Notices by Adam (inkslinger@mastodon.club), page 7

@RussSharek Apparently a three-string cigar box guitar is very similar, if it's tuned in open G, which is neat. It'd be fun to try and build my own.

@TheGibson @thurloat Yeah, I basically just want something that's simple for fooling around with while camping and to maybe eventually help me pick up the guitar again. These various strumstick/stick dulcimer things seem pretty foolproof. It's just a matter of which version to go with.

@thurloat Fun side note: the guy who designed the original Martin Backpacker created the Strumstick, so he apparently knows how to get a big sound out of a deceptively small soundbox.

@thurloat Then, of course, the question becomes do I get a standard D-tuned stick (which the song books tend to be written for) or a G-tuned one so I can more easily play along with guitars (in standard tuning).

@thurloat Looks nice. My wife actually has a nice travel guitar that's a similar size. I'm looking at these strumstick/dulcimer type instruments because they're diatonically fretted, which makes them super easy for a talented hack like myself to pick up and have a lot of fun. LOL

Ah, I see the main difference and the reason the Strumstick is more expensive: it's got more frets (and, therefore, more notes), so it's a slightly more versatile instrument. And since the used one I'm looking at comes with a case, the price difference is essentially a non-factor, so this is actually kind of a difficult choice.

And yet further research shows that a Merlin essentially *is* a strumstick. It's laid out and fretted the same way. So it's not a true dulcimer, but a "dulcimer inspired" instrument, much the same as a Strumstick. I suppose that should settle it, and yet, I'm still kinda torn for no rational reason.

Musicians of the fediverse, do you have any advice?

OK, and now I see Seagull makes a similar instrument. They call it a "Merlin," and it's basically a strumable dulcimer (Appalachian lap dulcimer, but in a sort of guitar shape). A brand new one is priced slightly cheaper than the secondhand Strumstick I was looking at, so now I'm torn between the two. I do love Seagull guitars, so the Merlin would no doubt be good quality. But the Strumstick is appealing for it's small size and incredible simplicity (though the Merlin is almost as simple).

Browsing my local newspaper in incognito mode, so my various ad & tracker blocking plugins aren't active and HOLY SHIT is this what the Internet looks like without ad block? This is horrendous.

@thurloat I'll likely do the same. Shame that I'll miss out on the extra 64gb as a result, but I don't want to have to tinker with hardware. I want it to just work, regardless of price point.

Looks like the @PINE64 Pinebook Pro will be available for preorder on July 25. I'm seriously considering it, but will want to see some early reviews, first.

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/07/pinebook-pro-preorder-july-25

@Thunderfree I've never been a LARPer, but that sounds pretty fun.

@ItsTheManOnTheMoon I remember that! Mostly, I just remember that it happened and that it was viewed as a novelty, but I remember it.

@allan That's true. I forgot that CDs degrade relatively quickly (years or decades, but still pretty fast relative to older technology).

Yes, I know that prompt is kind of absurd. CDs, audio tapes and even digital archives would still exist, even if no one but archivists used/kept them. But that ruins the A E S T H E T I C

Sheet music still fits, I guess, but how do you put the songs from, say, Paul's Boutique, onto sheet music?