Forum Activity for @john-henry

Where is the crack situated ?  (in relation to the soundholes, for instance)

JohnH

Hi, I'm looking at an instrument on ebay that has a small, 3 inch crack in the upper soundboard. Is this the sort of thing that should be a dealbreaker for a non-luthier, non-handy sort of person?  The dulcimer is priced cheaply, but is quite pretty and has a unique headstock.  I have other dulcimers, so this wouldn't be my main instrument.  I wouldn't normally consider purchasing on ebay, but this one is tempting me.. Is this something that can be fixed?  Would it affect the sound?

Here is a link to Clifford's obituary for anyone insterested: http://www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com/obituary.php?name=1483

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

At McSpadden I bought a couple of books, picks and noters, no dulcimer, but I had just built my first dulcimer.

Jimmy, I was there in either 73 or 74.  We saw a show; Jimmie Driftwood was one I remember, and Aunt Ollie Gilbert and some old man who did the buck and wing all through the 2nd half.  At the center the next what sticks out is the old men there working, volunteers, or hanging out, and getting them talking about my Grandfather.  

Ken, we stopped at McSpadden, too.  Didn't get a dulcimer but do remember the records I bought there: Old Time Mt Guitar and Leake County Revellers.  Hope to be back up there really soon.

As Rob Lackey said, some folks collect dulcimers because of their history, who made them, what materials were used, the artistic quality, and the variety of tones, etc.  Also, our tastes in a "go to" instrument (the one(s) we use all they time) changes over time...  Some are more suited for using in a large jam than others.  Some are great for recording purposes.  Some have the easy playability that we need in an instructional setting.  Some we want to travel with and some we want to be able to let other folks use and enjoy.  So some of us lterally have a "village" of dulcimers!

I know what you mean about those smaller airplanes.  When I fly across the country, the first leg of my trip is from KY to Dallas.  On one side of the plane there are NO overhead bins, and on the other side there are very small overhead bins that will not even accommodate my very small "under the seat" carry on!  This is a major airline (American Airlines), but even with major airlines, you do occasionally encounter these smaller planes being used.  I have not tried taking any of my dulcimers on a plane since I know this is the kind of aircraft that will be used for the first part of the trip.  I know they're supposed to allow it inside the cabin "if it fits", but even on a larger plane, I doubt they'd remove someone's roller bag to accommodate your musical instrument!  I have, however, talked about "flying with instruments" to a number of guys flying out of Dallas with instruments (usually large guitar cases).  They all pretty much say, "We just walk on with it, look the flight attendant in the eye and stow it wherever it fits.  We've never been told to gate check them!"  I think that has a lot to do with attitude, as much as anything....

I have used a Korg tuner in the past and own a bunch of Snarks and a couple "Snarkheads", as well....but my new favorite is a D'Addario NS Mini UNIVERSAL tuner.  It clips on like a Snark, but the parts that pivot are designed differently and are much more user friendly and sturdy, in my opinion!  And since the display will flip if you turn it upside down, you can even have your tuner clipped under your peghead and  no one but you will see it.  Nice bright display in a small package, too!

I agree with Bob.  One of my Snarks broke there and I still use that one most.  It carries well in a pocket, ready for use when needed.

One thing to try with your broken Snark is to set it in the sound hole.  It should work just fine.

Sheryl, what you do with the suction cup pickup is to plug it into the input slot on your electronic tuner, then put the suction cup part on the instrument.  I first learned about the suction cup pick years on the autoharp discussion list, and how it easily helped pick up the lower F, G and C strings on the autoharp, which some tuners would not pick up that well at all.  I did recently get a Snark tuner, but I use it mostly on my guitars, and my McSpadden dulcimer because it has a flat head as opposed to a scroll type head.

 I have several Snarks but I don't use them heavily. Snarks are prone to breaking at the pivot point which is the weakest place. Although they cost a little more, my favorite clip on tuner is the Intellitouch PT-10. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PT10C I use it on my dulcimers, banjos, and guitars.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I love my Snark. I rotate it frequently from the dulci to the Uke. I worry about this, because a lot of people have written about the Snark’s “neck” breaking. But I only paid 12 dollars (free shipping) for it from Sweetwater, so I shouldn’t worry too much. I think I will buy another and dedicate it to tuning the Uke, and maybe a third as a backup. 

If you Google Sweetwater, you may see a bad rep regarding customer service. Old news! They will practically come to your house to make sure your order is all it was meant to be. So I think you could get pretty customer service from Sweetwater at this point, because they seem to be trying to repair their image. 

James, That tuner pickup from Sweetwater looks interesting. I often see guitar amplifiers at the flea market, would this combo work?

Robert, I didn't know you make psalteries. I may be contacting you soon. 

Thanks Ken! I'm going to head to the music store to see if they have short violin bows. They may have tuning wrenches too but I may opt to order a psaltery bow and tuning wrench online from a psaltery builder. 

I recommend a regular tuner like a Korg, plus a plug in suction cup like this  http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TunerPickup  They stick onto the instrument to pick up the string sound even in a noisy room.

Those little round pitch pipe tuners work for me. Never need batteries, almost impossible to break. As Ken said, tune from the dulcimer. First use pipe to get your low D and tune from that string.... BTW. I tune my 46 string hammered dulcimer that way... Robert.

A psaltery bow would be just right. Here is a pic of one of my black walnut bows... Robert

My recommendation for a clip-on tuner?  Don't bother.  As you say, they keep breaking.  Besides, you don't need to retune every song anyway, so why bother.  Tune the dulcimer.  Put the tuner away.  Play.

I will never be an accomplished player on ANYONE'S dulcimer so, I'll keep whitt'ling out one now and then till I'm happy with one of my own. It would be difficult to limit myself to one. I don't think I could. 

I have one from 'Qwik Tune'. It doesn't clip to anything, it simply lays on the instrument. I've checked it with a couple of my Snark clip ons. It is as accurate ... but ... if you need/want one that clips on, this isn't it. Can you possible relocate the Snark? Maybe to a strap button or other place on the instrument?

All too true, Patty

Yes, a standard autoharp tuning wrench should work with those pins, although some earlier pins had smaller heads.  And yes, a psaltry bow should work, although a longer bow might give more sustain to notes.

Good grief, I rotated my tablet to vertical and..wala..I can see.its a miracle!

I have a neighbor who has a Violin Uke. Yes, that is what it's called. The original bow is damaged. I would like to get him a bow so he can play the instrument. Would a Psaltery bow be acceptable? Any suggestions you have would be appreciated. Also, it has zither pins. I'm guessing it may be out of tune. Would a modern zither tuning key work on it?

Here is a video of someone playing a Violin Uke:

I swore I'd only have two dulcimers. Now I have five! If had the money and the space I'd buy a dulcimer from each maker who is a member of FOTMD. I've seen pictures posted of some lovely instruments by these builders. I do have one made by Kevin Messinger and one made by Dan Cox. I think my friend Carrie said it best, we all eventually get DAD: Dulcimer Acquistion Disease, LOL 

Thanks Lexie! We'll be having a part 2 episode on the scheitholt. And much more to come ...

Patricia, I really enjoyed listening to both of your podcasts, they were both intertaining and interesting.

I really liked the interview with Ben Seymour, he is very educated on history of the MD, a great luthier and musician.

Thanks for the additional info, good to know!   (way out smiley)

Patricia, I forgot to mention that I really like that your podcasts are 30 minutes long. I subscribe to several excellent NPR podcasts that are an hour long, and I get behind on those because I rarely have an hour to listen. And when I listen to them in piecemeal, I lose interest. Good luck with your podcast, it seems you are off to a WAY OUT start.

Sheryl, Thanks so much for listening! We have more episodes in the works. Wayne and I are so excited about doing this podcast. We LOVE hearing from people who've listened. We're planning to share some listeners' comments in a future episode, so if anyone is interested in this, go to http://dulcimuse.com/podcast  to share your comments or suggestions.

Dusty, We've had the same experience as you ... while making our film, many people had a special story about the dulcimer. I have one too! What is it about the dulcimer that brings out these feelings and special experiences that other instruments just don't? The mountain dulcimer is truly a magical instrument ...

You're welcome, Jimmy.

Patricia, Just listended to your 2nd podcast: Joni Mitchell's Dulcimers. Very enjoyable! I am looking forward to more episodes. Thanks for these. 

The photos of Joellen Lapidus' dulcimers are well worth the trip on over to her website. Amazing craftmanship.

http://www.lapidusmusic.com/

Ken, thank you so much for posting these photos, that sure brings back memories.  

Thanks DT.  I've got well over a year's worth of good eating there.

I have thought about candied walnuts, and they would counter the bitterness, it's true.  And using a good amount of a contest sponsor's products is always a good thing.  That first go 'round I was using as much stuff as I could from what I had on hand, rather than buying all new ingredients.  All I needed to buy was the mandarin.  I guess some candied walnuts won't break the bank

Patricia, guitars were always there in my life.  I do not have a genesis story of the moment I discovered the guitar. Or the piano. Or almost any other instrument.  But the dulcimer is different. I can tell you when I first heard the dulcimer and how it affected (infected?) me.  Most dulcimer players have similar stories.  It might be nice if you began collecting those stories and shared them periodically on your Podcast.  You could ask people to send you emails that you could edit and recite, people could share audio files directly, or you could interview folks as you visit different dulcimer festivals.  It could be a recurring part of your podcasts.  Many people wax poetic when talking about their first exposure to the dulcimer. And for you guys it would be like crowdsourcing but for content instead of finances.

Ken, was just reading through some of the recipes you posted. Definitely made me hungry.  Lady Sally is lucky to have you catering (literally) to her desires.

One thought: if you find the walnuts in the Waldorf Failure to be too bitter, perhaps you could use candied walnuts. It might mean less apple or mandarin or other of the sweet stuff, but it would be a way to increase the use of one of the required ingredients. Just a thought.

Lady Sally wants to lose some weight (like most of us), and she's asked me to create 400 calorie or less, healthy, filling dinners for her, and then post them on my weekly food blog.  New posts every Monday:  http://foodingaround-kiltedcook.blogspot.com   This week there were three good choices.

Wow, June was so hot that for the first time ever, our backyard blueberry harvest is now overlapping with our garden tomato season. 

Today I made a big blueberry pie AND picked several gigantic ripe red and yellow tomatoes.  I think we may have another 10 days of blueberries or so.  Spent an hour and a half working my way along the rows pulling up weeds in the vegetable garden.  Probably three more days of the same to finish that round.  The bending is tough, but I find kneeling is worse.  sigh....then you blink and the weeds are all back again...lol.
For lunch I had two fresh thick sliced tomato sandwiches with mayo and onions.  Bought some bacon so we can start making BLTs tomorrow...

Hello Jimmy. We visited McSpadden and the Ozark Folk Center in 1974. My wife and I camped at Blanchard Springs Campground. We visited with Lynn McSpadden and also took in an evening concert at the Folk Center. I remember Jimmy Driftwood as part of the concert and some other folks from Mt. View. I'm not sure, but I think Elliot Hancock played the dulcimer during the concert. Most of the photos from that trip are on paper and I haven't scanned them in the computer. I do have these two photos of the Dulcimer Shoppe.