Classic-Banjo
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JOHN PIDOUX ACCESSORIES.
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Permalink Reply by Jody Stecher on
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How the heck did the seller come up with the price £31.58 for the wrenches? Or £10.67 for the plectra? And £52,25 for the thing-a-ma-bob? Why the precision down to the penny? Whimsy? Or is there hidden logic applied here?
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Permalink Reply by Joel Hooks on
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There appears to be British (and unmarked) knockoffs of the SSS patent thimble and Fitright pick.
I certainly would like to have the knockoff SSS thimble as a size reference.
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Permalink Reply by Steven Watson on
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It's a relatively new ebay thing. If a seller lists an item for £50, it then adds on the fees for the buyer (£2.70).
Jody Stecher said:How the heck did the seller come up with the price £31.58 for the wrenches? Or £10.67 for the plectra? And £52,25 for the thing-a-ma-bob? Why the precision down to the penny? Whimsy? Or is there hidden logic applied here?
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Yeah, I got the SSS patent thimble, and the other garbage that goes with it.
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Ah! thanks.
Steven Watson said:It's a relatively new ebay thing. If a seller lists an item for £50, it then adds on the fees for the buyer (£2.70).
Jody Stecher said:How the heck did the seller come up with the price £31.58 for the wrenches? Or £10.67 for the plectra? And £52,25 for the thing-a-ma-bob? Why the precision down to the penny? Whimsy? Or is there hidden logic applied here?
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I'd be very curious to hear how you get on with it!
Trapdoor2 said:The Expression stop is now headed to South Carolina! :-)
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Permalink Reply by Richard William Ineson on
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Here is a piece of music to go with it. Note the instructions at the Introduction : "Expression stop ON" and at the bottom of page 2 :"This arrangement cannot be rendered with good effect without an "SX" EXPRESSION STOP". David Milner (there were two,, father and son) were famous for their chord tremoloing. The Milners were quite well off and were in the business of selling seeds to farmers as well as playing the banjo. After living in Hull, they moved to Sheffield and remained active in the banjo world. I have often wondered if David Milner senior taught Kate Sampey to play the banjo as the Sampeys were a well to do, and very prominent, farming family who lived in Hawton Grange near Newark..
Trapdoor2 said:The Expression stop is now headed to South Carolina! :-)
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Permalink Reply by Trapdoor2 on
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Well! Less than a month later, the "Expression Stop" has arrived!
Only two missing bits: the nut which holds the lever arm extension to the lever and the plate which clamps the whole unit to the dowel stick. A nut should be easy to find (unless it is Whitworth threaded =8^0); a wing-nut would probably be appropriate (can't be seen in the advertisement). The plate is a very simple flat bit of metal with two holes in it (the original is a tad more ornate, with some round sections and a hole in the middle. From the advertisement picture, it should be pretty easy to make a close reproduction. I imagine it had a bit of cork lining to protect the dowelstick.
All the screws are there, and the adjustable cork dampers are in 'good enough' condition to be functional.
Richard I., I appreciate the bit of music! I actually found one of Morley's that has directions for the Expression Stop too.
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I received the patent thimble. I am fairly certain that it did not come from SSS. Along with the lot was a copy of the Fitrite pick. This copy is exactly the size of the original Fitrite picks that I have except that the metal is German Silver and .018-.019" thick. The original stamped picks are steel and much thicker.
The patent thimble is made of this same thickness metal, which seems to be thinner than what SSS would have used (his rims were .020 when I am able to measure). It also feels like it is dead soft and so it is kind of mushy, not great for carrying in the pocket. That said, and knowing what I know, I believe this to be a very good size reference. Also, it fits my finger perfectly as is. So all and all I am very happy.
Interestingly, I have previously made copies which I based only on the woodcut with no size reference. Here is the weird part, besides the thickness (I used 1/2 hard .020), and I made my socked narrower, this "original" is nearly identical to the ones I made without reference!!! At some point I will make a more accurate version using 1/2 hard .018 GS (which is stiffer and will hold up better).
Despite the softness of the metal, It was well used by the previous owner, so that is cool too.
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Joel, I would like to try one of the SSS style thimbles, if you make some. I'm currently using a mizrab-type from Canada that suits me nicely for steel string stuff.
The Expression Stop uses 10-32 threads, so that is no problem. I'll have it up and running tomorrow. It works completely opposite of my expectations though. Default is "on" and one must hold the button down for "off". I guess it makes sense to pull the banjo in tight for "loud" and relax for "soft". Just unexpected.
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