Forum Activity for @banjelele

You know your dulcimer has a hold on you when...

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Roughly 30 years ago I shot a 22 calibre bullet through the middle of the tip knuckle of my index finger on my left hand. I still have the finger but that knuckle doesn't bend at all. I couldn't play for a few months and when I could again I had to change how I did everything. It works well for bar chords on the guitar but I finger everything differently. It's àmazing what you can overcome if you stick to it.

Magnetic pickup vs Piezo vs Mic pointed at dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I saw a fellow on YouTube playing with a system that clamps on the neck just ahead of the strum hollow and I’m sure he was using a Lawrence acoustic guitar sound hole pickup with the sound hole spring clamp removed. In this application the pickup is inverted over the strings. I have one of those pickups and also a Dean Markley pickup that fits in the sound hole. When I got my copy made I realized that the Bill Lawrence one wouldn’t work unless I removed that clip and I wasn’t willing to do so. I guess I should have built the mount a bit wider. The Dean Markley pickup works fine but has a more compressed sound than the Lawrence. Either way I can now make enough volume to play with guitar players and actually be heard and I don’t have to alter my dulcimer in any way.