One of my two cats. This is Ollie. He was named Dolly when we adopted him at the shelter, but he was so fluffy we couldn't tell immediately that the paperwork was wrong. He was indeed a male! So Dolly became Ollie. He's 16 pounds, and appears to be either Ragdoll, Ragdoll mix, or a Ragamuffin. And he's got all the behavioral traits to go along with the looks and size.
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Instead of crawling the mall or online shopping, I spent my Black Friday cleaning up the new-to-me dulcimer. The top had separated from the sides a little, and there was a small crack in the headstock, so repairs were in order. With that done, I went on to the clean up process. It was really gunky but cleaned up great. I ended up making a new nut from one that came from a mandolin and adjusting the bridge. It put me right where I need to be.
The only problem I see now is that the frets are quite skinny (sorry no measurement here, but I'm familiar with fret size on mandolins and guitars and can tell relative size). I am wondering if I should try to replace the frets with something a bit larger. The frets also seem to be well worn and probably need to be replaced anyway.
The tuners were stiff and super gunky. I cleaned the buttons, cleaned the gears and posts, and oiled the gears. The tuners now turn smoothly and hold the tuning well. I'm pleased that they did work out okay since I figured I'd have to replace them.
After cleaning it all up, I researched wood and think it is made of honduran mahogany with a walnut fingerboard, and after further inspection think it may be solid wood. The strings that were installed on the dulcimer were apparently guitar strings that were way too hefty for this 31 -inch instrument. I put on some d'Addario dulcimer strings tuned DAA, and now it has a resonant and mellow tone.
For a free dulcimer I can't be more pleased. Now to learn how to play it. I ordered a couple of Mel Bay books and will start on the learning process in the next few days.
Thanks for your insight and assistance with this. You got me on the right track.
Thank you. You confirmed my suspicions it is diatonic. I just ordered some new strings 12-12-22 and will restring in a few days. In the meantime I'm going to start cleaning it up. Have a good Thanksgiving!
I hope this helps. I'm having trouble receiving the photos I sent to my computer, so maybe this one will help.
Thanks for your helpful response. I just checked Hulme's article for new players. My action is too low on the middle and bass strings at the first fret. The melody string action is okay at the first fret. There is plenty of room at the left of the second fret (using a nickel). I assume that lowering the nut slots on the bridge for the middle and bass strings will help. Is that going to increase the space between the string and the fret? I will have to get new strings first, for sure. As to what tuning to use, what is the tonal difference between DAA and DAd?
I'm a total newbie who was given what appears to be an older 3 string elliptical dulcimer. I'd like some help identifying what I've got and what strings to use. It's 30" overall, 1-3/4" deep in the box, has a metal staple style nut and I think a plastic bridge and open gear tuners. I think this may be a kit build, because the sound holes are two simple circles and it may be laminate. The strings are attached to posts on the top of the fretboard beyond the bridge. I can't identify the wood, but it has a nice resonance and volume.
The frets are really small, which is why I think it may be an older instrument. The VSL is 24". What strings should I use on this? The ones that came on it are totally grungy.
Thanks for any help you can provide. If I can get my phone to send me a photo of it, I'll post a picture.
