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I don't measure! I "feel of" the wood panel as I'm thickness sanding to the right thickness. Flexing the panel and from experience knowing the right mass I'm looking for for a particular tone. Harder denser woods can be sanded much thinner than a softer less dense piece.
As for sustain? Panel thickness is just one variable factor in a multitude of factors involved. String selection, nut and bridge hardness or softness, nut and bridge placement, over all mass of the piece, wood selection, possibly the finish, intonation, and so on.
If sustain is what you look for, I'd try harder more dense woods sanded to around .090 if you can, harder nut and bridge, and possibly a zero fret?
Some place to start....
Yes I know all too well about "ideas" gettin' in my head, I got a fire barrel chop full of great ones.... Wonderful work John, I'll play you a door chime folk tune at the Gathering!
I've ordered a piece of 6061 aluminum bar stock. I'm going to put together a prototype extreme dulcimer, (ED) this weekend.
Lisa, the old style traditional pieces with oil or shellac finishes hold up pretty good in the cold, but I don't know of anything that will be good in the heat. String tension against most plastics will win out in the extreme heat of a car.....maybe aluminum?
Difficult to say. Homer made mistakes and you know the registry if far from complete. Those are "special" tuners, maybe you can find a matching description in the time line?
Yes the term "dulcimer" was used in the KJV, it was a very popular instrument when that translation was written. (Hammer dulcimer)
DAN
Homer used Sherwin-Williams Sherwood Dull Lacquer.
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
For our first grand daughter, all smiles and love!!!
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
My purple 28 inch ultra-lite. It is what I'd describe as the most traditional....
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
I don't recall a discussion on the name of our group of dulcimores. I refer to them as a "clutch" , but would like to hear what you guys call them.... maybe put together a survey?
DAN
You are gunna' get a lot of differing opinions to "sound" effect by varying placement . I won't respond to that but will tell you the size is very important. Too much or too little can have an effect on tonal quality.
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
William Barney Davis (1926-1995) was Navy veteran, plumber, folk musician and dulcimer luthier from Benton County, TN. He apparently started building dulcimers in the late 1950s. He was the proprietor of the Bill Davis Dulcimer Shop in Gatlinburg, TN, which opened in 1963. He ran the store with his fourth wife, Jean, a folk musician with a fascination for the dulcimer. Bill and Jean organized a number of dulcimer-related festivals in Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and elsewhere in the Tennessee Smoky Mountains through the late 1960s and 1970s. These included the annual Southern Highland Handicraft Guild gathering, the Folk Festival of the Smokies and the Dulcimer and Harp Convention.
Is the piece signed?
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
You guys are the bees knees, I do good to get one track right!!! :)
Mine would be Amazing Grace. I can never get over how amazing God's grace is.
Ditto!!!
Stephen Seifert is the "bomb"!!! What I didn't hear in the episode was the term "environment". Stephen has the uncanny ability to create an environment in his play. His music can actually take you to places you've never been before, and maybe places you have been to! This is why in my book he is undoubtedly the number one conventional player bar none..... and he is good people!
Dulcimore Dan
Jim, I've been using the Nickel & Dime action set for nearly 40 years, and so have lots and lots of other people. You aren't fretting or strumming while the coins are in place, simply using them as a gauge for the height of the action.
If you have "fret peaks" higher than a dime at the first fret, then the first fret probably needs to be re-set.
...and in the "traditional" world there is pillow case and bed sheet! Yes that is a high action.....
Here are before and after photos of the Tignor pegs:
Did you standardize the taper?
Hot hide glue and fiddle clamps, let sit over night. Clean it up the next morning with a warm wet cloth and go back to playin'!
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Tignor got tired of fixin' his wifes Burgy so he decided he could make one better! Yes the early pieces would have been Burgy copies. I have no idea how the intonations on the early pieces were, but the bottom line is, do they want to play it or hang it on the wall? You could make new nut and bridge and save the originals?
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Yes, I'm going to try to make it. I'll drive there just for the Dinner Bell to eat! Let me know where....
DAN
dulcimoredan@gmail.com
(yes this is a public address)
Ok, need some help here; I have missed something in my reading. Please explain 1-5-5? I do tune the dulcimers I build to Dad. Thanks for any help....
1 is the bass string. It can be tuned to any comfortable tension related to its mass. The middle 5 is the center drone, it is tuned to a perfect fifth above the base string. The last 5 is the melody string and it is also tuned a perfect fifth above the bass string. If you are setting your intonation to contemporary DAd, then you are tuned 1-5-8. With this tuning your melody string is tuned an octave above the bass string.
Robin Clark, have you read "Folk Songs of the Southern United States" by Josiah Combs?
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
""Traditional dulcimer sound" comes not from the tuning, but from the shallow/narrow bodies of 'traditional' dulcimers which have much less interior volume that a conventional modern dulcimer. Modern dulcimers with a 27" VSL are roughly 2.25" deep x 7-8" wide x 31" long (minus the head); a traditional dulcimer with the same VSL is roughly 1.25" deep, 6-7" wide and 28" long. When tuned to the same tuning, the lesser volume traditional instrument tends to give a more "high silvery" sound; where the modern dulcimer tends to produce a deeper more "mellow", sound."
I will add that the nut and bridge are well over the ends of the piece. This is the traditional placement and facilitates "that sound" we refer to as traditional. I will also add that the intonations are different from contemporary pieces. Getting a good intonation across four different modes is at odds with a contemporary equal temperament and adds to that slightly out of tune sound from a traditional piece! I hope we are not muddying the water too much.....
I will also add, Richard you have an authentic traditional piece, they don't get no more traditional than that!!!
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Does any one know if this event has dulcimer vendors?
Thanks
They are invited. I believe John is trying to go....
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
Dusty brings up a common problem in deciphering tunes; embellishment! Getting a clear melody is difficult at best in so many arrangements. Most tunes are out of reach for me as I hear different from most folks. If the tune doesn't "speak" to me I'm even more lost. Finding a tune in an old Hymnal is wonderful as they are generally broken down to the syllables of the lyrics and translate a pure tune! As for the others, studying several versions is the way to go......
Don hasn't been in the shop for about a year, but he will always be my hero dulcimer maker.......
The solid bass string will have the traditional "twang" that is commonly referred to as "silvery". The wound strings are generally fuller toned, what I liken to guitar sounding. It all boils down to personal preference.....
Drone or chording?
....music wire, number 8 (.020) for the bass string is how I string them too!
...looks like butternut to me......
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
The wound string (.022) is the bass string. Low D will be fine with that string....
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
What gauge is more important than maker, this will all depend on you! Some like them light, some heavier. Start in the middle and give them a while before you decide what is right for you. Next, the specific gauge is determined by the instrument, vibrating string length, maker and such will better let us help you to start.....
I had a return a few years back. I forgot to install a 6+ staple!!!!! He mailed it back, I installed the staple and shipped it back to him. I paid for shipping and that I know of he didn't have a problem with the inconvenience. Warranty is life time on wood and play ability......
DAN
www.dulcimore.com
