Forum Activity for @susie

Congratulations, very nice looking dulcimer. Hope it brings you years of music joy!

Thank you Richard.

Nice to see I'm not the only one adding to their collection. Thanks for sharing.

Dulcimer Acquisition Disease.

I ordered #7 today. I've been contemplating this one for quite a while. My husband said "life can through you a curve ball at any time....just do it". So I got my order in. A 4 month wait begins.

(Hickory sweetness, with some secial features.)

Ken, great job! I bet she's tickled. 

Awesome, be sure to post pics when it's done. You deserve it!

So happy you had a great experience  and it turned out beautiful  for you. I had one of his years ago, a Birdseye Maple. It was very pretty, but the intonation  was off up the fretboard. My Luther did his best to correct it, but it still wasn't right. I parted ways with it. I probably just got a bad one, because so many people are happy with Ron's dulcimers.  I have another builder lined up, but thanks.

Enjoy your gem!

Beautiful  and a great honor to your mom. Priceless!

I'm thinking about doing something special with another builder, to honor my dad and the farm property where we live and produce Maple Syrup, which was settled in 1889 (I'm 4th generation  and only descendent  living here). My dad died last year at 86 too. 

Yes, that was a really nice article.

Love my McSpaddens!

The VSL on a Black Mountain is a little longer than you stated, but they cost less than the Gingers. They are pretty decent dulcimers. Just trying to give you ideas.

https://blackmtninstruments.com/buy-dulcimers/

The Ginger DOES come with a real nice soft case.

That's why I asked Wally what tuning his friend wanted. I agree, your baritone dulcimette is gorgeous and has a great voice.  It sounds like she's just starting out, so my guess is she'd want a dulcimer in D tuning, to learn and play with groups. Many of these little dulcimers are for those of us who already have standard dulcimers and are looking for alternate tunings and fun little dulcimers to complement what we already have. Maybe Wally will get back with us and let us know. Hey, even I am still toying with the idea of a Ewing baritone ducimettte.

Does your friend want standard D tuning? 

Many of the little dulcimers are set up for alternate tunings (usually G or A). So that's something to keep in mind. 

I have two McSpadden Gingers, which I love. You can have them set up for standard D tuning. They check most of the boxes you have listed. They are quality made, sound great, and are a joy to play. 

Also, in the groups, check out the "Little Dulcimers" group, where you'll see a "Little Dulcimers Little List". Very helpful when looking for a smaller dulcimer.

That's great to hear. You will not be disappointed.  Those with the tuner look like a great idea (I got mine before he came out with those). Glad we could be of some help to you. 

Terry McCafferty makes some really nice capos for a little more money than the economical Ewing capos (which are generally a good value). I have purchased 4 of Terry's capos. Nice mechanism, consistent pressure across the strings.....my favorite dulcimer capo. 

https://www.mccaffertydulcimers.com/capos

That is beautiful. Bocote always seems to have an eerie look to it.

I really enjoyed that, thanks so much for sharing. I had one of Mike's Tennessee  Sweeties a while back. He's so talented and has quite a history in the dulcimer community. 

We met Sam at a dulcimer festival. A real nice guy for sure. Sad news.

Wow, that is really cool. Thanks for sharing....have fun!

Sad news. Taken too soon. I hope his family can find some peace in his passing.

At least they had an appropriate (musician) sense of humor. (Although,  a drummer may disagree.)

Super cool! Glad you're back with us.

A nice honor. Congrats Don.

If you really want to have choices for fret markers, I'd suggest this place:

https://www.inlaystickers.com/

I've used them on occasion for various instruments (for different purposes) over the years. Easy to apply, look really nice, and you can remove them without residue.

When I recently purchased an instrument without a fret marker on a particular fret that I was used to, I added a sticker to the fretboard. Here's that instrument. All but one of the markers are actual inlays, one is a sticker. Can you tell which is which?

Maybe contact them directly with your questions. I've found most places to be very responsive and informative.

https://www.curtmangan.com/contact/

I have dulcimers with VSL's that range from 23" to 27". My fingers/hands (and mind) tend(s) to adjust very quickly.

That's great, hope you enjoy it!

Maple is so beautiful, nice instrument. She should love it!

Wow, that touched my heart. ❤️

Rob and John, thanks for sharing. It's interesting to see the other instruments that people play too.

Love it!

I've enjoyed this thread. Thank you to everyone who shared. Whether you have 1 dulcimer or 10, we share a common love for this beautiful little wooden box with strings. 

Have fun!

Congrats on your new Flatwater, ADK. From what I see, they look and sound great, and have a great price to boot. I think McSpadden has really filled a niche with these new dulcimers.

Thanks Robin, I sure will! No, I didn't think you were one of the enablers.

Thanks Dusty. It sure does have a nice voice and these Gingers are fun to play. It's amazing the tone they can get out of a small bodied dulcimer. 

I think I've purchased my last dulcimer.

I wanted to get a second McSpadden Ginger, this one intonated DAd (I already have one intonated GDg). 

I contacted Tim at McSpadden and asked if he had any walnut woodsets with sapwood. He had a couple and let me choose between the two (for the back). I pretty much knew I wanted a spruce top. So, after deciding on all the other features, I ended up with this little gem. I knew what the back would look like, but Tim also selected wood for the peghead that had sapwood, to go with the theme. I didn't know he did that until I picked it up from my music store.

I thought I'd share it here because, after-all, you're a bunch of enablers.

It sounds wonderful and is a joy to play. McSpadden comes through, once again.

Here's my McSpadden family: 

Skip, you bring up a good point, about other instruments. I've been suffering from GAS (guitar acquisition syndrome) much longer than DAD (dulcimer acquisition disease). My first love, fingerstyle guitar (since 1973), has been my true passion for nearly 48 years. I've settled into a stable of 6 guitars and 1 guilele. Many other instruments (primarily stringed instruments)  have come and gone over the years, but I'm simplifying to just guitar, dulcimer, and Native American flute (I have 5). In fact, my last banjo is moving on to a new home this week. I was in band all through school, where I played flute, then alto saxophone. Music has been such a joy in my life.

Some really neat collections here. I can get a feel for the type of music that is played, just by looking at the collection. Such a variety, between members. Thanks to all who have shared so far, it's been fun to follow.