Forum Activity for @steven-berger

 Congratulations, and well deserved!

Steven

That's pretty cool! Thanks, John.

Steven

Glad it worked out so well for you, John. I wonder, though, what would you have done if things had turned sour and became the nightmare we all fear?

Steven

I hate this thread!!!...Makes me want to go and buy another dulcimer...and I just got my 5th last week!

Steven

I know I'm not alone...I suffer from MIAS (Multiple Instrument Acquisition Syndrome)...this is especially heartbreaking and embarrassing since I don't play any of them particularly well...

It's getting to the point of too many instruments, not enough house...some of us are going to have to part ways...guess I'll pitch a tent outside for me and my dog...well, maybe just for me...

Steven

Feed the kids, or buy a new dulcimer...feed the kids, or buy a new dulcimer...hmmmm, that's a tough question!

Steven

Thanks you! Johnny Pledger really did a great job...pictures really don't do it justice...I've been having some problems trying to post pictures...will post as soon as I can.

Steven

Just received my first custom built dulcimer today! It was made by Johnny Pledger of Trion,  Ga and it's a real beauty! It's all cherry with black fret dot inlays, crescent moon soundholes on the upper bouts, kicking mule soundholes on the lower, a wenge accent strip on the back, and ebony bridge and nut. The peghead is the classic cherry, but the body and fretboard look like the sapwood...different color variations and swirly grain patterns with a few worm holes. Pictures will follow. The dulcimer sounds great! It's a bit brighter than my Pledger all-walnut dulcimer.

Johnny did a great job and I recommend him!

Steven

I'll add "Paddy West" and "Cluck Ol' Hen"...both fun played noter/drone.

Steven

Henry Martin, Which Side Are You On, Wreck of the C&O, Few Days, Oh! Susanna, Camptown Races, Hard Times Come Again No More, Van Diemen's Land, Red River Valley, Paddy West, The Constitution and the Guerriere, I Don't Want Your Millions Mister, Napoleon Crossing the Rhine, Battle of the Somme, The Last Flight of Amelia Earhart...to name a few.

3 of my 4 dulcimers were bought online...Folkcraft, Johnny Pledger, and John Knopf...all great dulcimers! The only way I have to purchase a good-quality dulcimer is online...the closest music stores (about 50 miles away) tend to only sell cheap, foreign-made, mass- produced dulcimers.

Good article Kevin. Well done.

I use the Herco Flex 75 nylon pick...hardly any "clatter" and they seem to last forever...inexpensive too.

Steven

I don't know much about wood, so I'm afraid that I can't help you...but you have one beautiful dulcimer there. Congratulations and enjoy!

Rest in peace.

It not only sounds good, it's good for you too...you'd definitely get a work-out playing it!

To get good enough to say to myself "Yes! I can do that!", and then continue on again.

A Hughes hourglass I bought in the late '80's. I still play it occasionally. Solid walnut back and sides, solid spruce or cedar top (it's darkened considerably over the years). I knew both Virgil and Norman Hughes when I lived in Denver. I was still somewhat active in Civil War re-enacting with my infantry unit back in NJ and I was thinking about joining an artillery unit (run by Virgil). I ended up not joining although I did participate in a couple of events with them. I remember their shop where they made a number of different folk instruments...they played them too (quite well!).

My Hughes dulcimer was well made with a laminated headstock, floating bone bridge, and a 3-piece inlay strip in the back of different woods, and heart-shaped soundholes...an attractive and nice sounding instrument.

Thanks everyone! I've wanted an old-style dulcimer for quite a while and I already know I have a great one. John has been a great help throughout the entire purchasing process, and he's a very talented luthier. I couldn't be happier!

The "Uncle Will" Singleton dulcimer built by John Knopf arrived today!

For being a relatively small, shallow dulcimer, the sound is louder, deeper and more resonant than expected. "Favor" (John names all his dulcimers) rings out with a voice all its own. "Favor" is also a handsome little devil...2 cherry diamond-shaped inlays decorate the fretboard, and the nut, bridge, and pegs are walnut which accents the light colored poplar of the rest of the dulcimer. A scroll headstock and staple frets (no 6+ fret) complete the picture.

John was very pleasant to deal with...he answered all my questions promptly and courteously. He also knows a thing or two about building dulcimers...I highly recommend him!

Anyway, as soon as I can, I'll post some pictures and a sound sample (this might take a bit of doing).

My list of tunes is still fairly small, but I always start my playing sessions with a Scottish bagpipe lament that I don't know the name of (I heard it on an LP of bagpipe music many years ago). I know the tune well, but I still tend to goof it up!   

Thanks for the comments! When I get it I'll tell you about it and hopefully post some pictures.

I just ordered the "Uncle Will" Singleton dulcimer from John Knopf and I can't wait to get it! John answered all my questions very promptly, sent me a link to a sound file of the dulcimer being played, and gave me some welcome advice about how to handle a newly delivered dulcimer in cold weather.

I'll tell you all more about the dulcimer when I get it...which I hope will be soon!

I have a Folkcraft all-hickory FSH teardrop dulcimer that I play on a table with a small thin plastic placemat (lined side up) under it. Its sound is quite mellow (to my ears) and not very loud when played this way. I have an all-walnut hourglass dulcimer made by Johnny Pledger that I play the same way and its quite a bit louder and not as mellow as the teardrop (it's deeper and wider).

To be honest, I don't know how much the type of wood affects the sound quality of each dulcimer as opposed to the size and shape. 

I use the Herco Flex 75 picks. They're fairly stiff, but with some flex, they have "grips" on both sides so they don't slip, they're made out of nylon and don't seem to wearout, and I don't get anything like the pick noise I get from other picks I've used (including one I made from an old credit card).

I bought an all-hickory Folkcraft FSH model teardrop a bit over a year ago. I love it! The build quality is top-notch. To me, the sound is clear and even. I play noter/drone style with a nylon pick and I find the instrument to be very responsive and fairly loud.

I think that if you are planning on getting one, you won't be disappointed. Folkcraft is a fine company to work with. I also have not seen hickory dulcimers from other builders (I'm sure there are others out there, but I haven't found them).

Good luck!

Paula, check out the Gold Tone Dulciborn...I don't have one, but the samples on YouTube are worth watching...it's a dulcimer disguised as a Weissenborn guitar...and it sounds incredible.

Just curious...do your pets enjoy your dulcimer playing? My cat and my dog are my biggest fans. (Of course, free entertainment every evening, food an drink "on the house", and no motel fees may be the reasons they like my playing).

Salty, I recently re-strung both of my dulcimers with the D'addario set and I'm finding that I like them very much. Good luck with your dulcimer...looks like quite a catch you made. By the way, playing the dulcimer while barefooted should only be attempted by professionals!

Fortunately, my Folkcraft dulcimer came with strap buttons installed...I've installed them on a guitar once, and I might on an old Hughes dulcimer. I'm a former Jersey boy and Dusty, just so's you know, I lived close to the Meadowlands, and as everybody around there knows, it's just a peaceful bird sanctuary...you know what I mean?

Thanks everybody! Can't wait to get it!

Thanks for the warning! It's on its way to you right now! ETA: around Sept. 29, 2155.
Dusty Turtle said:

That instrument's no good. You should send it to me.

I just ordered a Folkcraft all hickory teardrop FSH model dulcimer (directly from Folkcraft). It'll take about a month to get it. I tooka chance, never having heard a hickory instrument. Any opinions about this type of instrument? Thanks in advance!

DAc tuning is my favorite tuning (so far). I'm still learning how to play the dulcimer (I play noter/drone style). Here are 3 tunes I'm working on: Which Side Are You On, Yigdal, and Van Diemen's Land.