Yeah, looks like it made the water spots almost disappear- nice results! Thanks for posting that before/after photo. And thanks Dusty for that wood treatment recommendation.
Cool beans, Dave!
Depending on when Keith started doing this as a standard thing, there 'might' be on your dulcimer a tiny hitch pin on the melody string SIDE of the fretboard, about halfway down. Mine has one, but my dulcimer is later, from around 1997 or 98 I think. It was meant for if you want to temporarily switch from a double melody string to a single melody string. You would just loosen the string nearest the edge and pull it down on the side of the fretboard, out of the way, in order to play with just a single melody string for however long you wanted.
I thought it might also be handy if you always play with one melody string- in that if you broke your melody string in the middle of a jam or workshop, you could theoretically have a 'spare' ready to just tighten up and keep playing! 
Me, I personally like the sound of double melody strings, so I never used that pin that Keith had installed on my dulcimer.
Keith's bridges have a SLOT into which they fit nicely. This is confirmed in the photos. In one respect, if they are not glued, they can be called 'floating' since they can be removed once all strings are off.
However, talk about moving or determining the location of a 'floating' bridge is just not applicable here. Keith located the deep bridge slot exactly where it needs to be to be in tune with the fret placements, and the bridge drops into that slot. No need to figure out where to put the bridge.
Keith typically provided bridge and nut string slots that could be used to accommodate various ways of stringing, such as: Four equidistant strings. Three strings with a bass, a middle, and a single melody string. And 4 strings using bass, middle and a pair of melody strings. You can see this string slot choices setup provided by Keith in your photos.
BTW If you choose to play with a noter and a single melody string, I recommend using the melody string slot closest to the edge of the fingerboard, which would give just a bit of extra space between the melody string and the middle string- this helps in avoding bumping into the middle string with one's noter.
Your Young teardrop is very much like mine (you can see mine in the logo at the top of this site). You've got yourself a real beauty, a treasure! It will become more valuable with time if you don't make structural changes to it. Enjoy that wonderful dulcimer!
Hi Pondoro. I envy your years of bodhran lessons! There are several instruments I yearn to play well... but alas I'd need three lifetimes to do so. 
How sweet that your wife is encouraging your music adventures! I hope you enjoy it here on FOTMD.
I think the demise of everythingdulcimer site may have had something to do with people feeling inspired to create new sites to house Tab collections, event calendars, club lists, teachers, etc... perhaps to help fill in the gaps that ED left behind. It's admirable that people are doing this. But it's no easy task, for sure!
Unfortunately, there's little money to be made from dulcimer sites in general. And running sites of any kind efficiently requires regular input of time, effort, and maintenance.
I've always liked to make FOTMD to be more of a social friends network, with discussions, groups, videos, audios, photos, and messaging. Not so much an archive for databases of information, or tab. In fact (unlike on ED, which did not offer video/audio/photo sections), I periodically delete members who are long inactive, along with all their site content. I want to keep things 'in the now', and I try to avoid accumulating a monumental amount of old information and multimedia files. This trimming keeps the site reasonably manageable in scope for me.
That's interesting that McSpadden is actually reaching and soliciting such information, Dusty. "Big Data"... is that anything like Big Scioti ? lolol
I just learned that Steve Eulberg maintains a list of dulcimer concerts, workshops, and festivals at Dulcimer Crossing. The link is https://dulcimercrossing.com/dc_events.html .
I like that you can SORT that list by the column heads, like by State... or by start date. Seems like it has a lot of entries.
It's difficult when events don't have a way of very quickly seeing their location. (like if it's in the small print, OR if the poster only puts the local city or town...like we know where that is, lol)
Dulcinina I love that story! That dulcimer must be very happy to have a loving and appreciative new owner. 
That's cool Stephen! 
There's also a funny paradox at play with this...
Generally, you use a lighter gauge string to help you tune to a higher note without breaking, and a heavier gauge string to help you tune to a lower note without being floppy. That's why 'bass note strings' are heavier than melody strings.
However, there comes a point at which this can be taken too far. For example, a super thin .008 string tuned to a high note may actually break because it's so thin, and perhaps a .009 in its place might not break for that same note. Likewise, if you go to TOO heavy gauge in an effort to attain a real low note, the string will not fit properly in the nut and bridge slots, creating buzzes and becoming difficult to fret.
There's a practical range to work within when trying to balance the three factors that govern this: 1) scale length/VSL 2) note you are wanting to tune to, and 3) string gauge/thickness. No matter how thin your string, you'll never be able to tune two octaves higher than typical DAdd on a normal sized dulcimer. And no matter how thick your string, you'll never be able to tune a normal sized dulcimer to the same low note you could on an orchestra's standup double bass viol for example. Stringed instruments are certain sizes for a reason- they are designed to be tuned somewhere within a certain reasonable range of notes for their size.
On a 28 or 28.5" scale, I would think .009 and .010 strings would tend to more often break if you try tuning any higher than a high e (for melody strings). That's just my own experience.
Here is fotmd's own Peter W. playing onion flute with mountain dulcimer:
Hi @jp
You are not alone in losing motivation or just feeling overwhelmed by it all.
Maybe it's helpful to mention here for the benefit of anyone ... that we do have a group here on FOTMD that's focused around members needing a bit of friendly comfort, prayers, or just a hug. It's a private Group (meaning the posts there do not show up on the main page and are not visible to non group members), but it's open to all FOTMD members to join:
Prayers Hugs and Kindness Group
I could also mention here that I've made it a little easier here on the site to send a Private Message to any other member- just go to that person's profile page and click the "Send Message" envelope button under their member name on the left column. It looks like this: 
Meanwhile, a hug to you JP. 
Sorry guys, but the software of this platform is not going allow for separating out 'coming' Events from 'past' Events into two different places. It's either show ALL events (which along with all the events' posts and images etc- would take up unnecessary server space going back 9 years now)... or I can have past events become hidden after they are over with (which is how it's set now). Neither can I move events to a 'group' once they are past- events are entirely different animals from discussions, posts, or groups- they can't be interchanged.
I encourage people who are putting on such festivals to simply list them in our Events section. If they can't be bothered to or are only interested in FB posting, then they miss out on possibly getting a few extra attendees at no cost to them.
I won't keep collecting or organizing everyone's long past events year after year- I've got plenty of work to do in my life already. I don't intend FOTMD to be a reference archive of such things. I suggest that anyone hankering for such a reference who has the time and inclination should just 'have at it' on their own sites! 
Where is there a full list of dulcimer festivals? I see some on this site but I would very much like to see festivals for all of 2018 and perhaps past years. I've been searching. Any ideas? Thanks!
Stephen, you would actually be the perfect person to create this comprehensive list that you are wanting! You could put it on one of your websites (which would surely bring lots of good traffic). Of anyone alive today, you probably have traveled to, attended, and taught at more dulcimer festivals than anyone else on the planet. You are a fount of knowledge about such events. It's a project that really calls your name. 
Diane- thanks for understanding! I see how you could have interpreted that as a call to arms. ;) Dusty is on staff at the Berkeley festival and he manages their event listing every year here on FOTMD.
I definitely encourage anyone who is part of staff or admin of a festival to add their listing here in the Events/Festivals section - for one thing, it's FREE advertising! 
Diane, the problem with your plan of posting lots of other people's events into FOTMD's Event section is that the people who have something to do with running the event really should be the ones posting it here. That's because THEY should be the ones to add information, answer member questions, and make editing changes to the event listing. They can't do that if some other random person posted the event.
This has happened a couple of times before- where a well meaning person has posted an event in the Events section... and later one of the people actually in charge of the event has come to me not happy because they want to post it themselves and put in the information and be able to control and edit the listing. I then have to figure out who is the 'official' person actually in charge of that event and I then must delete the one that is not the 'official one'.
It really is best if people in charge of promoting an event are the ones to post it here, so that they can keep the Event listing updated with changes, pictures, and be able to answer questions accurately. They need to be able to edit their own event- and they cannot do that if they did not create the listing. So I'd prefer it if only people who are in some administrative role of the event create the listing for it here. I hope you can understand the reason for that.
From your first post, it seems the dulcimer sounded and played fine when you used to play it a while back, and then you changed the strings and it sounds and plays badly now? If that's true and the gauge of strings you say you put on is true, then you just have the wrong strings on, and 'might' also be tuning one or more of the strings to the wrong octave.
You need to get the right sized strings for the tuning you want to use. That way, it won't feel and sound 'sloppy' as you put it.
Diane, if it were possible for you to add a few photos to this thread, it would definitely help those who are trying to figure out what's wrong with your dulcimer's setup. A mountain dulcimer shouldn't sound 'awful' and shouldn't need lots of strength to fret the strings either. I'm thinking there's probably something else going on here that's causing problems for you.
I still have the 1997 receipt Keith wrote for my teardrop, with all the specs... but unfortunately it does not mention finish.
However, I do recall talking on the phone with him about the finish he was going to use... and the only thing I remember was that it was a simple finish of some kind that required a very fine sanding or rubbing between maybe two coats of it. Could have been lacquer, maybe wax, or maybe just linseed oil. Not sure it that helps much, but i recall it being a very simple finish of perhaps a single ingredient, and I think two coats with buffing in between.
Hey Jools, jump right in, the water's fine. 
Where is there a full list of dulcimer festivals? I see some on this site but I would very much like to see festivals for all of 2018 and perhaps past years. I've been searching. Any ideas? Thanks!
Hi Stephen! 
The Festivals you see listed in our Events/Festivals section are all the ones that have been input by site members, minus ones that are past and over with. I understand your frustration with not being able to peruse past years. I tried showing 'past' as well as upcoming Events, but it was very confusing to people when they were all showing... dozens and dozens of long past events. (more like FB... LOL) I try as best i can to keep things unconfusing here, and to keep things 'current' so folks don't get lost or overloaded. My goal is not to maintain and archive. People mostly want quick reference and current info.
Does not DulcimerPlayersNews (subscription magazine) put out a yearly festival list? I see a "Festivals List" mentioned at the bottom of their issue's Table of Contents . Is that list not comprehensive enough?
As far as this site (FOTMD) goes- since festivals are not static information, a list of dulcimer festivals is only as good as the person/people maintaining it and contributing to it. An accurate and comprehensive traditional 'list' would require someone tracking down and verifying information all over the country. I've got my hands full just maintaining this site, and I have no paid staff to build or maintain an official type list. FOTMD has no subscriptions to fund such projects.
As you know, we do offer a FREE Events/Festivals section here on FOTMD where folks can input their festivals with photos and any supportive materials they like, and their event will show on our site's Main page as it draws near, and disappear when it's finished. If people don't add their events into it, that's unfortunate since it's a free service. If they want additional exposure here, they can also advertise their festival on our main page Ad Slideshows, for as little as $10/month. I can't offer any cheaper than that. I think it's a good option for those who want to have their festival really stand out on this site. Of course they can also buy ads in DPN.
I suspect Facebook has gotten people used to simply instantly posting their events and promotions wherever/whenever, on dozens of music and dulcimer FB sites. 'Instant' has taken the place of plan-ahead maintained lists or spreadsheets.
To have a truly 'comprehensive' online Festival List, either: 1) most everyone must submit their festivals via software, OR 2) there'd need to be a person dedicating time and effort into manually creating and maintaining one. On FOTMD, we have option 1) already in place, but I suspect most folks just post their festivals on FB instead since they're on their phone on FB anyway all day. FB tends to suck energy away from more traditional websites.
I was just thinking of our FOTMD member Oliver Ogden who passed away a while back.
It was nice to look over his fotmd photos and see him happily playing with his FOTMD friends.
Ok, we are now officially sick and tired of fresh tomatoes for the year. 
Aw, I'm glad you got the snake out unharmed, @salt-springs !
Zaulden, I not only moved the thumbrest all over the place to try different methods, but I even wrapped a rubber band around the thumbrest and my finger to try to get a good hold. I have small hands and short fingers, and the G pipe was about my limit because of the holes being further apart.
I wound up having way more fun on my pennywhistles, so I guess one day I'll sell my G tabor pipe.
Zaulden, I played the tabor pipe and tabor drum together, but I never really got past the "Mary Had a Little Lamb" stage. It was hard to coordinate the left and right hands... but way harder just hold the G tabor pipe so it wouldn't drop on the floor and break!
Hi Zaulden, and welcome to FOTMD!
The only tabor pipe I've ever gotten was a polymer Susato in low G as well, like the one you have. I had listened to a lot of Youtube videos of pipe and tabor, and it struck me that the normal high D ones did indeed sound very shrill to my ears, like fifes. I also noticed they were played outdoors most of the time to accompany outdoor celebrations or dances. Fifes are usually played outdoors for marching. Maybe that's a sign! lol Anyway, i much preferred the sound of the lower tabor pipe. I have not played mine in a long time though- I switched to penny whistle and have enjoyed sticking with that instead... for me it was so much easier to hold and finger.
Perhaps a Bb or C tabor pipe would be easier on your ears than going all the way to the more common high D ?
Well I'm still at it. I can't seem to get very good ...doubtless due to my very limited available practice time. 
But I do love to play at it! It's very relaxing for some reason- I think because of the pure simplicity of the instrument.
However, I must say there is nothing easier than to just grab a penny whistle from my can of them on the desk, and quickly play a simple tune whenever the mood strikes to play a tune without having to fuss or tune anything . I don't even have to clear a space on the desk! lol
If the tune is really simple, I can usually figure out how to play it by ear. Hearing whether the tune is major (cheerful) or minor (mournful) helps in locating where the tonic/key note can be located on the whistle. That's much like the mtn dulcimer, and knowing where the four common modes would lie on the diatonic fretboard... 'cheerful' (ionian, mixolydian) or 'mournful' (aeolian or dorian).
The holes on the whistle even echo the fretboard in that way- for example to play ionian you base the key note on fret three on dulcimer...and on whistle you'd base the ionian key note with the bottom three holes uncovered. If playing dulcimer in Aeolian, the key note is when fretting fret 1... on whistle the aeolian key note would be when the 1 hole at the bottom is left open. That was so cool when I came to that realization! It kind of opened up my head to be able to access a lot of simple traditional folk tunes. 
Lately there's been some renewed discussion of Just temperament on this site, so I thought I'd point to this very helpful thread. Be sure to check out @robin-clark 's great video below!
I vividly remember being taught 2 very different songs in kindergarten by two different teachers. One was Rock 'a My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham, and the other was singing Silent Night in German (we actually did it and I can still remember almost all the lines, almost 60 years later!) I loved those teachers and i loved singing out boisterously the songs they taught us. Yet another teacher taught us to do simple traditional folk dances from various countries. It was all such a wonderful rich experience!
I've always found The Well Below the Valley to be about as dark and creepy as they come.
I can't really remember the first song I ever played on the dulcimer, but I can remember the first song I heard anyone play/sing live on the dulcimer (about 22 years ago now)... it was a guy playing a dulcimer and singing Hang me O Hang Me (I been All Around this World) . It totally blew me away (the dulcimer instrument, not the song) and at that moment I simply HAD to get myself a dulcimer and learn to play it. I was completely in love with the mountain dulcimer from the first moment I saw and heard it played in person. Ironically, I don't think I ever felt compelled to play that particular song, even though it sounded great when that fellow did it.
If I am not mistaken, the original post here was written in verse. My guess is that the formatting got lost when we moved from the old site to the new one. It would be wonderful if Linda could edit that post so that we can see her original poetic intent more clearly.
Very true Dusty! I went in to edit @linda-jo-brockinton 's post a little so the the capitalized letters each began a new line. It seems like it was meant that way. Dusty you may be right about how the site migration might have changed it. 
Welcome Helena!
How very lovely that you found your dulcimer over Christmas in Berea Kentucky!
I suggest that you JOIN our Canadian Group here on FOTMD:
https://fotmd.com/b-ross-ashley/group/15/north-of-the-lakes
and then make a new discussion asking about anyone perhaps nearby you. That group has not had any NEW discussions in a while, and I'm sure if you post there the Canadian group members will see it and jump in to greet you!
(note that you will only see the replies to discussions in a group after you JOIN the group and are a member there. Use the JOIN button on the group's main page)
Just keep in mind that the more you do to change the original parts, finish, the original setup, or condition of that 'mint' Ledford, the less valuable it will become if you ever sell it.
