Forum Activity for @steven-stroot

I just purchased a used four string instrument.  What's interesting is it's about 17 1/4 inches overall length.  It needs strings so my questions are: 

1)  Will a standard set of dulcimer strings suffice or should this smaller instrument be equipped with strings specifically designed for the short VSL?

2)  Will standard tuning work or should I tune this instrument different than a full-size dulcimer?

3)  It's missing its bridge so I'll have to make one.  There is no groove or anything else to indicate the original bridge placement.  How can I determine where to position the bridge?

Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

There are bowed dulcimers

Very cool, @johnr!

Everyone - this is a thank you, a brag, and announcement of a mountain dulcimer picture in a place you wouldn't expect - Mathematics Magazine.  After reading and watching many of you on this site, I was inspired to investigate an aspect of the vibrating string partial differential equation.  Thanks!  This resulted in a paper "What I Heard from the P.D.E." which has just been published - Mathematics Magazine, Vol. 98, No. 1, February 2025.  In the introduction, there's a picture of my dulcimers.  Most college libraries have subscriptions to Mathematics Magazine.  

In the 1980s and 90s Robert Hutchinson and his wife, Yvonne, made mountain dulcimers under the North Country Dulcimer name. These dulcimers were a rather unique design with a floating bridge which straddles the fret board and sits on the top of the dulcimer. The dulcimers are long, 29 inches, but the VSL is 23 1/2 inches. I bought one this past weekend for $15.00. The nut was broken and I had to make a new one. Other than that I cleaned it up and put on new strings. Now it sings sweetly again. Here are some photos I took before working on it.

https://imgur.com/R1ocqa6

https://imgur.com/LBCWNYF

https://imgur.com/a52vstR

https://imgur.com/ZTxBrY8

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for sharing your good fortune with us Badger. I'm not sure what wood the body of dulcimer is made from, but it does have a walnut overlay on the fret board. I want to say the dulcimer is poplar, but I'm just not certain. Anyway, that dulcimer is something special. Enjoy playing it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You've got a real treasure in that Bonnie Carol!  I can't offer insight into the types of woods used yet know Bonnie's reputation as a luthier is stellar.  Enjoy that lovely dulcimer! 

Hi all,

Long time guitar player here thinking about getting into the dulcimer. I just had a nice dulcimer land in my lap here as my wife found it in a thrift store (actually got it from the guy in line to donate it before it was donated!) Looking into this instrument, it seems that Bonnie was a very well-respected player and luthier. I'd like to learn to play dulcimer now that I have one, and I was just wondering what you could tell me about it. For instance, what kind of wood is it made of? I've heard Bonnie used "exotic hardwoods"...maybe this is Koa or something like that? How would you suggest I clean it without damaging or altering the finish? Is this rare/collectible? Any idea how much a low production number Bonnie Carol like this would go for to a collector? Where should I get strings for it? 

Really appreciate any insights you guys have! Thanks! 

My images were too large to upload, so I put them here: https://imgur.com/a/332WTID

Hi, Michael. I’m sorry it has taken me a bit to get back to you. Trying to figure out how to respond. My number is 256-702-2244 if you would like to call or text about the dulcimer. I’m out of pocket but available after 10 this morning. Thanks!

Margie S

Hello, Michael G here. I’m in your neighborhood—I’m in Tennessee just north of Killen. I’m not familiar with the luthier, but I am a serious player and collector, and yours is a beautiful dulcimer! I’m interested.

John, that's nice of you to recommend this site to new players. Thanks!  

Perhaps "coincidence"...But the last 2 out of three dulcimers I've sold have gone to folks looking to start learning to play., in part because of that little segment on late night TV...

 I always recommend FOTMD to my new customers, it is truly a gem of a resource for anyone with an interest!

If you judge by the number of new members joining FOTMD, the MD community is strong.

Mr Ray custom made this dulcimer for me in March of 2009. It is a twin to his own personal dulcimer he played for many years. My hands are too small for a full sized model, and I would like this dulcimer to go to a serious player. It is solidly built with a rich sound.

Specs:  Signed. Interior label reads “Ray Hunley, 4820 Sierra Drive, Old Hickory, TN 37138”. Original strings. Extra frets. DAD tuning.

$350
Local pickup at or within reasonable distance to Florence, AL. We are in the NW corner of the state. I’m afraid I do not know enough to safely ship. Cash only please. Thank you. 🤗

 B69F7ACE-B9C7-4501-B440-1B3C28043E9C.jpeg - 76KB

This Saturday, 29 March, 2025-- the more countries which participate, the merrier!  Love of the Appalachian dulcimer has spread around the world.    

4 equidistant strings is an interesting configuration

That is a very nice gift that Glen gave you Jim. Enjoy it. 

Dusty, that limberjill is delightful. I'm sure you've had fun playing it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That's such a nice gesture on Glen's part, Jim. I love the vest!

Several years ago I lent a stranger a dulcimer at a dulcimer festival. The next year at that same festival he showed up with a limberjack for me. Or should I say limberjill .

I was admiring my friend Glen's limberjack at a festival and a few months later, he showed up with one he'd made for me.

 Limberjack from Glen.jpg - 97KB

https://youtu.be/xwGMhADMxoA?si=FvP8tD3bYFeVdReO

A little reminder of the day.  :)

That's funny how the AI bot referenced you to tell you about you, @nate .

I've been hashtagging International Appalachian Dulcimer Day on fb for a few years now and think somebodies got "it" in the hashtag game.  

I fully agree @dusty . I couldn't help but laugh at the idea of an AI bot reading MY post and then giving me misleading information about my own instrument

That's hilarious, @nate.  It certainly demonstrates the limitations of information from AI.  On the one hand, it found your information here. On the other hand, it fails to recognize how unique your builds are, implying lots of "enthusiasts" are experimenting the way you do.

Dusty, I've heard a lot of good feedback about Feed-N-Wax. I asked because I happened to already have this can of furniture polish, and was hoping to find a use for it. I have used it a few times on my dulcimers, and the orange oil does a good job at keeping the wood vitalized, for lack of a better word.

Neither of the two products I use occasionally--Howard Feed-N-Wax and Old English Lemon Oil--contain silicone.  I have to admit, though, that I didn't know that until I looked it up. Those products were recommended to me years ago and they both seem to work well.

Thank you very much Ken for this comprehensive answer. The Horstobel Sachs system has always been hard for me to wrap my head around, but what you typed is super easy to grasp. Would any discontinuous fretboard then be considered a lute? 

Dusty,

That is hilarious.  But you're right, somehow IADD is becoming a thing.  I'm trying to promote on Mountain Dulcimer Lore.  Maybe, if we keep posting and talking about it the dulcimer world and maybe beyond will take notice...now let us lobby for a dulcimer postage stamp.

That's true Dusty. What was it that guy in England said, "A rose by any other name will smell as sweet?" Perhaps a dulcimer by any other name still has a sweet sound.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Let's remember that the distinction between the lute family and the zither family is based on organology, which classifies instruments based on the way they make sound (technically its the Hornbostel-Sachs system). 

There are certainly other ways to classify them: how they are played, what they sound like, the purpose of the music (dance, worship), etc.  After all, in terms of organology, the piano and the organ are completely unrelated instruments, the former a string instrument and the latter a wind instrument.  But most of us see them as similar because they are played in a similar manner.  In terms of how you play the instrument, the mountain dulcimer is much closer to lutes than to zithers such as the hammered dulcimer.

Well, Nate, I'll attempt to answer your question about the instrument in the photo using the Horbostel-Sachs classification system for musical instruments. In this system there are five categories of instruments. The one in the photo is clearly a chordophone; it has strings. There are five types of chordophones; bows, harps, lutes, lyres, and zithers. I think we can agree it is not a bow, harp, or lyre which leaves us with or question; lute or zither. If the fret board can be detached from the box (resonator) and still make a sound, it is a zither. If no sound can be heard after the two are separated it is a lute. Think of it this way. If you take the neck off of a guitar, ukulele, or mandolin you can no longer strum the strings thus you have no sound. (You could hit the box and make a sound like a drum, but then it is no longer a chordophone.) If you remove the box (resonator) in your photo, you can still get a sound from the fret board (although muted), so it is a zither. Further refinement of the definition is difficult in this system although it likely would go under the category stick zither.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

This is an age old discussion that has been going on for far longer than the 30 or so years I've been into dulcimers.
Is the "neck/fretboard extending beyond the sound box" what defines a mountain dulcimer? Or is it the diatonic fret arrangement? Or is it the number of strings or the double melody course? Body depth and shape? The tuning? We've debated all this forever (in a good way)  :)   With so many tweaks possible in various combos, at what specific point does an instrument change from being a zither, a dulcimer, a lute, a cigar box guitar, etc. Is a guitar with diatonic frets a dulcimer?  Is a mtn dulcimer with a calfskin resonator insert a banjo? Is a stick dulcimer really a dulcimer?- if so, is it still a 'dulcimer' if it's chromatically fretted, or not fretted at all?

"What makes something a dulcimer" has always been a complex question, especially when so many hybrid instruments come on the scene. Often it just comes down to "what to call this".

But there's no 'rule book' -except the generally accepted definitions of musical instrument categories (lute family, zither family) that we've already cited. People can declare what is or isn't a mtn dulcimer til the cows come home, but often it comes down to opposing opinions.

We made it into the AI algorithms!  That constitutes success in my book, even if the information being spewed by the bots is factually incorrect.

I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk when he saw his name in the phonebook:

Indeed, we did-- what a bunch of troublemakers we are!  

We started something bigger than we knew..we’re hysterical eh, I mean Historical.

@steve-c Just goes to show the power of a #!  

Boy does AI exaggerate much? I search “mountain dulcimer first festival” and this came up. “The first recorded mountain dulcimer festival was the International Appalachian Dulcimer Day (IADD), which is always the last Saturday in March, and this year it falls on March 29, 2025.“

 IMG_0954.jpeg - 137KB

It's hard to differentiate the concept of a dulcimer from its fretboard and string layout. A three course instrument with a paired melody course and two accompanying courses in the same key is such a powerful concept that it gets applied to all kinds of different resonators. 
On the topic of lutes and zithers, I am wondering how this system reconciles something like a discontinuous fingerboard which terminates before the bridge, or a dulcimer with a fingerboard that extends beyond the box. Is the following photo a lute or zither?

Thank you Strumelia. I will try that.