My question is how does a dulcimer sound made out of Chestnut that's not Wormy Chestnut, I have found some old barn wood that over a 100 years old and have not found a hole in it. We have andAntiques store here that has a load of barn wood they have been trying to sell. This wood is 2-inches thick, so my band-saw will be busy when I get it
In my experience, wormy chestnut has more often been used for the top or soundboard of the dulcimer. Less frequently it is used for the entire dulcimer. Like someone else has already said, it is frerquently used as a top on a walnut body and gives a very mellow sound, much like an all-walnut dulcimer.
I own an hourglass-shaped,walnut dulcimer with a wormy chestnut top. It was made by Clifford Glenn on September 20, 2001. Sweet sounding 3-string dulcimer. The melody rings out, while the middle and bass drones are a little more subdued. Perfect balance between melody and drones.
I also own an Echo Hollow Tennessee Music Box made by Jared Weaver. Once again a wormy chestnut top on an all-walnut body. This one has 4 strings and mechanical tuners. The larger soundbox creates a loud booming sound that tends to drowned out the melody if played on a single string, so I usually play double melody string on this one using a noter. It was made in November 2008.
Walnut and wormy chestnut are a beautiful combination of woods.
Greg
OK time for me to get my eyes checked
I blew the Pics up a bit and I see what your talking about. Boy is my face red.
Geoff Black said:
Phil
It's actually a very light instrument and, although I can't measure the thickness of the sides, I would imagine they are similar to the thickness of top and back - which are only 1/8th. I think you are looking at the incised marks on top and back (think Homer Ledford-type simple incised decoration).
Patrick
Yes, I was sceptical before it arrived, but I agree it does sing out really well. Think it needs a little work still before it's possible to play in modern fashion...or I may decide to leave it as it, a supreme example of traditional craftsmanship.
Phil
It's actually a very light instrument and, although I can't measure the thickness of the sides, I would imagine they are similar to the thickness of top and back - which are only 1/8th. I think you are looking at the incised marks on top and back (think Homer Ledford-type simple incised decoration).
Patrick
Yes, I was sceptical before it arrived, but I agree it does sing out really well. Think it needs a little work still before it's possible to play in modern fashion...or I may decide to leave it as it, a supreme example of traditional craftsmanship.
Geoff can I ask you about the sides of that dulcimer? can you tell me how thick they are? it looks like they might be a 1/4" and the sound broad looks as if it set down inside of them.
Hi Geoff,
That looks like a really nice dulcimer. And do you agree with Clifford's statement thatthis kind ofwood made some of the best singing dulcimers?I can't wait to hear it in action:)
I know them books well Don. The one that had the Dulcimer was Book number 3.
Hello Geoff. Just to amplify what others have said, since chestnut trees in the Appalachians suffered the blight in the early twentieth century, they have only grown to a height of 3 feet or so. These days any chestnut wood used there for instruments or anything else is reclaimed from old buildings or furniture. It virtually always has oldwormholes in it - hence 'wormy chestnut'.
I have a wormy chestnut and walnutdulcimer made by the late Keith Young (wormy chestnut top and walnut back, sides, headand fretboard). This was one of his favourite wood combinations, which he regarded as giving a loud, strong sound.
I got the band saw. Without going to messure I know I can run a 4" wide broad through it I thinking it will go a bit bigger. If only we lived closer together I could cut it down for ya,
Don Moores said:
Phil
I made a dulcimer about 10 years ago with wormy chestnut top, rest of walnut. Got an old piece of barn beam that was grey and weather checked on two sides, and about a dozen coats of paint on the other two. When I put it through the planer,the wood underneath all that paint was beautiful, golden. I still have some left ... plan to make another. Problem is that every time I use my table saw 1/8 inch blade to cut a 1/8 inch thick piece, I'm losing half of the wood to sawdust, and it isn't being made any more. Before Imake another I need to find a friend with a big band saw!
phil said:what great looking Dulcimers. I would love to find some Chestnut wood to make a dulcimer from, It would be so fitting for me considering my last name is Chestnut.
what great looking Dulcimers. I would love to find some Chestnut wood to make a dulcimer from, It would be so fitting for me considering my last name is Chestnut.
Thanks Robin...i enjoy woodworking but this kinda stuff is WAY over my head!
Now if i could just learn to play it as well as some of the folks on this site!!
Pine
Pine, you've got a real piece of folk art there! Though it's not rare to see a dulcimer made of chestnut, it's not one of the most commonly used woods. American Chestnut is wood not easy to come by.
I also look forward to hearing yours geoff...it's a treasure. I wonder how similar it will sound? Mine has a redwood top so i would think yours may be a bit brighter. Have you posted a tune with it anywhere?
Pine
Both instruments are fine examples of an artizan's craft. Beautiful, just beautiful.
This discussion caught my eye as i too have a chestnut mtn dulcimer...except mine is only headstock, back and sides. The luthier, Harold Turner from S Carolina, said the chestnut was reclaimed from an old piano. Not pre-worm though. Is chestnut fairly often found in dulcimers? I've never seen it but i'm pretty new to dulcimers. Harold worked at the Hagood Mill, and thus the headstock...
Pine
Wow is right! What a fabulous find, Geoff! I'm drooling over that one... 
And the accompanying letter makes it so very special.
I look forward to hearing/seeing you playing it!
Wow, Geoff, you've got a beauty and a treasure! That headstock is exquisite. And, yes, American Chestnut got hit with a terrible blight. Builders here are happy to get the wood from old barns and buildings that have been torn down.
Hi All
Just received a 1983 Clifford Glenn 4 string which is made entirely from wormy chestnut (save nut, bridges and pegs which are walnut). It's delightful - a lovely natural golden yellow colour and it delivers a full sound akin to all-walnut dulcimers I've owned.
BUT, first of all why chestnut...and then why "wormy" chestnut? Is it for its appearance? Because it's by definition seasoned? Cheapness??! In a letter which accompanied the original sale of this dulcimer, Clifford said: "The reason I made it from Chestnut is that not long ago I made another one just like it except that it was a three stringer, and it was one of the best singing ones I ever made."
And second, is Clifford right when he says later in the letter: "I have made but very few like this (all chestnut wood) and it has probably been 20 years since I made the last one....this wood is becoming increasingly rare, as it is not growing anymore, for the blight killed the native american chestnut these many years ago.
Hi Pat;
Ignoring all the Biblical folderol what they mean is:
1. Don't show up at a jam to impress others with what you think is your skill.
2. Keep the beat - the rhythm - set by the song starter, whether you like it or not.
3. Sit in a circle. Keep your eyes and ears open so you can anticipate what the others will do.
4. Don't play louder than the singer or soloist, or if you don't know the tune intimately.
5. Tune it or DIE! An out of tune instrument is inexcusable.
6. Watch and listen for the start and end of the song. See #3. Start and stop when everyone else does.
7. Pay attention to how others are playing a tune so you get the sequence right. If you screw up just jump back in where you can. .
8. Know what key everyone is in, and play many tunes in that key before changing. Don't change keys arbitrarily.
9. Never disparage or insult other players favorite genres of music.
10. Don't just start playing something while others are tuning or deciding what to play. Especially if it's some tune the majority probably doesn't know. Unless you're asked or are teaching that tune as your turn in the circle. Be considerate.
phil said:
Thanks Robin. Don't worry I wont give up on finding something funny to post. It makes my day to know that I put a smile on someone for a while,
Thanks Robin. Don't worry I wont give up on finding something funny to post. It makes my day to know that I put a smile on someone for a while,
Aw, gee, Phil, no harm done! As a matter of fact, I enjoyed 'em!
phil said:
AHHHh Nuts I hate to repost something
There are a few gems in this older discussion on jam etiquette as well...
Jam Etiquette - Rules To Pick By...
The Ten Commandments of Jamming (with a few apologies to the Old Testament)
I Thou shalt not come to the jam to impresseth others with thine own talent for this is an
abomination. The music shall be the star around which all musicians rotateth and not viceth-verseth! Attempts to make thine own star shine, shall surely lead thee into darkness!
II Thou shalt not forsake the beat. Thou shalt not speed up nor slow down accidentally when playing
a tune for this shall be considered an abomination.
III Thou shalt arrange thyself in a small circle so that thou mayest see and mayest hear all the other
musicians. Thou shalt listen with thine ears to the songs and shall attempt to play in one accord with the group. Also, thou shalt lift up thine eyes to look about thee, lest there be some visual sign that someone endeavoureth to render unto thee.
IV Thou shalt play softly when someone lifteth his voice in song, when the guitar taketh a break, and when thou knowest not what thou art doing.
V Thou shalt play in tune! Tune thine instrument well and tune it often with thine electric tuner lest
the sound that emanateth from thine instrument be unclean!
VI Thou shalt commence and cease playing each tune as one, so that the noise you make be a joyful
noise and is not an abomination. Whensoever a musician sticketh forth his foot, as though he were
afflicted with a cramp in the fatted calf, thou must complete the rest of that verse and then cease. Thou shalt stick out thine own foot or else lift up thy voice, crying, "This is it!" or "Last time!" if thou hast been the one to begin the song and it hath been played sufficient times over. If the one who beginneth a tune, endeth it not by one of these signs, then the music goeth on in repetitious fashion until the
listeners shall say, "Hark, it all soundeth the same!"
VII Thou shalt concentrate and shalt not confound the music by mixing up the "A" part with the "B"
part. Most songs, but not all, proceedeth by the ancient law: "AABB". But, if thou sinneth in this regard or make any mistake that is unclean, thou mayest atone not by stopping, nay, but by reentering the song
at the proper place and playing on. Thy fellow musicians will support thee in this regard.
VIII Thou shalt be ever mindful of the key that the dulcimer is tuned in, and shall play many tunes in
that key, for the dulcimer is but a lowly instrument and must needfully be retuned every time there is a key change.
IX Thou shalt speak gentle words of encouragement to those nourished on the milk of folk, gospel
and bluegrass music, but not the meat, lest a harsh word turn one again to the darkness that is pop
music.
X Thou shalt not, by thyself, commence noodling off on a tune that the other musicians knoweth
not, unless asked or unless thou art teaching that tune for this is an abomination, and the other
musicians shall not hold thee blameless, and shall strike thee from their computer lists, yea, unto the third and fourth generation.
- Author Unknown (credited to initials L.P.)
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20242/karin039s-german-feinbrot
http://www.food.com/recipe/german-dark-rye-bread-43285
Looks like the taste is in the sour dough and the spices and cocoa.
Phil, Is the bread called "Hanseaten bread" Vollweizenbrot would be whole wheat bread, but I don't seem to find "Hanseaten" brot recipe.
Spoke too soon, I'm getting there. "Hanseatenbrot" a mostly RYE bread
http://www.stadtbaeckerei-b2b.de/english/product/hanseatenbrot-prebaked.html
Boy I hope someone out there can help me. I am looking for a bread recipe for a bread that is made in Germany. Our new Daughter-in-law is from Hamburg and is missing her favorite bread. I have Looked every on-line but can't seem to find it. "Hanseaten bread"- its a dark whole wheat bread. I would like to make a couple of loafs for her if I can find the recipe.
well shoot Jim I not quite there yet I still learning them chords. but I should have the BBQ sauce there this weekend.
How poetic!
Jeremy Main said:
All you can hear Down by the Riverside is the rustling of thousands of potential noters in the wind...
Lol Anita! Here's mine...
...you're playin your dulcimer in your mind while sitting at a boring meeting at work. Been there, done that
ROFL that was awesome!! You are very creative and funny.
. . . you can name a dozen tunes recorded by Don Pedi and none by Justin Beiber.
. . .you have heard of a guy named Bing.
. . . you think of a guitar as a six-string chromatic dulcimer.
. . . food, clothing, and rent all come out of the general fund but you have a separate dulcimer budget.
. . . the word "spalted" comes up on a daily basis.
. . . the ring tone on your phone is just a D-A drone.
And the band played on . . .
Thanks for starting this thread, Phil--it really brightened my day! And, um, yes....I'm guilty of many of these, too....
phil said:
them are funny Jan and I am not going to say how many I am guilty of
them are funny Jan and I am not going to say how many I am guilty of
..... your favorite luthiers and music stores have higher speed dialer numbers than your friends and family.
...... your basement, garage, or barnis half-filled with long cardboard boxes, peanutsand bubblewrap "in case you ever need to ship another dulcimer somewhere".
.....you can't watch TV--especially the news and weather--withoutstrummin', picking' etc. on your dulcimer.
.....You sit in church and wonder, "Now how would THAT hymn sound on a Ban-Jammer?"
.....you lobby your local high school to include dulcimers in the marching band.
.....you double-check to make sure your dulcimers are safely secured in your vehicle and figure your passengers are "on their own".
.....there's many a thing you'd drop quicker than a bad habit, but your dulcimers getset down as gently as a newborn.
.....you need to change your will after every big dulcimer festival.
-----there's more than one broken thing in your house being held together by old dulcimer strings.
.....you can spell "Schnaufer" but have no clue as to how your great aunt's name is spelled.
That's how I would figure it! Wonderful!!
Dusty Turtle said:
. . . when you describe your tax refund as "a baritone with a galax back and maybe even ebony overlay."
There really is no end to this, is there?
May I suggest that it's to time to stop printing this nonsense!!! 
Some of these 'little messages' are getting to feel as if they are aimed straight at me 
"when you can't remember how old your kids (read grandkids) are but you know..."
JohnH
