Jim -- glad to hear of someone who isn't 'stuck' in DAd for chords. Merv Rowley (R.I.P.) always said there were many easier to form chords there, and more chords available overall.
Yeah -- CC did make a series of kits with pre-cut soundholes, and that may indeed be what you encountered
Just saw a picture of someone who bought a "seagull" dulcimer that had the Cripple Creek label inside. I'd say that' what you have...
Ah! You waned to which Maker used that seagull shape! Now it's clear. You may be right; I do seem to remember the Ford's using a seagull on some of their dulcimers...
No special "dulcimer name" for any dulcimer soundholes that I know of ('f-holes' have been called that by violin folks for hundreds of years); unless the builder called these "Jonathan Livingstons".
'Seagull' sounds good to me.
Well certainly grain orientation and timber cut are important factors in preventing wood from warping, as are properly dried woods and proper glue joints.
You want a quarter-sawn fretboard with the grain running vertically from the plane of the top, not parallel to the top.
And you want a properly made glue joint to a quarter-sawn fingerboard with the grain running at right angles to that of the fretboard.
The resultant veneer with grains running at right angles to each other is a standard 'recipe' to prevent warpage
After the sandwich dries, then the arches are sanded or sawn or routed into the assembly. Finally the fret slots are cut, frets installed, and the completed fretboard is then glued to the top before that is glued to the rest of the carcass.
Flat-sawn arched fretboards without a fingerboard, may indeed warp, but that's not what I consider a "properly constructed" arched fretboard instrument.
I'll be sittin' on the dock of the bay -- just off the bow of my retirement boat/home. Playing Sittin' On The Dock Of The Bay with a couple other folks at the marina.
EVER is such a very long time... For all intents and purposes no, you do not have to worry about warping; and if the luthier is at all competent you should have no worries about "how they are placed on".
IMHO most people can't hear the difference between compensated and un-compensated dulcimers, making MacSpadden's claim more marketing hype than functional difference. If you have perfect pitch or are anal retentive, then perhaps compensation matters.
What Matt said -- there is no standard arrangement of dots; I put them at
3 to mark the start of the Ionian scale,
4 to mark the start of the Dorian scale and to indicate where to fret the bass string to tune the middle drone,
7 to mark the end of the Mixolydian scale and
10 to mark the end of the Ionian scale
The answers to your questions are
Maybe
Probably
You don't need "saw slots" like those already in place. You can use a triangular needle file to make "slots" just a bit deeper than the diameter of the strings.
Action height is an easy fix -- a nickel, a dime and sandpaper will do the trick.
Never see string spacing quite like that... Almost a 4 string with doubled bass and melody courses. If you are a chord-melody style player you may want to re-cut some slots to get a spacing that will work for you. As a noter-drone players, I would shift everything except the melody couplet as far out as it will go, so there is room for my noter.
I'll see what I can do about recording Lay The Bend... and post it here. I got the tune from Mark Gilston, who posted it on YouTube a few months ago; it's in Ionian Mode.
Getting ready for my "opening" concert on August 5th, and I'm having a blast playing the 17th century version of Child Ballad #1 -- Lay The Bend To The Bonnie Broom. The title is also the first of two refrains, and no one has a clue to what it means (well, there are several theories...). Most think it's evolved into a nonsense line like Fa la la la la lah lah lah lah. The second refrain is equally obscure -- in the song is the women who beguile the man, not the other way around. The old meaning of 'beguile' was "to help pass time pleasantly"...
There were three sisters in the North.
Lay the bend to the bonnie broom.
An they live-d in their mothers huse.
And you'll beguile an lady soon.
There came an knight one evening late.
Lay the bend to the bonnie broom.
An he came knocking at the gate.
And you'll beguile a lady soon.
The eldest sister she let him in.
Lay the bend to the bonnie broom.
An locked the door with a silver pin.
And you'll beguile a lady soon.
... plus another 16 verses
This song is the forerunner of the late 1800s The Riddle Song -- "I gave me love a cherry..."
Sean -- it's a "sound" thing. To me an un-wound string is a crisper sound than a fat wound string flopping back and forth.
Eight years ago today, FOTMD opened its virtual doors for the first time.
Thank you Lisa...
Just use the Strothers String Gauge calculator -- plug in the VSL and the notes of the open tuning you want to use (DAd, DAA, etc) http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html
I play mostly old-style traditional instruments with 27-28" VSL, three strings, fretting only the melody string. I normally buy bulk 12s for the melody and middle drone, and non-wound 20s or 22s for the bass string.
IIRC "trailing hearts" is what the Ford's called their "vine with multiple heart shaped leaves" soundhole design.
Kerry passed away in 2014; her passing was a great loss to the dulcimer world.
Bleeding or Weeping Hearts are also found on many tomahawk blades, as well as Pennsylvania/Kentucky longrifles. As someone said there are as many folk tales about what that means as there are tomahawks and long rifles. A "bleeding heart" is, of course, someone who is considered too sentimental or liberal in dealing with social situations.
There is some indication that prior to the 14th century the heart as a geometric shape represented not the heart of sentimentality, but rather the shape of the Linden leaf, which was held by Germanic/Scandinavian mythology to be a source of magical power, or any number of other plant references. Only in the 15th century does the heart geometric shape begin to represent love, sentimentality, and other Christian ideals.
Marge -- try a large, deep thimble -- plastic or leather. Or a short section of thin plastic tubing I make archer's Thumb Rings out of wood (they are also made in horn and bone) for shooting a bow Asian style, and there are a wide variety of thumb rings which might be adaptable. Think of your thumb tip as a flattened cone from the tip to the first knuckle. Now look for thumb sized cones... Maybe bakery piping bag tips? A short piece of copper tubing? Think outside the box!
Kathy -- if you look one post below your post you will see that Paul already listed his address and price of the arrangement package
I made a pick like the elongated Schilling, cut from an old credit card.
Search on"Jean Schilling vintage guitar picks", you'll find them sold here and there at pick collecting sites, on Ebay, etc.
D'Andrea -- dandreausa.com -- made those teardrop Jean Schilling picks and one shaped like a dulcimer; but no longer apparently.
Just do the "scratch n sniff" test! Slip a piece if coarse sandpaper inside where that deer is, and sand around in underside. If is does not smell of 'root beer', it's not sassafras!
There is a master list of the known Homer Ledford dulcimers which lists the instrument number, date it was built, materials, and first owner. Sorry, I don't have the link to that, but someone here does, I'm sure.
When you take pix, be sure to get his signature as well as top/bottom and side, and a close up of the tuning head.
MOST dulcimers, I would say, have a moveable bridge -- at least somewhat moveable and somewhat loose enough to move (although many builder put a drop of glue to hold thing during the initial string up). Remember, too, that this is a folk instrument in transition, not a concert instrument with 500 years of development. Also understand that there are a couple of "offshore" makers of dulcimers who haven't any real understanding of fret-spacing, intonation, etc. and who seem to be building from unscaled photographs. Like Robert, below, I think you unfortunately ran into a DSO.
When that "Apple" company started, a number of years ago, they were horrendous - 7 out of 10 instruments were mostly unplayable. The instruments were dirt cheap, looked decent (unless you had a good eye) and sold like hotcakes. They've gotten somewhat better (or at least a couple of employees have) over the years, but obviously not 100%.
Generally we use a small triangular file to cut string notches -- much better than a saw; notches only need to be string diameter deep. Try using a heat gun or hair dryer on the bridge/fretboard junction for a few minutes to soften glue, then use a small hammer and a punch (small length of wood or dowel) and a sharp tap to loosen the bridge. If all else fails, you can (carefully) sand the bridge flat and make a floating bridge from a small split of chopstick or very hard wood with string notches. Set it on top of the flattened bridge and angle the bass string end a few millimeters towards the tail as you begin tightening strings.
Lately I've been having fun playing Lay The Bend To The Bonnie Broom, a 19th century forerunner of The Riddle Song.
Memorial Day I played at the Altapass Orchard Memorial Day Picnic, on the Blueridge Parkway up in North Carolina. Except for an Pen Mic or three, I'll next be at the Americana Community Music Association Listening Room on August 5th, opening for Nate Currin.
Interesting. I don't have a stone pick, but I use a malachite pestle, from a Mexican mortar & pestle set, as a noter. I do have a pick made from "vegetable ivory" from the Ivory Nut Palms on Pohnpei Island in the Federates States of Micronesia, and another made from polished turtle shell (found an empty shell in the woods years ago).
Pictures, please! If there's no photo, "it didn't happen"!!
Marg -- why not drop Bill a note, or give him a call and ask about loosening the bridge I would suggest heating it a few minutes with your hair dryer before giving it a tap with a hammer and a wooden dowel
There are European and Latin American styles of HD play that use fingerpicks. The Mexican instrument is called the Salterio.
I saw that yesterday. Another one of the good ones has passed...
I play with both possum board and a stand-up stand. If you play with a stand acoustically (not amped) you will want a board underneath, as the greater sound will head for the floor if you don't. If you're playing with a pickup I don't think it makes much, if any, difference.
My stand-up stand is a tall waiter's tray table, from a restaurant supply house for $28.
A couple months ago we joined a year-round food co-op that offers a veggie box or produce box for $20 or a combo box for $25; plus lots of individual veggies and fruits for sale at way below local megamart prices (golden beets for 50¢ each vs megamart bundle of 3 for $4.49, and parsnips for 33¢ each instead of a bag of 3 for $3.99). We've found a combo box works just about right for us. There's no mandatory buy, and they have a number of pick-up points around the area.
This week we're getting:
5 Sweet Potatoes (pesticide free)
1 Sweet Onion
1 Red Onion (pesticide free)
2 Garlic Bundles
3 Bell Peppers (pesticide free,local)
3 Yellow Squash (local, organic)
4 Beefsteak Tomatoes (local, pesticide free)
3 Limes
8 Bananas
4 Sweet Oranges (pesticide free)
3 Avocados
2 Mangos
