Weird innovation

I'm curious to find out what bizzare innovations and creations people have come up with to make playing easier and/or more enjoyable.
I'll kick things off with two examples i use to make playing easier, one physically and the other psychologically.

1) I have an off cut of an inner tube from my bicycle which i've cut into a rectangle and i wear on my right arm secured by rubber bands, it allows me to play seated without having to roll up my sleeve. I've found the extra grip is gives me is invaluable when playing chord melodies where i need my left hand free to float about the neck....granted i look like a reject from Mad Max. Still beats having to roll my sleeve up all the time...maybe :/.

2) I went solo bicycle touring around Aus last year, and a girl i'd befriended on my travels had the LONGEST hair i've seen on a humanoid (literally passed her knees). When the time had come for me to leave her and continue my journey, she gave me a small bottle with a cork top. After closer inspection, i noticed a long brown hair inside. She assured me she'd spent some time in locating her longest follicle. I was absoloutley thrilled, and mounted it on the front of my bike to remind me to be patient if things were to get 'hairy' . Now the tour is completed, and i'm home in the U.K. i sit the bottle on my case during practice sessions to remind me to be patient, and master each step before progressing.

Looking forward to some weirdness now peoples.

For playing my uke or bass uke and make it easier to transport my instrument and amp, I use an old lady shopping cart, but the innovation is I also modified Orca instrument hanger clamps and a music stand to hold my tablet with music on the cart, plus another clamp to hold an iPhone recording device and and an unmodified clamp to to hang my instrument.

The main purpose is for gigs where we have get on and off stage quickly, I setup the cart with the clamps and all the gear, then at the time I just roll the entire rig on stage sitting in front of me. When done, just roll it off, then break it down off stage.

kohanmike said:

For playing my uke or bass uke and make it easier to transport my instrument and amp, I use an old lady shopping cart, but the innovation is I also modified Orca instrument hanger clamps and a music stand to hold my tablet with music on the cart, plus another clamp to hold an iPhone recording device and and an unmodified clamp to to hang my instrument.

The main purpose is for gigs where we have get on and off stage quickly I setup the cart with the clamps, and all the gear, then at the time, I just roll the entire rig on stage sitting in front of me, and when done, just roll it off, then break it down off stage.

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This looks so effcient! Very tidy work!

When I was a child, many decades ago, there was a uke in our house. One of those dreadful ones with the plastic fingerboard / plastic frets. BUT, I had this amazing little device that sat where the fingers would otherwise fret. It had a set of buttons that "fingered" the chords. It might have been as many as 6 chords, but I don't remember. The thing strapped with a pair of straps something like a wrist watch. I've searched EBAY but can't think of a name with which to search for one. I've thought of reproducing it, but still haven't quite noodled out how it would work. Does anybody seen one of these?

I recall seeing one of those ages ago. Pretty much a toy, but operates on the same principle as an autoharp. No idea what they're called.

Snargle said:

I recall seeing one of those ages ago. Pretty much a toy, but operates on the same principle as an autoharp. No idea what they're called.

Click to expand...

Found it. It's called a Chordmaster.http://www.chordmaster.org

This is nowhere as weird as a hair in a bottle or a tire tube arm sleeve....
But tonight I forgot the stand for the mic, for our jam session.
I asked the store customer service people if they had one. They didn't, but came up with a lightweight (carbon) tripod.
A couple of rubberbands later, and we had the mic lashed to the top of the tripod. It worked! It wasn't insulated, so every time I hit the legs, it made a sound like a drum beat. I hope I don't forget a mic stand again!
True Southern Engineering.