Mark Runge
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Mark Runge

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Location: Miami Beach, FL
Country: US

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Billy T dulcinina Mill Branch Dulcimores Dan Anne Bowman Lexie R Oakley Colleen Hailey Bert Bennett Karel Votanek Stewart McCormick Kevin Messenger Aaron O'Rourke Karen Keane Jan Potts Rob N Lackey John Keane Bill S Erin Mae Dusty Turtle Ken Longfield Robin Thompson Strumelia

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The Dragon

Mark Runge » Videos » The Dragon

musician/member name: Music
Duration: 00:03:51
description:
This is an Appalachian Dulcimer I made. The red wood is bloodwood from S. America, the black is ebony, and the top is sitka spruce. I hand made the instrument, and it turned out better than I expected!
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Patty from Virginia
05/04/16 06:57:13PM @patty-from-virginia:

It sure is a beauty!!!
Mark Runge
05/04/16 10:34:50AM @mark-runge:

Thank y'all for the kind words.

The wood was finished down to as much as I was going to do, and then the image was drawn on with a permanent art pen. The pens are felt tip rapidograph pens, so they're made to do this kind of work without bleeding. Then I did the normal two coats of shellac and wiped on seven coats of varnish. 

Thank you, Dan. I love building a lot more than I like practicing my playing! I want to just magically be a great player.

256 Dusty: I had an order with a pickup and the fine tuners, but there just wasn't enough real estate. I use the Wittner fine tuning pegs on all of my instruments--I've only used friction pegs once, and I did do fine tuners for that instrument, pictured on left.

The Wittners, though, are 8.5:1, so they are really good.

 

The app is iStroboSoft, and I love it. Dwain turned me onto it. It has way more capability than I use. One thing I really like is that it has a visual component, and I'm a visual guy.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/istrobosoft/id308296029?mt=8
Dusty Turtle
05/04/16 03:34:07AM @dusty:

That looks beautiful, Mark. The red wood might have been hard to work with, but it looks fantastic.

Question: It looks like you have the strings going under some kind of bar after they pass over the bridge and before they get to the end pins.  Would it be possible to install fine tuners there?  You know, the kind that you see on violins?  Or could fine tuners replace the end pins?

Another question: what tuner app is that?  It looks way better than the one I use.

Keep doin' what you're doin'. When I grow up I hope to commission an instrument from you.
Dan Goad
05/03/16 10:50:37PM @dan-goad:

That's really beautiful, Mark.  I loved your version of "Pretty Betty Martin" and OJC was not as bad as you make it out to be.  LOL
Robin Thompson
05/03/16 10:41:39PM @robin-thompson:

Mark, like Lexie, I'm curious about how did you do the tattoo work?  (If it's ink, how did you keep it from bleeding into where you didn't want it to go?) 

Sounds as great as it looks! 
Lexie R Oakley
05/03/16 09:37:19PM @lexie-r-oakley:

It is Gorgeous Mark! Does sound beautiful, I am sure the new owner will love it.

How do you do the tattoos? Are they wood burned?