Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 October 13

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October 13

I need help from someone knowledgeable with guitars

One of my newer friends showed me his old guitar. However, he's not sure what it is, and neither am I. There is no wording on it, except the vibrato says Fender on it, but im not sure if they made just the vibrato or the whole guitar. Pictures can be found here and here. If someone knows what this is, it would be greatly appreciated if they could tell me. the juggresurection ^{(>-.-(Vಠ_ಠ)} 00:57, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

It looks like an Fender or Fender knockoff of some sort. Gibson has a few models, like the Epiphone Coronet that superficially resemble this one, but those had different pickup packages, and different headstocks (the headstock looks a LOT like a Fender). I will do some research and see what I dig up.--Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:05, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

I found some close ones, not exact, but these appear to be related. There's a guitar called the Fender Mustang that has the exact same sort of pick guard, metal plate under the tuning knobs, and tremelo bar, and toggle switches at the top of the guitar. The ONLY difference I can see is that the Mustang had unbalanced "horns" at the top, like a Stratocaster, while this guitar has symetrical horns, like a Gibson Melody Maker. See this picture of a Fender Mustang Its SO close to the Mustang, that I would guess that it is a related instrument, possibly released at the same time. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:17, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm...the first thing i thought was a Mustang, but as you said, the horns are off...you dont think it was some kind of flawed Mustang, do you? would it be possible? the juggresurection ^{(>-.-(Vಠ_ಠ)} 01:24, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

More possibilities: a Fender Duo-Sonic II which is basically a Mustang sans tremelo arm, but we still have a problem with the assymetric horns. Still looking. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:25, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

You gave me an idea; it could be a Mustang, but the bass-side horn broke off, and the guitar was repaired, so that the new horn was just shorter. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:31, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Or the horn was intentionally modified to improve access to the higher frets. If you look closely at the pick guard of your guitar, it looks like it has been carved down a bit. I mean, if you simply ignore the shirt bass-side horn, it is nearly identical to a Mustang. I am still looking for other posibilities right now, but my best guess says "Modified Mustang" for now. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 01:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, if it was repaired, it was a damn good job, cause i see no creases or cracks. It must have been modified, unless you can find out if its an actual model.the juggresurection ^{(>-.-(Vಠ_ಠ)} 02:15, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

I spent the better part of an hour last night at google images going through various pictures of Fenders. Seriously, EVERYTHING except that one horn nearly exactly matches the Mustang/Duo-Sonic II guitar EXCEPT that one short horn. The compelling evidence to me is the two toggle switches over the pickups. No other Fender model featured those toggles except the Mustang/Duo-Sonic II (the original Duo-Sonic didn't have them, even). Most Fender models were assymtrical, and based loosely on the Strat body. I'm not sure I've even seen a symmetrical Fender solid-body out there (Gibson, on the other hand, had several solid- and semi-hollow guitars with symmetrical profiles). Based on that, I must say, it does look like an aftermarket modification. To be fair, it wouldn't be that hard for anyone with woodworking skills to make the modification. It is just a chunk of wood, after all. The other possibility is that someone custom-built the body, and moved the electronics and hardware over from the Mustang to the new body. Such handmade guitars do exist, and some are quite famous. Brian May's primary guitar, the Red Special, was carved from an old mantlepiece by him and his father in the early 1960's. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 17:06, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

I appreciate all the research that you have done for me. I just have one more question: I assume since its a modification and not a unique model, its not very rare, am I right? Or does it have some kind of rarity to it? the juggresurection ^{(>-.-(Vಠ_ಠ)} 23:02, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, it depends. If it is a unique body made by a famous luthier, or if its been owned by a famouse guitarist, it may be worth something. Red Special is likely priceless; being unique means that there is no market value to base it on. The thing is, if its just some guy whose took a woodshop class, and made the modification (or created the body) in his basement, then it may have no value at all. I would suspect that it wouldn't have any more or less value than any standard Mustang would. First run Mustangs can be quite valuable; but the question with your guitar is whether a potential buyer would see the modification as adding value to the guitar (as a unique property) or subtracting from it (as essentially damaging the original). There's just no way to tell. I would say enjoy playing the guitar as it is; the music you can make is probably more valuable than any cash you could get from reselling it. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 12:43, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Recording of an Aria by Lotti

Where can I find a recording (doesn't matter what instrument, although preferably cello) of the "Aria" by Lotti that is included in this solo book? For the matter, I'd also like to know what (opera?) it's from. Foxjwill (talk) 05:46, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

A Google search for Lotti +aria indicates that Antonio Lotti composed a number of arias. Unless you can somehow specify which particular aria appears in that book, I'm afraid your questions are unanswerable. Deor (talk) 22:49, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Another guitar question

Seeing the good answers to the guitar question above, I have one... My son (22 months) found a guitar at a friend's house and somehow realized right away that the strap hung over his neck, his left hand was supposed to hold the neck, and he was supposed to strum the strings. I figure that he's seen the Wiggles guy play guitar enough that he understood it. So, while shopping, I found a functional mini-guitar on clearance for $10. It works fine (uses real strings, not fishing line). The problem is that the tuning knobs easily loosen when you strum the strings. So, every time I tune it, it goes out of tune in just a few minutes. Question: How do you keep the tuning knobs from loosening on a real guitar? I'm happy to modify this toy guitar since it was so cheap and he will probably break it soon. I would just like to be able to show him that it makes nice chords a few times before he decides it is more fun to beat it on the floor than play it. -- kainaw™ 17:14, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Depending on how the machineheads are made, there's usually a screw of some sort that holds the assembly in place. On my Takamine Jasmine there's a nut on the back of each machinehead that attaches it to the headstock. The machineheads sometimes come loose, and I just finger-tighten that nut until they stop wiggling. However, I have never had the specific problem of losing tension in that way. Generally, it takes about a week after I replace my strings for the whole guitar to "equilibrate"; during that first week I am sometimes tuning every few minutes, but once everything has stabilized, it usually holds a tune quite well. I can go days of playing only making a few minor adjustments (an eigth of a turn or less.) So that could be the problem, if the strings are brand new. Most machineheads are "geared" (see some of the pictures in Machine head) and there's usually a screw at the center of the round gear. Perhaps that can be tightend to increase tension. Or, the problem could be at the other end. There's any number of ways that the strings can attach at the bridge end; depending on how they are attached, you could be losing tension there. You may want to check that side of the strings as well. If the machineheads are NOT visibly turning over time, then your problem is likely at the anchor side and not the tuning side. --Jayron32.talk.contribs 17:26, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. While these are plastic machine heads (I didn't know the name of those things), I do see little black screws in the middle of them. Tightening those screws makes it harder for them to loosen easily. I figure this thing will be too cheap to hold a tune very well (I don't expect a lot for $10). But, I can probably tune it very low (with loose strings) and have it work acceptably well. -- kainaw™ 17:31, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

As an aside, I let my 2.5 year old son play my Baritone Uke. Its tuned exactly like a guitar (DGBE) so I can easily tune it for him, and it uses nylon strings, so its easier for him to play. He basically just strums at the four open strings. He doesn't like to wear it over his shoulder, so he's taken to playing it "Lap style". He even trys to fret some strings, but he doesn't have much skill at it yet. I am in no rush; just exposing him to the instrument is important now; I have no real desire for him to pick up any songs yet. I only started playing in my 20's; I figger this oought to give him a bit of a musical advantage over me. I think by 5 he will be a better player than I am! --Jayron32.talk.contribs 17:34, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

real name

Does any one know if mick mcmanus the wrestler is his real name and were and when he was borm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.199.151.123 (talk) 18:47, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

According to our article on Mick McManus, he was born on January 12, 1928 in New Cross, London, England. It does not list his full birth name, but my guess is that Mick is not his full given name. Most people known by "Mick" have Michael as a first name (c.f. Mick Jagger) or have a "Mc" last name, like the aforementioned McManus. I did a cursory google search, but didn't find anymore. Good luck! --Jayron32.talk.contribs 19:23, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Fur Elise again

I used to play the piano, but I stopped when I was about 7 (10 years ago) to learn guitar (which I gave up in the end). I cant remember how to play the piano of any of the notes or anything but I am trying to teach myself Fur Elise, hopefully I will have learnt it by the end of 6th form (2 years). I looked for the full sheet music, but there are lots of small sections of it on the internet, does anyone know if this is the FULL sheet music. Thanks. 92.4.229.8 (talk) 22:31, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it is. -- JackofOz (talk) 02:55, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

As far as I can tell, its the same arraingment I learned in the early 70s. $--~~~~$

Thanks92.4.229.8 (talk) 03:01, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

Cougar video game

There was a video game named Corgar or Cougar some decades ago on arcade machines. Does anyone have information about it? Not even the website of the same name knows it... --Con^structor 22:39, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Ok, Cougar stood on the machine and it was an action-adventure or RPG. --Con^structor 14:53, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

It was some kind of Jump'n'Run or Action Adventure with the protagonist having a ring of fire around him (!?) --Con^structor 15:45, 15 October 2008 (UTC)