ebay is offering conversion rings enabling C/Y lenses to be used on Canon EOS cameras. I’m considering this. A workmate brought in his EOS 350d yesterday for me to try out. It is complicated. All I want is manual + aperture & shutter priority. This thing does everything but make coffee. Also, I’m not sure that the camera could properly support my heavier lenses. They (may have) already cracked two Yashica FX3 polycarbonate top-plates. That’s why I replaced it with the all-metal Contax in the first place. It’s a tough call. For the moment I may stick with my modest Nikon Coolpix for a little longer.

welcome. Make yourself at home. Snowboard too huh? Neat!

Welcome from Portsmouth UK

Welcome to SS Peter. We love a bit of diversity! I had a lot of early folk influences. Never leaves either.

Welcome to the SS community Pete. I hope I get to hear some of your songs. I couldnt follow your link (from here anyway). What sort of gear can you advise on? Rudi Portsmouth UK

True. Page was a Jansch fan (not a bigger fan than me though). I must say Im facinated by the hang drum description Microbe. I must try to hear one.

Hello there Dainis, Welcome to SS. Its nice to have a literate songsmith about the place. Good luck and see you about the board. Where are you based? Rudi Portsmouth UK

What sort of strings do you use? Brass plated, Nickel wound, flat wound, round wound, heavy gauge, light gauge, custom etc. More importantly why? Is the sound improved, or to you choose strings that make fretting easier?

Steve Kimmock : 'Kissing the BoBo' I have never heard the like before or since