Forum Activity for @noah-cline

Curly Ash Teardrop Dulcimer

FOR SALE:instruments/music items/CDs/Wanted to Buy...

Thank you, Richard and Strumelia. 

Thanks, Ken. I think I understand what you’re saying. The tuners are mounted with the knobs facing up, and with the shaft gear above the worm gear, if looking at the dulcimer being upright. I’ve always mounted them this way on dulcimers. I’ve also used the cheaper tuners with the partial or “finger” tabs that hold the worm gear in place, which I replaced on one of my dulcimers as they became a bit rough with use, even with oiling, but use and prefer those with solid tabs like the tuners on this dulcimer. 

updated by @noah-cline: 08/26/26 11:13:49AM

Curly Ash Teardrop Dulcimer

FOR SALE:instruments/music items/CDs/Wanted to Buy...

Dulcimer #9. A skinnier teardrop shape than I’ve normally made for past dulcimers. Asking  $350 with shipping included. 

Specs:

• curly ash body, 26 3/4” long x about 5” wide, and 2” tall (1/34” sides/inner depth)
• book-matched top and back, all from the same piece of wood, with the sides also book-matched sharing the same piece as the fingerboard, having some spalting inclusions 
• walnut tail block and liners
• 25 1/2” scale length, 1 1/4” wide x 5/8” tall fingerboard
• simple slotted peghead shape with tree carving (inspired a bit by the tree that the wood came from, an older tree that once stood on my grandparent’s farm in Va), and geared tuners
• bone nut, saddle, and tail corner cap
• currently strung with string gauges .012”, .016”, nickel wound .023”, tuned DAD 

Unfortunately, it took a tumble before I got the finish on it, having some dings on the tail end bottom edge and upper bottom corner as seen in the last two photos, however there are no issues with its structural integrity. 

Video of me playing it here, with pictures: youtu.be/OtJKFHrF3Kk?is=SCIptLz0mE7DZVmn

Thanks for looking!

updated by @noah-cline: 08/25/26 05:03:58PM

RIP Ron Ewing

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Sorry to hear this. My one and only time interacting with Ron was for a custom capo he made me. I had purchased one of his capos years ago (a walnut capped one) from Elderly, mainly using it on my walnut teardrop, and had later built another dulcimer of cedar with a shorter height fingerboard. That capo wouldn’t work on it as the legs were too long, so I had him make me one with shorter legs. I asked if he could make it with a cedar cap to match the dulcimer, but he suggested a piece of koa being harder and of similar color, so I went with that and had him add an abalone snowflake inlay as well. He was very accommodating of my inquiry. 

Left handed playing

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Mainly, the nut and bridge would need to be replaced so that the thinnest string (melody string) is closest to her. You might be able to get away with just reversing the strings, but depending on if the bridge is slanted for intonation and how the slots are cut, you may run into the melody string buzzing in the bass string slot, and the notes being off. 

How Many Dulcimers Do You Own?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks!  @theresasc

How Many Dulcimers Do You Own?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Probably a bit of a shocker for some, but at the moment, I only own...one! A walnut teardrop and the second dulcimer I’ve built (same one in my profile pic). 

Any banjo players out there?

Adventures with 'other' instruments...

Been playing banjo since 2008, the longest out of all my string endeavors lol. Been picking on dulcimers since 2015, learning on the first one I made. Here’s a duet video I made playing the tune “Hunt the Buffalo” on mountain banjo and dulcimer.

updated by @noah-cline: 04/01/22 01:06:51PM

Looking for a Small Dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I read this discussion the other week. I just came across this 23” scale Capritaurus on eBay and thought I might share. I have no affiliation with the seller. Might be a good candidate, though I really don’t have much experience with other dulcimer makes besides my own builds. https://www.ebay.com/itm/CAPRITAURUS-DULCIMER-23-VSL-MINT-/125190762801?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0

Recording multiple tracks?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

One I’ve been using is Spire, which is a multi-track recording app. It’s free and I’ve gotten good results with it, plus it’s handy for making audio recordings with your phone on the go.

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hello to all. I'm Noah. Though I'm better known for my banjo playing and building on Banjo Hangout and YouTube (I've been playing for about ten years and building gourd and mountain style banjos for about five), I've had much interest in the mountain dulcimer. I started playing dulcimer in 2015 on the first one I made, after deciding that instead of buying one I could probably make a decent one, since I had about 20 banjos under my belt at the time. To date, I've made four. My first was a 4-string (double melody) walnut/cherry hourglass, and after playing it for some time and deciding what I liked/didn't like, I made my second, a 3-string walnut teardrop, which is the style I've favored the most and built since. I have a few pics of these on my profile. 

I was aware that this site existed, but I completely forgot about it until stumbling upon it again and decided to join. 

Links to my BHO profile and YouTube channel:

BHO: http://www.banjohangout.org/my/Noah+Cline 

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4zlsglpLMap5XSaUPaQ7QA?view_as=subscriber

 

updated by @noah-cline: 08/10/18 04:53:39PM