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Post new topic The Tremoloa. Brighten your day laughing with and at me!
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Author Topic:  The Tremoloa. Brighten your day laughing with and at me!
Bill Hatcher

 

From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
Post  Posted 18 Aug 2022 9:49 am    
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im sure somewhere on this or maybe another planet, there is a virtuoso who could play this thing. Winking

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5efpUre-8
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John Rosett


From:
Missoula, MT
Post  Posted 18 Aug 2022 11:03 am    
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I've never seen anyone play one of those things. Kinda cool, kinda strange. I think that you could put together an act with that-maybe with a banjo orchestra backing.
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Mike Neer


From:
NJ
Post  Posted 18 Aug 2022 11:07 am    
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That's so cool! An interesting concept, but what a weird and poorly executed idea for actual music-making. But I guarantee, in the hands of the right lunatic somewhere, some amazing music could be made with that. Fortunately, you're about as close as we're going to get, Bill. Laughing
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Larry Allen


From:
Kapaa, Kauai,Hawaii
Post  Posted 18 Aug 2022 11:16 am    
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I picked up one of these in the 70’s in a Honolulu pawn shop…it came with a dozen pages of early tab for it…took me a while to find a left handed thumb pick!..turned into an interesting wall hanger in the studio! Whoa!
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Allan Revich


From:
Victoria, BC
Post  Posted 18 Aug 2022 1:34 pm    
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Mike Neer wrote:
That's so cool! An interesting concept, but what a weird and poorly executed idea for actual music-making. But I guarantee, in the hands of the right lunatic somewhere, some amazing music could be made with that. Fortunately, you're about as close as we're going to get, Bill. Laughing


I imagine that in order to successfully sell these door to door, one would have to be “the right lunatic”. Very Happy
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Allan Revich


From:
Victoria, BC
Post  Posted 18 Aug 2022 1:37 pm     Examples of Tremoloa
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https://youtu.be/-VGRFa0LiIQ

https://youtu.be/Ufrz_IVR3Ac
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 19 Aug 2022 7:08 am    
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Those things must have been extremely popular (and relatively inexpensive) at one time with the Scandinavian immigrants in the upper Midwest. For years I spent a considerable amount of time scouring antique malls, and almost without fail every shop had at least one of them -- usually missing strings with cracks a-go-go.
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 19 Aug 2022 8:45 am    
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This instrument a several others were among items often sold door-to door back in the day.
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Steve Cunningham


From:
Atlanta, GA
Post  Posted 19 Aug 2022 8:51 am    
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I have a couple of those things laying around somewhere, but I can't play them nearly as well as you.
Of course we're all waiting to hear your rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody Wink
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Doug Beaumier


From:
Northampton, MA
Post  Posted 19 Aug 2022 9:26 am    
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From what I've read, thousands of these were sold during the Hawaiian craze. They were inexpensive, and the slide contraption was supposed to allow any beginner to play Hawaiian guitar easily. Problem is, it didn't work, it was extremely hard to play and most people gave up on it. It was an excellent marketing ploy though.



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Bill Sinclair


From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
Post  Posted 19 Aug 2022 10:06 am    
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If you ever need to emulate a singing mosquito. Razz
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Lloyd Graves

 

From:
New York, USA
Post  Posted 19 Aug 2022 10:25 am    
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There was one of these for sale cheap on Goodwill Auctions a few months ago. While looking it up I found this guy: https://youtu.be/AokfQQ9E9hY

Pretty successful, IMO. He retuned it to a minor chord and layers a lot of other stuff in with it.

I was almost inspired to buy the tremoloa but then came to my senses. (I don't need any other projects! )
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David DeLoach


From:
Tennessee, USA
Post  Posted 19 Aug 2022 6:29 pm    
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I have never heard of or seen that instrument before. Pretty wild. I'll be interested to hear what you do with it Bill.

It brought to mind this video from 1949 Anton Karas playing an instrument that was part zither and part fingered fretboard. The rhythm/bass is plucked with fingers, while the fretted strings are plucked with a thumb pick. He gets it to sound like Django Reinhardt & a rhythm guitarist, but this instrument he is playing looks like an invitation to carpal tunnel syndrome.

https://youtu.be/gFz79SBnuk8

Maybe this video will give you some ideas for picking hand technique on the Tremoloa! Very Happy
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David M Brown


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 20 Aug 2022 6:43 am    
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David DeLoach wrote:

It brought to mind this video from 1949 Anton Karas playing an instrument that was part zither and part fingered fretboard. The rhythm/bass is plucked with fingers, while the fretted strings are plucked with a thumb pick.


That's the German zither....like the "Third Man Theme".
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Lee Baucum


From:
McAllen, Texas (Extreme South) The Final Frontier
Post  Posted 21 Aug 2022 6:29 am    
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I've run across quite a few of these in antique shops and junk stores.

Here is an interesting video.

https://www.devinejohnny.com/projectdetails/automated-tremoloa

~Lee
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Bill Hatcher

 

From:
Atlanta Ga. USA
Post  Posted 21 Aug 2022 10:02 am    
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Lee Baucum wrote:
I've run across quite a few of these in antique shops and junk stores.

Here is an interesting video.

https://www.devinejohnny.com/projectdetails/automated-tremoloa

~Lee


fabulous video
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