I put new strings on my Cordoba tenor ukulele a few hours ago. It seems to go out of tune every 5 minutes. I assume the strings are stretching out. How long before it will stay in tune a normal amount of time? The strings are Worth fluorocarbon if that makes a difference. Thanks.
I've been noticing beardruff the past week. Here is my situation and routine:
I have a short, 1/4 to 3/8 inch beard.
I shower every day.
I use Roughneck beard bar to wash my beard Sunday, Wednesday, and Friday.
I use Roughneck beard oil every day on damp beard after shaving, and Beard Octane beard butter right after the oil on the days I wash my beard.
This routine has kept me dandruff-free for the past year until a week ago. Any suggestions for how to solve the dandruff?
Thanks.
I bought a Cordoba TM 20 tenor uke, used. I have carpal tunnel so I get tingling in my left fingers. I think it has Aquila strings on it. Thinking of trying Fremont STR-FM Black Line Tenor Fluorocarbon Medium strings. If I do get the Fremont fluorocarbon strings can I just put them on the uke and play away, or do they require a low action set up? Are the Fremont strings going to be easier on my left hand?
I found it valuable to learn scales on the guitar as a way of starting to learn my way around the fretboard. Would that be a good approach on the ukulele? I've just had my uke for a couple of days, and am learning a few chords following along with the Cynthia Lin videos. Even as I'm learning chords and practicing changes, I think I'd like to learn what the notes on the fretboard are -- does it make sense for me to do so?
I have recently picked up guitar (electric), but it turns out I have carpal tunnel in both hands, and my left fingers get numb after playing 15 minutes. I am thinking of switching to ukulele, concert or tenor. Is one or the other likely to keep my wrist more relaxed and less stressed? Should I tune the fourth string to high G or low G as a beginner? I am looking at the Cordoba 15 TM tenor, and the Kala KA-T tenor, both priced the same. Any recommendations? I am feeling a strong pull to make music again (I am 65) and frustrated that guitar has not worked out. Any recommendations for good Youtube teachers and/or books? I've been to a hand orthopedist so I've been told it is definitely carpal tunnel. Many thanks.
Razor: Feather AC SS Shavette (hinged)
Blade: Feather Soft Guard
Soap (for neck): Stirling Unscented With Beeswax
Gel (for area above mustache): Timothey's Shave Gel
Brush: Parker Blue Storm synthetic 24 mm
Balm: Nivea Men Sensitive
Cologne: Bermuda Royall Muske
TL;DR: First time with a shavette. No cuts, nicks or weepers, so I am calling that a big win.
Today I used a foil shaver on the bald spot on my head to keep things simple. First go at a shavette. On neck I got mostly a CCS only. A little difficulty angling razor on diagonal on neck, which I'd like to do because I have diagonal hair growth, so hard to get true wtg and xtg passes. Except on my trachea, I did not attempt atg. I did diagonal wtg on sides of trachea to outside of neck, then north to south and then south to north. So the north to south and south to north are really oblique passes, except on trachea where hair grows straight down and those passes are wtg and atg. I did xtg horizontally on trachea, but hard to keep blade in contact with skin at that angle (it is awkward for my arm). On one side above mustache I got DFS, and on other side CCS because of difficulty keeping the blade in contact with skin on that side. Tomorrow I will stretch neck skin more diligently, and use lighter pressure. The feel of the blade was not bitey or unpleasant, though present.
No cuts, nicks or weepers, so I am calling that a big win. Irritation in the usual spots I get irritation with razors that are not mild, on the lower right side of neck. All in all I call this a win for my first try. The real test of this experiment will be in a few weeks when my beard has grown out and I can try edging it on my cheeks (I did not shave on my cheeks today). Lining the beard on my cheeks was the justification for buying the shavette in the first place.
I just received my first shavette, a Feather AC SS hinged shavette. I played with it without a blade in it around my neck. I can see how to get it to shave North to South and South to North, but my hair grows sideways and diagonally, too, and I don't see how to hold the shavette so that the blade can move horizontally and diagonally on my neck because the metal part that includes the blade seems too long to fit on my neck in those directions (I have a beard, so the blade is not going to be used right up to the jawline, thus eliminating some available real estate). Is there a trick to this? Or do I just shave North to South and South to North, which in some places on my neck is wtg and atg, and in other places is xtg, and in other places is an oblique angle? I tried it out with a blade on the back of my hand and thigh, and that went well. I'm using the soft guard blades to start. Thanks.
I finally broke down and ordered a shavette in hopes that I can do a better job shaving up to, but not into, my beard on my cheeks, and my mustache, than I can do with a DE or Schick injector razor (I always mess it up). I see lots of posts here by guys who swear by a shavette for lining up beards and mustaches, so I decided to try it. I ordered a Feather AC stainless steel folding handle razor with Feather Soft Guard blades. I know I'll have a learning curve. Did I pick a good shavette for a beginner? Any tips on how to shave with it and how to go about learning? Or is there a different shavette I should have ordered? (I could return this one.) Thanks.
The hair on the top 2/3 of my neck, from the sides of my trachea out from the center, grows in every direction. On the trachea and on the bottom 1/3 the hair grows in 1 direction, so there it is easy to get smooth with three traditional passes. I am handling the areas with multi-directional growth by using a very mild razor, a Schick injector J, and doing 5 passes (xtg, xtg opposite, oblique, oblique opposite, atg) and then some touchups in 2 places in yet another direction. I don't like aggressive razors, so I am trying to approach this from a technique perspective, rather than trying a more efficient razor. All these passes do get me DFS+++, sometimes BBS, in the multi-direction areas, and I get no irritation from this ridiculous routine. But I'm wondering if anyone has a better way to do this. If I have posted about this before, I apologize, as I don't remember.
I am thinking of experimenting with not doing wtg, xtg, atg, but instead doing xtg, xtg other direction, and atg. I found this quote in a Sharpologist post, where Mantic describes how he shaves, "“This is effectively two cross-grain passes followed by an against grain pass.” https://sharpologist.com/reduction-passes-grain-written-stone. Obviously, this goes against conventional wisdom. I'm curious what others think about this approach and whether they use it. What other variations from the traditional wtg, xtg, atg do people do, and on what kinds of growth (type of hair, direction of hair)? I'm wondering whether it might work on my neck where my hair grows in multiple directions and lies flat. I always end up with multiple touch up passes, and wonder whether the number of touchup passes might be reduced by trying Sharpologist's approach. I really hadn't thought about this much until I accidentally, through inattention, did not start wtg yesterday, but started xtg, and actually got a really close shave. Today I did standard wtg, xtg, atg and did not get as close a shave. I'm interested in your thoughts.
Razor: Schick Injector Type G
Blade: Schick Chick
Soap: Stirling Unsencented With Beeswax
Brush: Parker Blue Storm 24mm
Bowl: A mortar from the kitchen
Post Shave Balm: Nivea Men Sensitive
Cologne: Royall Muske
Today was my 5th shave with the Schick Injector G. A great shave, 3 passes, a little touchup, bbs. I am liking this razor. The Stirling with Beeswax soap is my fave, works great for my sensitive skin because I'm allergic to lanolin and to some fragrances, and it has neither in it. This is my first SOTD post after about 12 months of wet shaving.
Note the curved ferrule.
Does anyone know:
Thank you!
I've been teaching myself Amazing Grace and Red River Valley by ear, for no other reason than that it is fun. I start both songs on the open A string. The first 2 notes in Amazing Grace are open A and open D. Counting on my fingers, I think that's 5 half steps = 2-1/2 steps. Is that right? For guitar, do you think in half steps or whole and whole-and-a-half steps? I'd like to convert what I'm playing into intervals in my head. Then I think I could start on any note, i.e., play it in any key, theoretically anywhere on the fret board.
I bought and am enjoying a Fender Debut Squier Stratocaster. I am a new guitar player. Are there different models of Fender Squiers and of Stratocasters? What are the differences? I gather mine is an inexpensive model, maybe made only for Amazon, but it seems fine. Just curious. Thanks.
I bought and am enjoying a Fender Debut Squier Stratocaster. I am a new guitar player. Are there different models of Fender Squiers and of Stratocasters? What are the differences? I gather mine is an inexpensive model, maybe made only for Amazon, but it seems fine. Just curious. Thanks.
I bought and am enjoying a Fender Debut Squier Stratocaster. I am a new guitar player. Are there different models of Fender Squiers and of Stratocasters? What are the differences? I gather mine is an inexpensive model, maybe made only for Amazon, but it seems fine. Just curious. Thanks.
TL;DR: I think I've landed on a Babyliss foil shaver after trying wet shaving for a year.
From age 19 to 64 I shaved with canned Barbasol and a cartridge razor, 1 or 2 passes and done, 6 days a week, a morning chore, never gave the results or degree of smoothness a second thought, and it wasn't smooth. I have had a beard since age 19.
14 months ago I went to a barber a couple of times who, as part of beard trimming, used a Babyliss foil shaver to shave my neck. Never in my life had I ever had such a close, BBS shave. So I bought a Babyliss Pro FX2 Double Foil shaver, which I liked.
But a month later I started down the rabbit hole of wet shaving with DE and injector razors (I think I stumbled upon the wicked_edge subreddit and that got me hooked), and reserved the Babyliss for mornings when I had to rush and for traveling. I got good at safety razor shaving and enjoyed it. I tried about 10 razors, got into skin care and making lather from a soap with a brush, the whole 9 yards. My morning routine was taking a long time, but it was a fun ritual. I was getting BBS shaves (or very close to BBS) with 3 passes and multiple touch up/buffing passes on my neck, and learned to do this without irritation or nicks. Kept trying to find a way to eliminate touch up passes, but ultimately did not succeed despite trying different razors, including a few more aggressive ones.
I got super busy at work last month and this month and really needed to shorten my morning routine to maximize time for work, so I went back to the Babyliss -- less prep and quicker shave -- with amazing results. I use Lab Series preshave, which works great for my sensitive skin, and I get great BBS shaves every day, actually closer than with my safety razors. My skin feels smooth, soft and supple after shaving. So I'm wondering why I went down the wet shaving rabbit hole, other than it has been fun to acquire the manual skills associated with it. (And making lather is fun!)
My post-shave routine remains almost completely the same with the foil shaver, so I still experience some ritual.
What I've discovered with both safety razors and the Babyliss is that the concave parts of my neck on either side of my trachea are very difficult to shave smooth. I have figured out with the foil shaver that my hair must grow in multiple directions there because when I go over it in multiple directions I can hear the foil shaver cutting against the grain (if I go with or across the grain elsewhere there is no cutting sound). I think the hair there is flat lying, too. I could and did get those areas BBS with safety razors but it took many passes from multiple directions, much time, and a very delicate touch. I was always worried I would irritate the skin from doing too many passes with a blade even though I seldom got irritation.
On top of all that I'm clumsy with cartridge, DE and injector razors near my beard line on my cheeks, so constantly shaving into the line and having to grow it out. With the Babyliss I can shave right on top of the line and it shaves the stubble next to my beard and mustache but not the beard and mustache themselves.
So I've sold some of my manual razors, have 2 more for sale, and will keep a mild Schick Type J and my favorite soap around in case I get the urge to do a traditional wet shave.
I think I've decided after 46 years of cartridges and traditional razors that the simplest path to the best shave for my face and hair growth patterns is the Babyliss.
My experience seems contrary to the conventional wisdom that it is impossible to shave as close with an electric as you can with a safety razor. I think I actually shave closer with the electric.
Can anyone relate to this? I assume I am an outlier.
TL; DR: Is there a better guitar for my left hand?
I am a beginner. I bought a Fender Squier Stratocaster. I have small-medium hands for a man. My left thumb wants to point up towards the headstock, and I'm working on getting into the habit of making it go horizontal across the back of the neck instead. I get forearm and wrist pain in this position. Also my thumb sticks out quite a bit beyond the neck into space. Is that position for my thumb correct?
I've also been working on getting my fingers to approach the strings from above so my fingertips finger the strings rather than the pads of my fingers, to eliminate muting of neighboring strings. To do this my elbow moves down and forward, a little away from my body, and my thumb doesn't stick out much. When I do that my palm is kind of concave and doesn't remain in contact with the neck, there is space between the neck and my palm, especially on barre chords. Is that space correct position? I think it contributes to the pain I mentioned.
Am I doing this right? Do I just have to power through the pain, which starts about 15 minutes into a practice session? Or, are there guitars with a different shape of neck that would be more ergonomic for me and provide support for my concave palm? The back of the neck of my guitar seems kind of flat, and I'm wondering if a more curved neck might better for my hand, wrist, and forearm? (That said, the answer I'm hoping for is that I don't need a different guitar because I would prefer not to spend money on one right now.)
Thank you for your advice.
It's a dry shaver so I can't use water. I have Babyliss All In One Clipper Spray. I use the shaver at home, once a day shaving, I'm not a barber. I've read I should brush out the cutters, and with shaver off spray a quick fine mist of the all in one spray on the cutters and underside of foil, leave disassembled for 2 or 3 minutes to get the spray to flash off, then assemble and run for ten seconds, then every few days disassemble again and oil the cutters, reassemble and run five seconds to distribute the oil. I'm getting this from Copilot and Gemini AI, and they disagree on some of the details. Any suggestions? Thank you.
It's a dry shaver so I can't use water. I have Babyliss All In One Clipper Spray. I use the shaver at home, once a day shaving, I'm not a barber. I've read I should brush out the cutters, and with shaver off spray a quick fine mist of the all in one spray on the cutters and underside of foil, leave disassembled for 2 or 3 minutes to get the spray to flash off, then assemble and run for ten seconds, then every few days disassemble again and oil the cutters, reassemble and run five seconds to distribute the oil. I'm getting this from Copilot and Gemini AI, and they disagree on some of the details. Any suggestions? Thank you.