Forum Activity for @bucko-futreal

How did you first discover the mountain dulcimer?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

My family took vacations in the North Carolina mountains when I was young, and we'd sometimes see them in shops in places like Black Mountain and Maggie Valley, as well as at places like the Folk Art Center outside of Asheville.   I don't recall ever seeing anyone playing the instruments; they'd just be there -- mysterious and inviting.  In the summer of 1989, my folks moved to Asheville and I stayed the summer with them before leaving for college.  I spent a lot of time that summer investigating dulcimers and I purchased a Folkcraft teardrop from a store near Pigeon Forge, TN.  At my school, NC State, I got involved with the annual "Madrigal Dinner" production, playing that dulcimer as a roving musician.

Thoughts on Harmonicas

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I'm very fond of the made-in-the-USA Bushman Harmonicas

I do three on all mine as well, as I end up using the melody string as drone as often as for melody. I've even gone so far as to remove the additional tuning machine on the dulcimers that are set up for four -- the hole makes a great place to tie in a strap for the instrument!

I did four strings for many years, and can see why someone would want to go that way too. As everyone is saying, it simply comes down to playing style and preference.

The New Folkcraft Travel Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I did a trial run on one of these; the tone was quite good, but I felt the fretboard was too thin and transmitted too much sound from fingering into the soundboard. Still, it's a fun design, and would certainly be enjoyable as a travel instrument.

I've Just Bought a BANJO !!!!

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

I love my banjo, which I came to after many years of dulcimer and guitar. Congrats on taking the plunge. It'll be good for your musical brain and possibly make you consider the dulcimer in a new light as well!

What kinds of tunes do you most like to play on your mtn dulcimer?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I like to play primarily original and improvisational stuff.

cats & songs

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I've never tried it, but I bet "And the Mouse Police Never Sleeps" by Jethro Tull could be arranged for dulcimer...

Finding ball-end strings

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Any of the ball-ends, regardless of their marketing, should do fine -- at least that's what my experience suggests. I purchase individual guitar strings for all my dulcimers -- any decent music store that sells guitars will have lots of 'em on hand. You can also order 'em: http://www.juststrings.com/singlestrings.html For instance, for my dulcimer in GDD tuning, I do .22 for the bass string and .12 for the other strings. On DAD dulcimers, I do .24, .18, and .12. Those are both Folkcrafts, by the way, so probably the same neck length as yours.