Forum Activity for @john-c-knopf

A good job on a beautiful dulcimer!  Here's to many more!

Here is the outworking of some brainstorming I've had recently.  You know how an idea gets in your head and won't go away peacefully? Well, this lil' guy is less than 12" long, but can be played-- SORT OF.  It's my version of a true "pocket dulcimer".  Just thought you might like to see it!

 035.JPG - 122KB

So, full steam ahead!  Congratulations on building your first dulcimer.  You'll get lots of ideas for future ones now.

Joolsy,

You could try sanding the back flat if the bow is minor, or you could glue 3 feet on the back like they did in the old days.

All I found was this old listing on Reverb:

https://reverb.com/item/6939411-music-crafts-mountain-music-dulcimer-4 string-vintage

It probably looks like yours.  No date given, but the same labeling.

Hollowing the fretboard saves weight and adds more cubic inches of soundbox, and usually yields a little more sound.

All things being equal, it's a good idea to hollow it out.  Another question is whether or not to cut holes in the top under the fretboard.  I like to cut them out, but doing that may not make it sound much different.  Best wishes on your repairs!

I agree with Ken.  Robin Clark should be able to help you, friend.

It seems to me that the strum hollow was "invented" by either Charles Prichard in Huntington, WV or by Ed Thomas in Bath, KY, long after dulcimers were being built, as Ken said.  If you look at old Virginia dulcimers, for example, you'll see many scratch marks on their flat fretboards, where the strum hollow would normally be.

Matt, I mention the following to my customers who buy one of my dulcimers in the wintertime:

I tell them to bring the box into their house, but NOT TO OPEN IT for an hour or so!  I know it's agony to be so close to enjoying a new instrument, but it will be worth it.  There is a real danger of thermal shock occurring if a cold wooden instrument is suddenly subjected to warm temperatures.  I don't know of any breakages so far, but I've experienced the heartbreak of seeing the fine lacquer finish of a Warren May poplar dulcimer CRAZE in front of my eyes when I took it out of its cold box too soon.  It looked like the surface of old china, with fine cracks all over it.   It's difficult to repair the finish.

With much patience and care  --  far more than I have.

My usual top and bottom thickness is about 1/8", but I try to go thinner than that if I can.  As you might have read on this site, or elsewhere, you can get get good sound out of a Tennessee music box even when the top and bottom panels are over 3/8" thick.

It's mostly aesthetics, Lisa.  Some like the look of a wasp-waisted dulcimer more than other body styles.   Uncle Ed Thomas of Bath, Kentucky and C. N. Prichard of Huntington, West Virginia popularized the shape over a hundred years ago.

I don't know what to say to this news.  

To me, Mike was the embodiment of the old-time Kentucky dulcimer spirit.  A quiet and knowledgeable man who wanted to help others understand dulcimer history and mountain music.  He did his part to perpetuate the best of tradition.

Rest in peace, friend, and may God bless your family left behind.  Too sad...

Just bear in mind that if you alter McSpadden's design and you want to sell the dulcimer later, the modification may affect the value of the dulcimer.

It may be that the biblical translators were just thinking of this term generically.  The two words of which the word "dulcimer" is composed are dulce (sweet) and melos (melody), thus indicating some kind of a musical instrument that makes a sweet sound or melody.  Just a suggestion.

What a beautiful piece of craftsmanship!

Some were pretty strange looking.  He seemed to enjoy monkeying with fretting patterns on dulcimers.  I had to ignore the fretting pattern on a Nathan Hicks dulcimer he glommed onto in order to reproduce a Hicks dulcimer for our "Banjimer".  I'm not sure what the original Hicks pegs looked like either, since J.J.Niles threw some violin-family pegs in the mix.

That's a great kit-- makes a great dulcimer.

The Wilsons are somewhat legendary in Michigan, having built dulcimers and exhibited them at festivals.  As I understand it, Richard built the dulcimers and Denise provided the inlay work, and maybe the soundholes.  They do (did?) excellent work.

There is also a McSpadden "Sweet Song" dulcimer kit listed on the site.

I just found this listed on shopgoodwill.com!  A very pretty, high-quality dulcimer with beautiful heart and flying geese soundholes.  Flying geese inlay on the back.  Item #58634975.

Looks like somebody's gonna get a great deal tomorrow!

Yes, Don, a Keith Young dulcimer is valuable and collectible.  Keith is no longer with us, but he did excellent work.  I expect he used lacquer on his dulcimers, but I can't be sure of it.  Lacquer is a fairly common finish to use on dulcimers.

I also thought of gun cases.  They're durable and long, and might work very well.  The only possible problem might be taking them onto aircraft.  After all, what would YOU think was in that case?  

John, that would be Bill Davis of Davis Dulcimers, who was actively building in the 1960s and 1970s.  That is his trademark "violin" design, which was also used by Chet Hines of Ohio (he wrote a book about it) and has been perpetuated by Mike Clemmer in Townsend, TN.  The late Jean Schilling of Cosby, TN was married to Bill Davis at one point, and their photo appeared in a National Geographic magazine years ago.

That's great news, Richard!

Maybe try a heat gun/hair dryer to warm up the glue on the ends?  Sometimes that will soften the glue.

Ray, the scale starts at the third fret and goes up.

That's great that you could pick up that dulcimer "for a song".  McSpadden/Dulcimer Shoppe makes a nice kit, and I've assembled several of them.  Mine came out well each time. The plans are clear and the materials are good, unlike some other kits that I won't mention.  Congratulations, and enjoy the newest addition to your family!

Lisa, that's an IMPOSSIBLE question for me to answer.  I love so many songs and hymns!

"Next to the Word of God, MUSIC deserves the highest praise..."  (Martin Luther)

Sometimes the fiber washers are the culprit on that type of tuner.  There should be 2 to each tuner, and they tighten against the wood of the pegbox to hold the string in tune.  Try Ken's idea first -- it's easy and might do the trick.

Perhaps a member, or a group of members, can consider taking the reins of ED in the future?  Is this a possibility?

Thanks, everybody.  

Dan, the existing holes were carefully tapered with a violin reamer, and the new pegs shaved to fit with a violin peg shaver. Ken, I think they are old banjo planetary tuners, as you said.                                                                                        Jim, the planetary tuners were installed slightly cockeyed, with large external-tooth lockwashers.  I'm quite sure that John Tignor originally equipped his dulcimers with the walnut pegs I reproduced here.  And whoever restrung this dulcimer put 3 wound steel strings on it.  When the correct strings were mounted, the action was very high throughout.  The string spacing is consistent with the old J. E. Thomas and Amburgey noter/drone dulcimers.  They put the drones close together, at the far side of the fretboard, so it would be easier to play the melody string alone.

Here are before and after photos of the Tignor pegs:

Volha, that's a very beautiful dulcimer!  And a very big crack, too!

If the wood is still all there, it can be glued with Franklin Titebond wood glue (or a similar woodworking glue) and clamped well.  It shouldn't be a difficult repair to accomplish, even though it looks very bad right now.

Hope it goes well with you and you once again have a wonderful instrument!  Happy Easter.

Great story, Jim.  There are several ongoing mysteries about dulcimers and their builders.

I called the owner of the Tignor, and he said it would be OK for me to deepen the existing string slots, so I did, and it was a big improvement. That dulcimer sings sweetly now with a normal playing touch.  He has yet to pick it up from me, but I'm sure he'll love it now.  I'm sure the late John Tignor would approve as well.

Well, Ken, at least it'll SMELL good, even if it doesn't loosen the glue!  

That sounds like the same sage advice I gave somebody here a few days ago!

Unfortunately the nut has been re-glued with what looks like Gorilla Glue... might be a job to remove.  Thanks, Dan!

A young couple came to my home yesterday with a beautiful old Tignor dulcimer that had some problems.  The fist thing I noticed is that it bore a striking resemblance to an Uncle Ed Thomas dulcimer.  I think John was a protege of Jethro Amburgey, wasn't he?  Anyway, I brought my latest Thomas upstairs and laid it next to their dulcimer.  Apart from the Tignor being a couple inches longer and slightly wider, they looked like twins.

The 3 tuners on it were shabby-looking planetary models, inexpertly mounted by somebody, and all 3 strings were the wound steel ones we use just for bass drones.  I found reference photos of what Tignor pegs should look like, and set about to reproduce them in old-growth black walnut.  They came out very well.  I then went to string the dulcimer with the proper gauge strings, when I noticed the "mile-high" action.  The tone is nice, but pushing the melody string all the way down to the staple fret really stretches it out of tune!  I'm not sure if I should lower it or leave it as-is.  Any thoughts, my fellow historical luthiers?

It really is a beautiful dulcimer, but it strikes me as a non-Stanley Hicks instrument.  It seems to me to be a dulcimer built in the Stanley Hicks style by somebody else (David Love).  The Stanley Hicks label inside the soundhole seems to be out of place somehow.  Maybe Stanley acquired it from Mr. Love, and put his label of ownership in it?   There is plenty of room inside the heart cutout to affix a label after the dulcimer was completed.  Just my musings...