I have acquired an old dulcimer it is a bit of a wreck and will need restoration. Among things that need replacing is the fingerboard, I have just removed the old one and it was solid. Should I hollow the new fingerboard or not bother, I note that most string instruments have solid boards. The question is how much difference if any does hollowing the fingerboard make to the sound volume?
Any opinions are appreciated particularly if based on experience. Thanks Allan
Thanks perhaps I will, but Kangaroos are somewhat common place here.
I had thought of a dog but I think a man of some sort first. Will definitely work on a design for a Roo.
Thanks All!
Have explored the sites selling lumberjacks and Ken's idea of making one seem more attractive. The cost of the limberjack is reasonable but shipping to Australia is prohibitive, one company wanted $72.00! The limberjack will have to wait a while as I finish up some other projects.
Many thanks for the responces!
Thanks Ken, Yes I have seen people selling Limberjacks on the net but one never knows what the quality will be like.
As for making one --- I hoped to have one sooner than that.
Not sure that this is the right section to post this, but non of the other sections seemed any more appropriate.
Some years ago I made a limberjack but a fellow musician fell in love with it and I gave it to her. I planed to make an other but that hasn't happened. Where would be the best place to buy one?
I play in an Old Time String Band and play melody when I can, recently I have been experimenting with bar chords when we play tunes that I find the melody difficult to play and found it quite successful and to me easier than fingered chords.
Has any one else tried this technique and foumd it useful? Better add that I tune DAD.
Sorry Strumelia, just reread your post. We usually only use the capo if we need to play in a minor key but also for one or two tunes in G. As you point out it does not work for A tunes well.
Thanks again for the comments Strumelia and Dusty.
Trying tunes in A is more of an exercise in finger dexterity in reaching for the G# and also seeing what can and can't be done, we play melody and drone for the most part and play melody only if with other instruments. But endless tunes in D with the occasional G gets boring and retuning in the middle of a session out of the question.
I play with an Old Time String band and we often play A tunes, as Dusty pointed out, for the most part I play melody and chords only when the melody is too fast or too difficult, but I play by ear and could not honestly tell others what I do it just comes natural and if what I do sound bad I change it. When pitted against a room full of guitars and banjos mistakes on the Dulcimer go pretty much unnoticed.
Thanks for the responses all!
To explain we tune DAD and have 6 1/2 frets that gives us a G sharp on the middle string, so we have just short of two octaves starting on the open middle string to the 2nd fret and then working up the melody string. I am fortunate in that I play by ear and can pretty well play any tune I can hum or whistle, but some of our group need tabs to play. Not wishing to make work for myself I hoped to find tunes in A major already written out saving me the chore.
Can any one point me to tunes in score and tabs in the key of A major? Our group has vast numbers of tunes in D fewer in G but we would like to try our hand at the key of A.
