Tuesday 8 February 2022

Loving this small Uke

Following on from firstly thinking about getting a guitar, to actually getting not one but two, and then starting to take guitar lessons, I have somewhat got the bug.

Yes I obviously want to learn to play, however it is also the aesthetics of all these wonderful instruments that can, maybe not in my hands, make a wonderful sound.

I mentioned just a little while ago that I had been researching Ukuleles and after some time spent reading reviews and watching online videos I plumed for a ukulele from a company called Flight.

I had seen a Flight, I think it was a Sofia, when I visited J G Windows the other week. It was a tenor, however, not the soundwave model. It was nice to see it in the flesh and checkout it's form factor and see how well it was constructed.

Well after not much consideration I did a quick online search for the cheapest place and DV247 had a Flight Diana Tenor Soundwave advertised, so I ordered one. I opted for the Diana as I preferred the colour of the cedar top and I wanted  the soundwave model, as well it has more bells and whistles and sounded great in all the reviews I viewed.


When the Ukulele arrived it was contained within in a huge box, with a smaller Flight box inside that, all very well packaged.


The Ukulele comes in a pretty sturdy padded bag which is a nice shade of red and has a neat Velcro pocket on the front and backpack design carrying straps.

 

Other than being able to tell you that upon arrival, I absolutely love the look of my new small Flight Diana Tenor Soundwave. Once tuned it sounds lovely, well  to me, I mean I can't really play a proper tune. I have discovered by watching a few YouTube tutorials and downloading an app on my mobile device to first tune the Uke and then follow a few songs that it appears a lot easier than playing my guitars. The app I downloaded being "Guitartuna". It provides a lot of songs you can play along to and shows you notes/chord progression.




I was soon strumming away with some semblance of a tune, well at least in my mind, and using the various knobs on the soundwave board is such fun. The Uke has an on and off button in the middle, with a volume,  Reverb, Chorus and a Delay.
 
 

   Love the neck of this Ukulele and it's cutouts, alongside the gold tuners.



 

All in all a very pretty looking  instrument, and it sounds the business

 


 

I have been practising a down, down, up, up, down   down, down, up strumming pattern and trying to play Radiohead's Creep which uses 4 chords G, B, C & Cm, these notes are played throughout the song.

I will keep persevering and see how I go LoL


 Very happy with my purchase, it's easy to pick up and just play around with.

First outdoor ride of the New Year 2022

 Normally I would be keen to get out and about on my various bikes, regardless of the weather, however in reality over the past couple of years, yes as long as that, I just haven't been going out quite as much. I mean, the whole covid situation had a lot to do with it when I found myself having to shield for around 9 months, and by then I had become quite used or should I say addicted to just jumping on my road bike, which is set up indoors on my cheap Tacx turbo trainer. It's warm, I can watch TV or listen to music and when I am finished no requirements to wash a dirty mud strewn bike.

Of course, this has not been the only factor in my lack of enthusiasm. I am really struggling with socket fit, so each ride is a fairly uncomfortable one, and for some reason I had been snapping a lot of tendons on my knee and also encountered another issue with my knee that I have never had before. This is that the bolts that fit through the BTK Cams shear off every now and again. I can only put this down to me having a G2 BTK frame and using G3 tendons and cams. With the G3 tendons being slightly longer, I am wondering whether my riding style is not maybe as fluid and causing a "snap" at the top end of my movement. That said, I wouldn't trade my BTK knee, after using various incarnations of the design since 2009, it is this piece of equipment that has kept me going.
    

Jimmy & John in South Moor Park

Anyhoo this blog is actually about going out into the real world for a ride, something I have really missed. My friend John, who I don't get to see all that much because of other commitments, messaged me asking me if I fancied a ride out with him and a friend of his, called Jimmy. I am still currently off work, due to socket issues, and so I was in two minds. You see, I have been brought up from a little wee lad to believe if you were sick, you had to stay at home and couldn't play out. I have my mam to thank for that. If ever I was off school, no way was I allowed out, it's kind of stuck.

The previous week I had had a chat with my boss from work, and she advised me to do what I could when I could, as well it's good for your mental health, so I agreed I would head out with John and his mate Jimmy. I prepared all my gear the night before, this meant reattaching my cams and tendons on my BTK knee. Being wary of the 4 bolts, I made sure I used my small torque wrench. It's a most excellent piece of kit, I love it's small form factor. It is made by "fwe" sure I got it at Evans Cycles some years ago. It uses small torque sockets which go from 4,5 to 6 nm.

fwe mini torque  wrench

Great bit of kit

The following morning I had a ride up our bank towards Stanley and met up with John, Jimmy soon coming along and John introducing us. A quick discussion on where to go, and we were all off, deciding to head over towards Chapman's Wells, with the possibility of doing the Lanchester Valley to Consett loop and then back home. I informed the boys I wasn't sure if we would have time, just I had to get back as I had been invited out to lunch by one of my old work friends and another work friend, somewhere over near Cramlington, a place called the Snowy Owl.

 

Doesn't matter where you go always got to get off and lift bikes over a style or gate

Splashing through the icy puddles

Jimmy enjoying himself

More puddles to play in

Weather wise, it was pretty chilly, with frost in the air and the various puddles we encountered covered in ice. I have mentioned this before I am sure I love either the sound of the braking ice as you ride over it, or in the autumn and the sound of dry leaves as you ride through them. It's the little things when you are out and about that can bring you joy. Sights, sounds and smells of the great outdoors.

Nice being out in the fresh air
 

We encountered quite a few frosty and icy puddles on our little, what turned out to a be a 20-mile ride. We also discovered lots of damaged and up rooted trees, from the storms we had not so long ago. There was a huge tree that had fallen in South Moor Park. It must have fallen across the path and the council had been down and chainsawed it into large sections to make the path accessible.

It's funny even as we get older get a few lads together, and you can see the child in them, as we each took turns to ride through the iced up puddles, crunching through the ice and splashing up the cold water beneath.

It can get really windy blowing down the valley

As the morning went on, the weather became a lot milder, the frost disappearing and the ice melting to make the Lanchester and Chapman's Wells trails that bit muddier. We turned off at Hurbuck Cottages, instead of going all the way up to Consett and I took John and Jimmy up the long up hill winding back road, I think it's called Gorecock lane towards Greencroft.

 
Riding along from Maiden Law

From there back along to the Morrison Road ends and back to Chapman's Wells. A nice climb up the farmer's Trail, and we were at the top of Wilka's Bank and followed Wagtail Lane to the Bridleway that leads down to South Moor Gold Club and from there a ride through the Font and John and Jimmy said their goodbyes when we arrived at my house.


My pops was coming out of our house and very kindly helped me with my bike putting it on charge for me. Not enough time to clean her. As I got indoors and removed my sweaty gear and put various bits and pieces away, I noticed a big box at the bottom of our stairs...Yay my Ukulele had arrived.


Proper enjoyed this morning's ride out and pleased to say apart from my Fitbit cocking up, and my mobile phone dying, it's old, nothing else went a miss. My Specilazied Turbo Levo appears to be working fine now that the TCU has been replaced. I am now going to try and make more effort to get out riding outdoors, prosthetic limb dependant, as upon getting back I had a few new very sore areas.