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Help: tuning spine for my new kazoo?

28 Jul 01 - 05:12 PM (#516774)
Subject: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Does anyone know where I can find a tuning spine for my new kazoo? It seems to be out of whack and I can't get the right sound out of it... Any suggestions?

b


28 Jul 01 - 05:17 PM (#516775)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Irish sergeant

Bobbi: I didn't know you could tune those bloody things. Can anyone out there help this poor musician? Neil


28 Jul 01 - 05:25 PM (#516780)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Well gee, Irish S.. something's wrong with it.. everyone has said it is way out of tune.. Then this 'gud ol' boy' from Mississippi, suggested a tuning spine. I'm having a dickens of a time locating one... Glad I'm not the only one in the dark about it!

b


28 Jul 01 - 05:42 PM (#516784)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Joe Offer

It's on aisle 13, right below the smoke shifters and the snipes...


28 Jul 01 - 05:49 PM (#516788)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Went snipe huntin' once...(all night) didn't catch a thing... Anyway... is that aisle 13 at Wal-Mart? I don't think we have a Wal-Mart here.


28 Jul 01 - 05:54 PM (#516792)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Little Hawk

Tune a kazoo? Gosh, maybe there's a job out there for me after all...

I suggest listening to the San Francisco Kazoo Orchestra. I heard them on the radio once, doing the them to the movie 2001:A Space Oddyssey. It was...well...unforgettable.

- LH


28 Jul 01 - 06:31 PM (#516812)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: kendall

With a little work, you could make a saxophone out of it. The sounds are similar.


28 Jul 01 - 07:45 PM (#516840)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Kendall.... HOW? Always wanted to play the sax! This could be my big break!!!!!

Little Hawk... SF kazoo orchestra?? You mean I have something bigger to shoot for? Now I know I have to get this sucker tuned!!! HELP!!!!!

b


28 Jul 01 - 07:51 PM (#516844)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Amos

I called Spaw en he sez he asked Cletus and HE sez ya gotta Bondo up them holes an' ree-drill 'em with a 3/8" masonry bit and a few drops o' cuttin' oil. The choonin spine is jes' a plastic template with marks fer the right holes. Useta be you coulda got 'em at Woolworths in thuh instruments section but they closed up whar we are so I dunno, but yew kin still get Bondo at Mo an' Mack the Pep Brothers place on account they use it fer bodyrot an' such. SHore hope this heyulps an' good luck!!!

A


28 Jul 01 - 08:11 PM (#516853)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

You know Amos, Im'a wondrin' at this point if'n it woodn't be better ta just spend anutter $1.65 fer a new un' rather then go ta all that truble... I ain't got no Bondo, but got me sum duck tape.. and as fer the 3/8 inch masonary bit.. HUH????? My kazoo is made frum tin... not masonite! You meen they got dem things out in stucco now??? Hellfire! Kind'a like dem cordless screwdrivers, huh...... I ain't never seen no screwdriver with a cord anyway. Think I need ta find that asile 13.... (Come on Joe)

b


29 Jul 01 - 05:04 AM (#517010)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: John MacKenzie

When you're in Wal Mart Bobbi can you get me a tin of tartan [Plaid to some] paint?

As for the kazoo why not get a bunch more, tie them together, and call it a hurdy-gurdy. [See other thread]

Jock


29 Jul 01 - 05:24 AM (#517016)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Roger in Sheffield

kazoo


29 Jul 01 - 10:26 AM (#517119)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Giok...

Everyone knows that you can only get the plaid paint at Wal-Mart stores in Scotland.. (Too far for me to go.. sorry mate!) I will check out the info on the hurdy-gurdy though.. Thanks!!

Roger... WOW.. Thanks for the information.. but alack and alas.. still no mention of where I might find the tuning spine for my kazoo... I knew I probably should have invested a little extra for the pre-tuned model the saleman wanted me to buy, but we blondes can be rather independent thinkers, you know?

My search continues.......

b


29 Jul 01 - 10:34 AM (#517122)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Liz the Squeak

We mend ours with carrier bags... those cheap ones that the handle breaks off before you even get to the car.... they're best.

LTS


29 Jul 01 - 11:40 AM (#517150)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST,King of Kazoo

Bobbi,

I was alerted to this issue by Roger.

All kazoos come "pre-tuned" from the factory, however, some users like to making tuning adjustments as they perform - this is accomplished by changing the pitch of your humming. If this pitch does not match the pitch of your accompanying instrument (i.e. guitar, piano, accordian, sitar, etc.) then it is quite possible that the accompanying instrument is out of tune (buy a new one). Don't forget the possibility that your listeners are listening out of tune and may need to be tuned up (apply beer).

If you experience further problems with your kazoo, feel free to contact out Technical Support Division at Kazoobie Kazoos - http://www.kazoos.com

Have Fun, Rick


29 Jul 01 - 11:57 AM (#517159)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: sledge

I think you can find them next to the long stands in most hardware stores.

;-)

Sledge


29 Jul 01 - 12:20 PM (#517169)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: John MacKenzie

We don't have Wal Mart in Scotland yet, they are one of the main reasons for my heading for the US in September.{That and my son who works at Dartford College doing research.} I leave home with nearly empty suitcases, and come back with excess baggage.

Jock


29 Jul 01 - 01:01 PM (#517188)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Giok: I guess it would do neither of us any good to try and find one there then.. And I just phoned our local Wal-Mart here in Sacramento, and they wanted to know what a kazoo was. So no help there either.

Sledge: I just spoke to Ralph at our local Ace Hardware store... when I asked him where he kept his "Long Stands," he just stared at me.. Boy, is he ever dumb!

Roger: LMAO

b


29 Jul 01 - 01:56 PM (#517217)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Roger in Sheffield

Its taken all day but I found one
I will put it up on the auction later
Does 50 dollars sound Ok for a starting price?
They are rare beasts indeed and look very like regular ear plugs to me


29 Jul 01 - 04:28 PM (#517294)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Bravo! At last! I knew I came to the right place for my search... And yes... that's exactly what I was told they looked like. Bless you Roger!!! (What A Guy!!) Will keep an eye on the auction for this rare find.. (I would start the bidding for at least $50.00)

And I was beginning to think someone had lead me down a cul de sac...

Regards,

b


29 Jul 01 - 07:27 PM (#517373)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Snuffy

Mudcatter Geoff the Duck does a brilliant solo "Duelling Banjos" on banjo and kazoo. But it's usually the banjo that's out of tune. It can take up to half an hour to tune it to the kazoo. It might be quicker if he got a tuning spine for the kazoo instead - are there any more around , Roger?


30 Jul 01 - 12:44 AM (#517490)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Snuffy... we can both bid on it in the auction.. and if I win, I promise to share it with Geoff... But better yet.. you and I should team up and mass produce them... I mean, there does seem to be a market for them... (the old supply and demand!) We could REVOLUTIONIZE the kazoo industry (if you're British, no pun intended!:)

B


30 Jul 01 - 04:11 AM (#517536)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: alison

if you're going to the hardware store..check out the plumbing aisles and see if you can get me a fallopian tube, please...

slainte

alison


30 Jul 01 - 04:36 AM (#517539)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST,Scabby Doug ( at work)

My first job was working in a branch of The Royal Bank of Scotland. Along with countless other "new starts", I was sent along the road to the nearest branch of the Clydesdale Bank for "a set of scales to balance the books".

They used to keep tuning spines for kazoos there as I remember, for the local Bank Union's kazoo, banjo and jaw-harp band..

Now there was an ensemble...

SD


30 Jul 01 - 05:36 AM (#517546)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler

Well mine is always in tune with my singing (that's the bad news!). However, the Amish Moustache tuner can be adapted to tune kazoos by attaching it with one of those adhesive piezo thingies (you can tell I'm a technical expert!)
Don't forget to wear the baseball catchers' helmet that the music store should have supplied with each kazoo, essential to ward off those flying bud' bottles.
RtS (never knowingly in the right key)


30 Jul 01 - 09:52 AM (#517635)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler

..and another website for you: Kazoo Lovers page
RtS


30 Jul 01 - 10:15 AM (#517649)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: A Wandering Minstrel

This is where you end up when you break away from traditional designs into mass production!

In the good old days you would only have needed a new piece of hard toilet paper to wrap round the comb. (or as LtS suggests a new bit of cellopahane carrier bag)

:0)


30 Jul 01 - 10:22 AM (#517654)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler

...and this one, more useful (?) tips:
RtS (page title should be motto!)


30 Jul 01 - 03:04 PM (#517852)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Thanks folks... all great suggestions. However, I do have one question for 'A Wandering Minstrel': How do you make toilet paper hard?

Alison: Ace Hardware no longer carries fallopian tubes...but I have a couple you can have. No use for them any more. Hopefully you have your own reed.

b


31 Jul 01 - 03:47 AM (#518212)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: alison

lol


31 Jul 01 - 08:37 AM (#518284)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: A Wandering Minstrel

Bobbi,

There's probably an obscene answer to that question :)

However as all British Public Schoolboys kno there is a (or was) a brand of toilet paper called Izal. Unlike the modern thick tissue for tender botties this stuff was thin and semi-rigid and made perfect kazoo paper.

(Baking Parchment is a reasonable substitute)

as regards the comb, I find a 4" tortoishell finetooth is best


31 Jul 01 - 05:57 PM (#518646)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

A Wandering Minstrel: I think the hardest thing we Yankees ever used in the john was a dried corn cob or a Montgomery Wards catalog page (well wrinkled of course).. I don't think the cob would do and since MW went under this past year, I may just have to hold out for the Tuning Spine that Roger has promised to auction.


31 Jul 01 - 06:31 PM (#518667)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Gareth

Try a marine Chandler, you'll find aside the red and green oil bottles for your sailing lanterns.

Gareth


01 Aug 01 - 03:59 AM (#518866)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler

Personally, if I am caught without my kazoo and unexpectedly asked to perform, (well, it might happen!) I prefer a steel comb and Bronco brand tp. [Warning! Do NOT use soft tp, however cuddly the puppies look. It takes a lot of flossing to get soft tissue out of the teeth]
RtS ( "Running wild -buzz buzz buzz- running wild -buzz buzz buzz...")


01 Aug 01 - 12:48 PM (#519130)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: JohnInKansas

Roger in Sheffield:
Great clicky - I've bookmarked it for my S.O. to see.
But noone (including the kazoo site) has mentioned the true "primitive" kazoo.
When I'uz a little pup, we used to just wrap a piece of mama's waxed paper across a pocket comb and make music 'till they throwed us outa the house.

The best comb to use is the old standby "Ace" hard rubber.
For some reason them modern plastic 'uns aint got the same tone.
You can get the old "Ace" at some of the Walgreens stores, and the come in a version with all the fine teet (for tenors) or with half fine and half coarse teeth - use the coarse end for the baritone and base notes.
I don't recollect hearing about a "tuning spine," but the ol' comb has a purty sturdy backbone, and you can use it to purty up yerself when the girls all come fallin' all over ya after they've heard yer purty music.

John


01 Aug 01 - 03:52 PM (#519278)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST

It has been hard enough trying to find a tuner for my kazoo... I can imagine what my life would be like if I happened to get a comb that was out of key. And doesn't that paper tickle the dickens out of your lips when you blow on it? I don't need any distractions when I'm in concert. If you know what I mean.


01 Aug 01 - 03:52 PM (#519280)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: GUEST,bobbi

It has been hard enough trying to find a tuner for my kazoo... I can imagine what my life would be like if I happened to get a comb that was out of key. And doesn't that paper tickle the dickens out of your lips when you blow on it? I don't need any distractions when I'm in concert. If you know what I mean.


01 Aug 01 - 04:57 PM (#519334)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Ebbie

Thanks for the smiles, y'all!


02 Aug 01 - 01:35 AM (#519500)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: Kaleea

One can find kazoos in Wallyworld on aisle 27 among the other packages of party favors for parties. They come in assorted colors, and in packages of 8 of the the high quality polyresin musical instruments for which there is no equal elsewhere in the musical kingdom. For less than the price of a combo meal and gallon or two of gasoline one may procure a lifetime of musical satisfacion until they wear out or are melted during an extraordinarily hot summer. By that time Ron Popiel will have his new improved kazoo-o-matic available for the mere price of ninety-nine nintey-nine ninety-nine ninety-nine ninety-nine . . .nighty night!


02 Aug 01 - 02:04 AM (#519507)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Kaleea: The problem is not finding a kazoo.. it is trying to find a tuning spine to tune the bugger with... See, I'm more than a little attached to mine and would rather tune it myself than purchase a new one!

A gallon or two of gasoline??? (Eeee Gaaaddds) That would be a major investment considering I live in California! But appreciate your input more than you'll ever know! ;-)


02 Aug 01 - 01:50 PM (#519806)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: John MacKenzie

Bobbi ;- You want to try buying gasoline in the UK, where it comes in at a mind bending $4.50 for a UK size gallon. Just think how many kazoos, [ kazii? ] you could buy for that. You might even get two in the same key, you could start an orchestra.

Jock


02 Aug 01 - 07:12 PM (#520046)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

HOLY PRESTO BALLS, Jock!!!! $4.50 a gallon??? I will never complain again, I will never complain again, I will never complain again....

Hummmmmmm..."Bobbi And Her All Male Kazii Orchestra!" Kinda catchy, ain't it???


03 Aug 01 - 02:49 PM (#520575)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: John MacKenzie

Why all male Bobbi??? Jock


03 Aug 01 - 06:06 PM (#520706)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Females wouldn't be that dumb!!!! ;-))


04 Aug 01 - 09:23 AM (#520929)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: John MacKenzie

It would seem to be unkind to point out that you are the one with the out of tune kazoo, whereas I, a poor dumb male don't even posess such a thing!! However it would be rude to point that out, so I won't do so. ;-{)>


04 Aug 01 - 05:05 PM (#521061)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

You are a good man, Jock! Wanna join an orchestra?

b


05 Aug 01 - 04:50 AM (#521274)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: John MacKenzie

Not the first time somone has offered orchestration, [or something like that] Seriously though I plead the Groucho Marx excuse of not wanting to join any club that might want me as a member!! ;-{)> Jock


06 Aug 01 - 02:36 AM (#521706)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Okay.. but don't say you weren't asked! Bet you could play a mean kazoo, baby!

b


06 Aug 01 - 04:23 PM (#522082)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: John MacKenzie

I'm Scottish we're all mean!! Jock


06 Aug 01 - 06:26 PM (#522190)
Subject: RE: Help: Does Anyone Know Where Ican Find....
From: bobbi

Oh GAWD!!! I love it rough! Let's talk!! ;-)) LOL