Forum Activity for @joe-sanguinette

i have an identical dulcimer except its 3 strings.....all walnut hourglass with walnut plywood back.  this has a mc spadden shop lable stating

l made by george looney.... no. 3835.  its dated 9/76.  model no. m8-w.  it may be a kit model but this one was made in shop.

my first was a kit i bought from a gift shop here in branson about 1970.  it was a box of parts with no instructions.  i put it togther and while it

didnt look like much it sounded pretty good......at least to me.  as it turned out i became more interested in building dulcimers than playing them

and launched a 30 year business.  it became a wonderful life style traveling to arts and craft shows and music festivals.

jane when you are ready for a new dulcimer i would suggest attending a dulcimer festival where the instruments of several luthiiers are available.
you can compare and choose the one you like best

robert nailed it.  i have built 2 instruments (more than once) that were identical and made from the same board that sounded totaly

different.  lynn mc spaden told me the thickness of the top had more to do with the tone than the type of wood used.

jane it sounds like the dulcimer.....especially the top is birch plywood.  there is not much you can do to improve or change the

tone.  you might try tuning in ionian (Daa)

looks like an american dulcimer.  epinettes that i have seen have many more strings.

i believe folkcraft bought folkroots out some years ago and continued to make the folkroot instruments.

david schnaufer traveled with 2 dulcimers in a special case that safely flew in the baggage compartment.  it was a very sturdy case

made of aluminum.   he stored it in my booth at festivals on several occasions.

David's dulcimer could have been one of Bonnie's or.....perhaps one made by several in the Pacific Rim group in the 60's.  it was made

of KOA and had fantastic tone. 

i loved the "milagro beanfield war" filmed in and around taos new mexico.  spending a few days in the area should be on everyone's list

i shipped hundreds of dulcimers USPS over the years with no problems.  proper packing is the key.  the cardboard tubes

are a great idea.   i used USPS because they were cheaper.......especially to destinations outside the USA.

not sure what "standard dulcimer sizes" would be.  you will have to experiment i suppose if you are determined to try nylon or "gut" strings

i used to buy scraps of the plywood from lynn to make door harps and various craft items.  this plywood was a very high quality veneer core

product about 3/32 inches thick.  lynn told me it was specially made to his specs.  i still have quite a stack of the material in the shop.  the  backs were a big time saver as they needed little or no sanding....or braceing. 

your info is all correct. it's a folkcraft instrument and is a well made all solid wood dulcimer. not sure it's cherry

this looks like an instrument from sears catalog circa 1970's. as i recall they sold for around 30 bucks.

the proper screw is usually supplied with the strap buttons. as far as the scroll end i always used a rawhide loop on

the end of the strap....slipping it over the scroll. this allowed the strap to fit any dulcimer or at least most.

if you have to come up with a screw i would find one about 3/4 of an inch long.

i met Jean and her husband George at Larkin Bryant's first festival in memphis. they had a booth across from

me and during the slow periods i became well aquainted with George. Jean appeared several times at the booth and

i can tell you the room lit up when she did. i'm so grateful i had a chance to meet her and to see her perform on

stage with pictures taken by her husband in the background.

Jean will live on in our hearts and minds

my story is a lot like Ken's except it happened around the same time when i visited silver dollar city in branson.

Lynn McSpadden had a booth there and Jean Simmons was demonstrating his dulcimers. like Ken i was enchanted

by the song that was coming from Jean's dulcimer. she was playing with a noter and it seemed to me to be

something i could learn. like Ken ....other intruments overwhelmed me and here was one that did not.

i bought a kit and put it together and learned to hack out a few tunes immediately. i was hooked. i built one

from scratch and it was'nt too bad. the dulcimers soon were all over the house and i could'nt afford a bigger

house so i started selling them........or giving them to friends.

i hung out at the shop of David (Buzz) Darby in branson and we became friends. he really inspired me and

helped me learn to make dulcimers. Peter Engler gave me a 10 x 10 corner in his woodcarving and gift shop.

and i was in business full time. before long i was making over 100 instruments per year.

from there i started exhibiting at arts and crafts shows all over the country along with a few music festivals

i'm sure thats your problem. you have to remove the fret and deepen the slot in the fretboard. if the tang is crooked or.....the fret is beat up.....or filed down too much you will need to install a new one.

it's not hard to do. good luck. if you get the slot a bit too wide and the fret is loose use a little

super glue.

check to see if the problem could be the slot that the fret is seated in is deep enough. if not ..... hammering in

the fret can cause the tang to seat at an angle or even bend. cut the slot deeper before re fretting.

lynn mc spadden once told me that different tops needed to be of a different thickness. i think he was right

David Schnafer played with the Judds on some of their country/rock albums. also John Foggarty has used one

of mine on several albums in very brief lead in solo's

inexpensive geared guitar tuners may actually slip right into the existing holes provided for the wood tuners.

this would by far be the best bet for fixing this problem for a few bucks.

another problem i can see here is there is no slotted piece behind the zero fret. the first fret has slots filed

in it to hopefully keep the strings in position. this looks to me to be problematic. the zero fret could be replaced

with a nut......a job for a skilled luthier

thanks a million jan for this wonderful collection of mtn music. i'll be busy

for a while with all the links on this site.

the suggestion that a good luthier should examine the instrument is a good one. you could have one or

more of a number of problems.

stew/mac kits have been made by folkcraft for years. they are good kits

contact the Ozark Mtn Folk Center in Mtn View. someone there might help you

john if im reading this correctly your dulcimer may be strung for a left handed player.

the dulcimer in the pic probably was just strung by someone who didn't know the strings should feed from the top

of the shaft on the tuners.

I knew bob mize. among his achivements was an article in one of the fox fire books on how to make a dulcimer.

joe sanguinette

tape on the end of a pencil works like a charm. iv'e used it for years. once the evil forces realize they no longer irritate you the problem stops :)

if your satisfied with how the back looks now...apply a little paste wax perhaps. strap buttons are very easy to

install. I prefer one at the tail piecewith a rawhide loop that slips over the scroll.

kiwi clear paste wax shoe polish is a really high quality product. I wouldn't leave home without it

sides are bent rather than cut from a block of wood because the result is much stronger. also its difficult to

smooth out the ones cut rather than bent.

cutting requires crossing the grain of the wood in the curves resulting in a weak spot that can be broken easily

Lexie R Oakley said:

That was excellant Tom, thank you.

It was interesting that Stanley Hicks cuts the sides for his dulcimers from a solid piece of wood. He says it doesn't change the sound.

It would be interesting to know if any luthiers of today use this technique.

What fine craftsman each of these men are.

a ballad called "the letter edged in black." evidently years ago a letter informing of the death of a loved one would

have a black border around the envelope to warn of sad and shocking news.

also "the little rosewood casket" as aclose second.