Hi MarkStarCrashes! As you can see from my post below, I own two of David's dulcimers. Love them both! My post below was 3 years ago and still stands. Mine are both natural in color...one big standard form and one curvy (Tater). Lovely, light, great sound. He seemed to slip into the dark staining a while back, but I like the natural looks better. Will have to go see what he is offering now. I have a bunch of dulcimers...sighhhh… Like tater chips! Also, you can't go wrong with Folkcraft (have 3). Just finished restoring an old cherry that had more dents and dings than my hay truck and a mouse eaten 'f' hole. It turned out wonderfully, gorgeous sound! I doubt you would go wrong with a Honea dulcimer for $190. I looked at his Ebay offerings and liked liked #678 with Western Cedar top and Walnut back. Might be louder, rounder sound with Cedar. #691 semi hour glass with Cherry top and back might be a crisper, brighter sound with hard wood cherry. Enjoy your choice and let us know your pick!
Forum Activity for @jan-craig
Buzzing Strings
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Though this is a bit late for Coleen, I have fixed a buzz with a tiny bit of computer paper in the string slot. That was after I checked the frets and the string still buzzed. In the end, it did the job and did not show.
Hello Barbara-p: I have two Honea Dulcimers. One is big - 38" long, Vsl: 31.5" built 6/2008. Though big, it is strong and light as a feather. Western Red Cedar top and bottom with walnut sides. Wonderful sound, warm and full - hourglass. The 2nd one I just got a few weeks ago. More freeform...looks like a sweet potato and was swiftly dubbed 'Tater' - smaller, VSL 27.5", Western Red Cedar & Walnut ( seems to be his favorite woods ). It is new and has a while before aging into it's real sound, but I do like it. He does a very good job and you can get them at often a very reasonable price on E-Bay. I would not be afraid to buy one. His quality is consistant. I usually buy the older dulcimers from assorted makers - 60's to 1990's as they have developed their mellowness of time. Hope this helps.
Interesting looking dulcimer setup
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Ken....I'm on it. It's about 3 hours away. My type of thing!
Great find, Eli!!! It's a keeper! Maybe take that 'friend' that found it to lunch... $40 - wow! It looks to be walnut...seems too dark for cherry. You will get hours and hours of enjoyment out of it as you can tune it many ways as you learn different styles of playing. It is a great treasure find and a treasure for you, I'm sure.
Babs, I just put 'buttons' on a Honea dulcimer I bought a couple months ago. Little lap and the big dulcimer...(love it)... would walk around. The set of buttons I bought had very long wood screws. I pre-drilled the holes and ran the screw threads over some soft bar soap to help them slip in easier. Made it far easier to slowly screw them in. Make sure your screw driver sits firmly in the screw head...you don't want to bugger the screw head with the wrong size screw driver. Take your time and you will have a job well done. Hope this helps.
New Pledger Dulcimer!
Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions
Oh, Mark, She will be soooo tickled for two reasons: To have such a beautiful dulcimer in her lap of her very own and to have such a thoughtful son...(that she must have raised right). She will never play it without thinking of you. Happy Mother's Day...to you both!!