Forum Activity for @susie

Really cool! Nice job on it.

Hey, go for a socket!  Merle Watson used a Craftsman.  :)

Robin, thanks!  I have tried one, but I'm not very good at it, plus the slide I have is a bit small.  I should get another one.  I might try a sparkplug socket. :-)

Bob, that critter sounds cool!  Have you tried using a bottleneck slide on it?  

I love my Blue Lion. After sitting in the back of the hall closet for over 20 years, it’s still in tune! The highest quality of any dulcimer I ever owned.

Finished building this cigar box guitar yesterday.  It was a fun project.  Kind of dulcimer-ish.

Someone on fb shared this writing from Ralph and it seems appropriate to include it here: 

https://bulletin.swarthmore.edu/bulletin-issue-archive/archive_p=1060.html?fbclid=IwAR3bzp1m1H6S6JynCk0dGCauS2hdYNdCzLPqsfOxzGAl78Y5OCNSA34WAew

Ralph Lee Smith has given the mountain dulcimer world so much!  Like Ken H, I would like to have met both Jean Ritchie and Ralph yet both have now joined the ancestors.  

Ralph contributed much to our understanding of dulcimers, where they came from, and how they evolved.  For anyone interested in solid scholarship his books are worth reading.  I met him once. He was a kind person who was generous in sharing his collection of instruments as well as his knowledge.

R.I.P. Ralph.   
My greatest regrets as a dulcimer person are that I never had the chance to meet and know Ralph and Jean Ritchie.

I feel fortunate to have met Ralph Lee Smith several times, most notably at Dulcimer U at Western Carolina University.  What a kind, knowledgeable man!  He was able to impart his knowledge about the mountain dulcimer in a way that communicated how pleased he was to answer your question or help you understand something better.  He was never arrogant about what he knew--or how much,  He just enjoyed sharing what he knew with others--and we were all richly blessed.  Rest in peace, dear man.

We all knew this day was coming, but we didn't know WHEN.  It's still very sad for us who knew Ralph, and sad for the dulcimer world at large.  He left a great quantity of scholarly work behind, which will instruct and entertain musicians and luthiers for many years.  Rest in peace, dear friend.

Thank you Ken. It's a deep loss for the dulcimer world. Ralph Lee Smith has given us all so much.

Sad news indeed. Ralph's knowledge of the evolution of the dulcimer far surpassed that of any else living or dead.  We will be forever in his debt for his publications on dulcimer history.

It is with a great deal of sadness that I share the news that Ralph Lee Smith died this morning, December 30, 2020, at his home in Virginia. He was 93 years old. I will share more when I have collected myself. R.I.P. Ralph.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

We're talking about fret markers, not fret placement.

Without using the apps, it should be possible to know where the frets go. Tune the first string to D, and work your way up until E is found, then mark that and continue.At least I would think you could use this method.

Sounds like he's not very experienced in dulcimers and diatonic instruments. He may be a good luthier at other intruments, but I don't think he understands how the concept of modal scales applies to mtn dulcimer fret patterns in particular. He's defensive because naturally no one who presents themselves as professional likes to have their lack of knowledge pointed out to them.   Still, you have done him a favor because future clients will have a hard time with his strangely placed fret markers as well, if he doesn't understand a diatonic scale with its half and whole steps and how they are used in tuning and playing. 

Update...

After thinking about his reason it made me realize that, if true, would have put the placement off by one in the OTHER direction starting with a marker at the 2nd fret.  Anyway, a couple of days later he messaged me (a little defensive this time) saying that he spent some more time researching markers and could find no consensus himself so everyone could be right.  He then said that he actually felt that he couldn't be wrong because he had followed the example set on the Folkcraft dulcimer site.  I knew right then what had happened because every time I open up the Folkcraft dulcimer all the dulcimer's they offer for sale include the 1 and 1/2 fret...LOL.  I messaged him back and pointed this out telling him to find the 7th fret (pointing out it is the last of the three thin ones in the center of the fret board or the double marked one) and count backwards and he will see that the dot on all Folkcraft instruments begin on the 3rd fret.  Soon he messaged back and thought he might just add the 1 and 1 1/2 fret on all his new units too.  

I have four Backyard Instruments. Three chromatic DAd tuned; one with regular strings; the other with nylon strings.  The third chromatic is tuned DAAA.The fourth is tuned DAd with 1.5: 6.5: 8.5 and 13.5 frets.  My favorite of these is whichever one is in my lap.

 I also have a Folkcraft chromatic cardboard dulcimer my son built for me.

 I have heard of cardboard Backyard Instruments lasting 30 years.

I don’t know of the availability of plans.

There are no plans for cardboard dulcimers.  There are only kits to put together or completed cardboard instruments.  The kits are under $100. 

You can easily make a trapezoid or box dulcimer body roughly 30" long by 5" to 8" wide by 2" deep using tape and Elmers glue. If you want anything fancier, I suggest you buy a cardboard kit.

A length of straight 1x2 pine or poplar or maple from one of the big box stores is your fretboard for only a couple dollars. 

A set of inexpensive tuners is under $20 and fretwire is under $7 from CBGitty or StewMac.

A set of strings under $8 usually from any music shop. 

The spacing for the frets you can get from WFret or the StewMac calculator or a couple other places for free.  

If you'd like any help in the construction process, join us here in the Groups area under Building Dulcimers, and we can easily talk you through a build...

Folkcraft.com or Backyard Music https://www.backyardmusic.com/dulcimers.html, may have plans. Otherwise the backyards are cheap and you can create the design from their product. Backyards are surprisingly good for a cardboard model.

Hi All,

I have been away from this forum for a long time but recently a friend asked me about building them a dulcimer.  I have been reading about cardboard/styrofoam kits and it has really piqued my interest.

Does anyone know of a site where I can find plans, or other info that may help me along?

                    Thanks...Tom

Well that solves the mystery. You helped improve things for the next person who buys a dulcimer from him!  Still gotta wonder though why he didn't do two minutes of simple google research or just looking at online dulcimer images before inlaying the markers.

After hearing all your replies I felt confident in contacting him and letting him know he definitely did not have the Fret markers in the correct/standard places.  He took the critique kindly and informed me that his confusion came because he counted the nut as fret one when he began putting in the markers.  Mystery solved.  Thank you all.

I came to the dulcimer without any music background at all. Fret markers were just a decoration and my 1st dulcimer was a kit  without markers. I didn't realize they had a purpose until I went to full chromatic fretboards. I looked at the 3-5-7-10 but they didn't make any sense to me [still don' t actually] so went to marking the diatonic frets since that layout was familiar. I suppose, considering they are really just location identifiers, that it's what a person gets used to using [without even thinking about  them].

I just looked at my Folkcraft, it's marked at the 3-7-10. Didn't realize that before.

I suppose if someone played Capo 1 a lot, 4-6-8 might make some sense, maybe.

BTW, after hearing people complain about confusion over plus frets, I place a fret marker underneath the fret for plus frets as a visual marker.  I drill a hole and use a wooden dowel to plug it, then saw the fret slot.  Never had any problems doing so.

Thank you all.  You were very helpful.

I suspect fret markers were invented for chromatically fretted instruments. Guitar, banjo, mandolin players really need them. Sometimes they have tiny inlaid dots on the side of the necks as fret markers rather than on the fretboard itself.

I agree with the others that on dulcimers, the distinctive fret spacing patterns serve as a good visual map.  If someone wants fret markers anyway, the 3/5/7/10 placements would not cause objections form players. Other placements such as 4/6/8 don't make much sense to me and would cause confusions for many players.

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.

Back in the day I put fret markers on my builds, but not any more. As my brother Ken says, when you make and play only true diatonic fretboards, the spacing pattern tells you everything you really need to know.

I agree Dusty. I don't put position dots on the dulcimers I build. I think I have two with position dots, a Folkcraft and Blue Lion.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

One could possibly come up with a reason to put a position dot anywhere. But since the point is to quickly recognize where you are on the fretboard, standardization is a benefit.  Since 3, 5, 7, & 10 are the most common places for such markers, anything else would risk confusion.

The fact is that with a diatonic fretboard there is no need for fret markers since the fret pattern clearly tells you where you are.  I have some dulcimers with no fret markers and have no trouble.  I have some marked at 3, 5, 7, & 10, and have no trouble.  But I woundn't even considering buying a dulcimer with frets marked elsewhere as that would just be confusing.

The problem with the diatonic fretting on the mountain dulcimer is that the root note, third, and fifth vary from tuning to tuning. Position markers at frets 3, 5, and 7 because the scale in 1 - 5 - 5 tuning starts at the 3rd fret. If you use 1 - 3 - 5 tuning, then the 2, 4, 6 placement makes sense. For those of us who use both tunings on the same dulcimer, position markers don't make sense, at least to me. So before you reply your friend, find out what tuning he intends those who play his dulcimers to use.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I see a lot dulcimers with 4, 6 and 10, 13 marked, and some 8s. I restore and mark at 3, 5, 7 and 10.

I think I was sounding like I was just complaining but actual I would like to know if there would be any technical or rational reason to place them there.  (fretmarkers @ 4,6 &8)  He is a new builder and wanted my opinion and before I tell him that, for me anyway,the markers are not in the correct positions and going forward her show move them.  But maybe there is some research he did to place them there that I have not come across.  I did see where the 4th fret in integral in dorian tuning.  Educate me here on this before I possible lead him astray.  TY

Merry Christmas to one and all and hoping for a better new year. 

Thanks for the positive thoughts. It will be my go to instrument when playing with others. It has a good sound and volume. 

I will then tune it to traditional...

...Since as Strumelia says, it is not necessarily a collectable, for the enhancements I have in mind it will need to be darkened some. This is a little more that a restoration but an enhancement to a restoration. Still beautiful and still itself, but with a little added art. Popular, now I know what the back is. Just couldn't remember. Ok will be tuned traditional, 4 string galax. 

Other practical problems with converting/selling this Galax dulcimer into a baritone:  First, people looking for a baritone mountain dulcimer usually don't want wooden tuning pegs . Also, most people looking for a baritone dulcimer will be chord style players , and this Galax is a real traditional wooden pegged dulcimer with no 6.5 fret. It's daunting to play a diatonically fretted dulcimer in chord style without a 6.5 fret. Baritone players are not going to want to retune in order to play various tunes. They want to stick with standard baritone tunings. And to play chord style in typical baritone tuning means you'll need that 6.5 fret.

Though not a precious museum antique, this is nonetheless a lovely traditional vintage Galax dulcimer (and such beautiful naturally blonde wood! ) though it seems to lack a double back. There is a substantial market for traditional Galaxes. It would be a bit odd to market this as a "Galax Baritone" since Galax dulcimers weren't made as baritones. There is also a good market for baritone dulcimers, but most folks who know dulcimers and are looking for a baritone dulcimer will avoid a wood peg dulcimer without a 6.5 fret that is obviously a Galax dulcimer. They'd want a more modern large scale dulcimer with 6.5 and 13.5 frets, and geared tuners.

And if for no other reason... I'm pretty sure you would get a better price selling this as a traditional restored Galax and not a concocted Barilax. (sounds like a Barium enema, hahah). If someone who loves vintage instruments did buy it, they'd probably immediately turn it back to a traditional Galax stringing anyway. Why not bring out its own natural beauty and appeal in what it is? Just my two cents. 
Do take another look at the gorgeous droolyworthy Galaxes shown on Ben Seymour's site. They are so wonderful!  I'm extremely lucky to have a custom Galax made by Ben. But this Delser has heaps and heaps of charm, especially if you let the beauty of that blonde chestnutty-poplary wood come through.