Fiddle Upgrade

When I bought my fiddle in early February, my thought was to see if I'd like it, as I'd never touched one before. Given that uncertainty, my goal was to buy the cheapest possible "real" instrument (and not what the people on the fiddle message boards call a VSO, or violin-shaped object.) Now, a couple of months in, it's clear that I like it and intend to continue.

I play it every day - which I'm convinced is the only way to make progress. Even if I only have time to pick it up for 10 minutes and play a few scales and a few simple tunes, I feel like I *have* to do that. And I really enjoy it.

Given that I've answered my initial question, I started wondering about upgrading my fiddle. The woman who sold it to me (who buys and refurbishes used fiddles) told me that she'd buy mine back if I ever wanted to upgrade. So I contacted her - and just as in our initial conversation, I was shocked at how cheap fiddles are. I told her I wanted a better-quality fiddle - one that I could grow with and not need to worry about upgrading for the foreseeable future. In response, she got a few suitable candidates together - all between $200-300.

We arranged for another Sunday morning McDonald's meet. I asked Darling Wife to come along, as I value her musical opinion. We saw her in a far corner of the parking lot, setting up lawn chairs out of the back of her truck. She apparently thought it might be a lengthy audition process.

The lawn chairs weren't necessary. For that money, I don't need elaborate deliberation. It's a simple question - which one sounds best. She had three fiddles. I liked the sound of 2 and 3. DW had a strong preference for #3. So I played it a little more, still liked it, and bought it. $200, less $90 for my trade, made it a $110 upgrade. Absolutely a no-brainer.

I've now had it for a week, and it really is a significant upgrade. It sounds *markedly* better. And it's easier to play. If I had known what a difference was possible for such a small price, I would have done this after two weeks with the first fiddle.

And now no more fiddle upgrades will ever be necessary (which I say as a joke - but the woman I've been dealing with really seems to think that's true. And I hope she's right.)

Odds and Ends

A few random notes and links:

• In my last post about the Tommy Emmanuel concert, I linked to his performance of Angelina, one of my favorite Tommy songs. Here's a video of him backstage listening to a young kid play it. And then giving him a few pointers. I love how he just loves to play.
• Speaking of Angelina, here's a tab. I haven't decided yet whether I should attempt it, or forget I ever saw it.
• How could I possibly not go to this?
• Simply gorgeous version of Over the Waterfall. Simple parts...acoustic guitar and mandolin. I know the song and could play either part.
• Going to California guitar tutorial. One of my favorite Zeppelin acoustic songs. (Here's my other favorite - though there are a lot of great ones.)
• I had to make a long drive last weekend, and I downloaded two CD's by the Wailin' Jennys as road music. Fantastic group with beautiful vocal harmonies and acoustic instruments - and from my honorary home and native land. Here's a YouTube clip of Beautiful Dawn.
• Next Rosewood gig is this Saturday night, and we're excited. There will be at least one mandolin song. There's talk of incorporating the fiddle, but not just yet!