Forum Activity for @kevin-keating

Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
09/12/19 05:19:36PM
13 posts

Homemade Capo


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

Modified a Spider Capo to use on a hogfiddle. A couple of washers were needed to help it close a little tighter.
502D4E74-C10A-4E21-8655-1F533821E519.jpeg 502D4E74-C10A-4E21-8655-1F533821E519.jpeg - 270KB
Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
09/12/19 10:25:05AM
13 posts

What’s your favourite playing style and why?


General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I tend to pick with my index finger, both strumming chords and fingerpicking. Occasionally I’ll use a pick but I don’t feel like I have as much control.
Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/19/17 09:50:47PM
13 posts

Leonard Glenn Dulcimer, 1972


General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

My Glenn is a 1968 that didn't cost me a dime.  However, in hindsight, I would have gladly paid $300 for it.  Worth every penny and more.


updated by @kevin-keating: 04/19/17 09:52:03PM
Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/13/17 08:42:01PM
13 posts



I added strap buttons to the possum board.  Not for a strap but to use rubber bands to hold the instrument onto the board as it was rocking and sliding a little bit.

Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/09/17 08:26:15PM
13 posts

How and if to add a 1 1/2 fret


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

Mountain dulcimer for me is my newest instrument.  Until then I played chromatic fretted instruments, guitar, banjo, mandolin, etc.  So my first thought when I got a dulcimer was that I would not find much versatility with it and would eventually want extra frets added.  But I've since come to the belief that it's diatonic for a reason.  It's a, dare I say, "simple" folk instrument created to be played by anybody.  Hence adding frets takes away from the simple folky charm of the instrument to the point where it won't be a dulcimer anymore.  Mine has no added frets and I don't miss the "missing" frets.  I work with it in the way it was intended as far as the fingerboard is concerned, capo, change tuning, etc.  Just sayin'.

Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/09/17 03:33:07PM
13 posts

What are you reading right now?


OFF TOPIC discussions

I tend to read and re-read books I like. ACD's Sherlock Holmes stories are always a "go to" for me, along with other classics like Poe and Lovecraft and Dickens's shorter stories.
Currently though I'm reading (for maybe the 4th time) Ecotopia by Ernest Callenbach.
Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/07/17 05:15:16PM
13 posts



Thank you Ken.  The cradles that hold the dulcimer aren't exactly perfect so the instrument wobbles just a little when I play making a clunking noise.  The cork kinda helped that I think.

Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/07/17 04:39:03PM
13 posts



I made a possum board using the lid of an old wooden violin case.  I cut and attached a couple pieces of wood to the ends to support the dulcimer and used pieces of cork gasket to pad them.  It works pretty well.  


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Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/16/15 09:36:01PM
13 posts

Homemade Capo


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

Yeah, it's a bit heavy, but I'm pretty careful with it. I added a leather pad to the wood that presses down the strings to keep the strings from getting marred, particularly the wound D. I tried the 1/4-20 bolt with wooden discs, but it seemed to slip a little loose.

Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/08/15 09:23:14PM
13 posts

Homemade Capo


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

This is a pic of a capo I made recently. Yes, it's made of cast metal. YIKES! None of the contact points to the instrument, however are metal. A plastic plug is on the screw end, a small strip of leather on the other end, and a piece of maple dowel pushes the strings down.I t began with a fly fisherman's fly tying vise table clamp. From that I cut and ground down the metal to reduce the weight as much as possible. I redrilled the screw to set it closer to the top. Then attached the leather, plastic plug and wood.It's a bit clunky, but it works. I'd rather it be a nice piece of wood, but my metal working skills are much better than my wood working skills, so this is what I have for now.Does anyone else have any ideas for homemade capos and such?
updated by @kevin-keating: 02/17/19 01:24:38AM
Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/07/15 09:37:50PM
13 posts



I'm still new to the dulcimer, but I've found that I like the way a D tuning feels on my fingers than a C tuning. My fingers like the stiffer tension of the strings as they are easier to pick and ring a bit brighter. I don't sing much with the dulcimer at this point so that doesn't affect me as yet.

So maybe part of the reason has to do with D being maybe a little more resonant for instrumental playing than C. Also, in today's musical world, we seem to have a need to be in a specific key with specific pitch frequency. However, A was not always 440 htz as it is today.

At this point I like 1-5-8, DAd, but as I said, I'm still new to the instrument. I'm finding however that the beauty of the dulcimer is that its seeming diatonic simplicity actually makes it a very easily versatile instrument.

Kevin Keating
@kevin-keating
04/08/15 05:46:34PM
13 posts



I started playing guitar in my teens and along the way picked up harmonica. Many years later I picked up banjo and mandolin. At about 40 I started playing violin/fiddle. Mountain dulcimer is pretty new to me, barely a year. For my own personal enjoyment I like fiddle and dulcimer the most. There is also a very lonely (and cold) piano in the garage. And a zither of some kind (looks like an autoharp w/o keys) that is unplayable at this point that I may yet get to.