Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Nitro is west of Charleston heading toward Huntington. It is a small town of around 6,500 people at spans two counties in the western part of central West Virginia. Nitro itself has an interesting history as the place that manufactured gun powder for World War I.  As to Mr. Jennings I know nothing about him. Here is a link to https://w ww.g orbysmusic.com  so you can look for yourself. My guess is that Mr. Jennings made a few dulcimers and put them in the shop on consignment, but maybe some of our West Virginia members know more about him. Perhaps you could call the shop and someone there might know something about him.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Find a grave gave me zip.....

That is a beautiful dulcimer.

My dulcimer was a gift from my sister-in-law who found it at CA thrift shop. I call it a tear-box shaped dulcimer, mostly a long rectangular box with a tapered tear-drop styled top. I added a 6+ fret to this 1976 built dulcimer.

For anyone interested, it's an odd bird. It has 28 7/8 in. VSL to a movable bridge - sort of like a banjo. Overall length is 39 1/2 inches (The only affordable case I could find that it fit was a soft rifle case that I adorned with patches of musical notes and a Celtic knot and I keep a kazoo on the outside gun cartridge holders to avoid misidentification.) The box is 31 1/4 X 6 1/2 X 2 1/2 inches.  It has good volume and excellent sustain. 

Anyone know anything about builder? C. Swanson Jennings from Nitro, W. VA 

Or the town or region?

Or the music shop it came from?  Gorby's Music in So. Charleston, W. VA

 dulc edit FOTMD.png - 1.3MB

Howdy All. I have a Ron Ewing baritone dulcimer & have been playing it for close to a year now. I couldn't be happier..!  Quality product made by a quality & professional person. Answered any question I had & I couldn't ask for more. A+ in my books. 

I recently adapted and used one of Stew Macs new guitar shipping boxes with it's inflatable insert. Worked great!

I asked my kids to get me a bodhran kit from McNeela's for Xmas because the up / down tipper motion is very similar to strumming and I thought if I played it while listening to Irish, Finnish and other folk music, the muscle memory would help me develop my strumming versatility.  Anyone have any experience with this? 

Long Suffering Wife and I have passed by the Plectrum Dulcimer shoppe in Laguna Canyon every Summer since we got married (1984), on our way to the Laguna Arts Festival.  A couple of years ago we drove in to see if it was still there; the wooden sign out front is, but the shop wasn't.  But I've been hankering for one of their dulcimers since and I finally got one today on Ebay.  A nice, early on, late 1970's looker with a different headstock from the others I've seen, more of a curve to it.  Anyway, if you google Jim Fyhrie you will come up with a couple of very nice pieces on Jim, including a write-up in the LA Times.  I'm only sorry we didn't stop in earlier.  Jim sounds like a good guy to know.  

Gentlemen, Thank you so much for your input. You have made me much more confident with my design choices, and I'll go ahead with the plan and not change a thing!  Again, Thanks!

Just a quick comment here that fretboard width and string spacing are two different things.  My personal preference is for the strings to be no further than 1 inch from bass to melody (on a 3-string instrument), but I still like a 1-1/2" fretboard since that provides more room for bending strings.

Cherry and butternut sounds like a nice choice.  I think I agree with others who suggest that wood choice has much less of an effect on sound than many other aspects of building.  I usually choose wood based on looks and the builder based on sound.

Definitely agree with Ken and Andy.  Fret board width and VSL is not an absolute.  What one musician finds ideal, another may find unplayable.  Play many different instruments and find what works for you, or, if you build to sell, make a few different models and give musicians a choice.

As far as wood, same advice.  Find the model of dulcimer you enjoy building, then find the wood that you believe sounds best,..., and ignore the people who think otherwise.  Music is in the ear of the hearer, build what sounds good to you.  Best example, cherry.  Some say it produces a sweet sound and others say it over emphasizes the treble.  Does it sound right to you? Then it is.

The 1/8" difference in width means the melody course and the bass course are that much farther apart.  Most Chord-Melody players don't have an issue with fretboard width affecting chording ability, although those with "chubby" fingers find the wider board more useable.  C-M players do have issues with longer VSLs (28" to 30" making it harder to fret some  chords.  Smaller-handed Chord-Melody players seem to prefer shorter VSLs (25-26")

There are many, many factors of dulcimer construction which effect the tonal quality of an dulcimer.  Wood species is pretty far down the list.  My advice, as a player for many years is to ignore wood species except for the æsthetic effect.  A cherry carcass with a butternut top will make a visually striking instrument, especially as the cherry darkens and ages over time.  I think you would be very happy with that wood combination.   Several of my dulcimers have butternut tops/backs, and I love the grain structure and patterns which the wood gives..

I play mostly 4 equal-distance strings on a 1 3/8" fretboard with larger than average hands - no problem.  Three strings just allows for more space.  So everything I build is 1 3/8" with no complaints.

Wood combinations should be fine.  Not to negate wood contribution, but how they pieces are laid out and joined affects overall sound more than wood type.

What would the advantages/disadvantages of a 1.5 inch wide fretboard or a 1 3/8 inch fretboard? I have just slightly smaller than average hands if that has anything to do with it. Also, what are your thoughts about back and sides of cherry and a top of butternut? What might that produce tonally? Thanks for any input.

@mr-woolery Patrick, I liked seeing your videos.  I have a fretless instrument so appreciate the learning involved in what it takes to play notes accurately.  

How about a couple more tunes played like a total beginner?

First up, Paholaisen Marssi, Devil’s March. 

And then the tune that made me want to play jouhikko in the first place. Nyykytys, pronounced “NOO-koo-tooss”. I have no idea what the name means. 

Taking video like this is important. It gives me some merciless feedback on the playing.  I think I get the “musical ears” effect, where I’m enjoying the playing and it sounds musical in the moment.  But later, I recognize that it isn’t ready for public consumption yet.

You ever want to really appreciate having frets on your dulcimer, just try to play in tune on an instrument without them!

Patrick

I have an awful lot of respect for that sophisticated modern bodhran technique.  So far I just play the old-fashioned way, "Kerry style" I think it's called.  I still get a fair bit of tone variety by using my left hand and I like using the momentum of the back end of the tipper for triplets.  But it's wonderful to watch the modern players with their loose wrists!

I thought of Rod when I did The Friendly Beasts for our Tuesday evening Zoom group video. Even after 11 years I have fond memories of all the conversations I had with Rod.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

So fondly remember Rod. May we never forget those dulcimer friends who have gone on before.

Well said KenH.  To all our fondly remembered friends! 🎄🛷🕯

  To Rod... and our other Absent Friends.

Remembering our dear friend Rod.  

Fond memories of the Deputy, I received my copy of his small booklet of tunes while recovering from my first heart procedure, it helped !

I, too, enjoyed the video and found it a good pairing with the song. Thanks for posting it. I've got 5 of her albums and love them all.

I enjoyed the video and think it expresses the song very well. Thank you for sharing it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It's a tastefully done video. My daughter and I watched it together a few times yesterday.  We both appreciate how it moves to the exact beat of the song, doesn't try to do too much by adding meaning that is not there in the audio, and how it captures the sad tenor of the lyrics.  It's so nice.

My understanding is that Graham Nash had proposed to her and she declined ("I made my baby cry") leading to an end to their relationship ("I made my baby say 'Goodbye.").

Several songs on the Blue album are just so honest and personal.  It feels a little awkward to know those emotional details about someone I've never met.

One of the saddest 'Christmas' songs ever written. Joni's "River" is about regrets of a lost love. She says it's about sadness or loneliness around Christmas time.

Joni is a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors this year. 
Her song River (which was on her Blue album) has just had a wonderful new animation film created to accompany it:

https://youtu.be/OLHxxBTl71I 

Sorry for the financial loss and the loss of an irreplaceable instrument.  I like Ken's Sono Tube approach.  Cheap, easy and very sturdy.  Also available in 8, 10 and 12 inch diameters to suit just about any dulcimer, with or without a case.

Yes, a tad west of me :).  

Lucky Dave, that's really wrong of UPS.  Very disturbing.

And I'm not in North Carolina, but Northern California.  Only about 3000 miles away! 

Sorry to hear that Dave.   I use that super hard aterproof cardboard  "Sono Tube" you find at Home Despot and Lowest; which is used as a form to cast concrete piers and posts.  Comes in a variety of diameters.  I roll the dulcimer in bubble wrap until it's a snug fit in the tube, saw the tube off a couple inches long than the dulcimer, and make 1/2" plywood ends which I tape in place with LOTS of duct tape.  I also use it when travelling, as a check baggage dulcimer box, as you can see in the photo attached.

 Sonotube case.JPG - 138KB

Dusty,

It had UPS insurance on it, but they denied me that as well, due to "insufficient" packaging.  Also, just curious, I am over near Lake Norman, where in NC are you?

Sad story, @dulcimer-dave.  What a shame.  It's a good lesson in why we should always insure our dulcimers when we ship them.

I saw a video once which I can't seem to find now that showed the boxes the New Harmony Dulcimer Company builds to ship their instruments. They use a wood frame inside the box, and in the video, someone stood on top of the box with the dulcimer inside, demonstrating how strong it was.  The box design was similar to but less bulky than @bob-stephens's very carefully designed boxes.

I should not have sold that one. But it was a heartbreaking experience, and a cautionary tale for others. Thankyoun folks for the empathy.

Sorry to hear that Dave. No matter how careful we are packing instruments for shipping, shippers will find ways to destroy them.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Dave that is truly heartbreaking. Thank you for posting it here as a good reminder for others.

Just sold an antique Cherrywood dulcimer.  I THOUGHT I'd packaged it well enough, lots of bubble wrap and cardboard. What I did not factor in was the gorillas at UPS.  The customer received it crushed, and I was devastated. All I could do was refund the persons money. It was a heartbreaking experience. Going forward I will Use Bob's method of packing.

Wow, very nice playing. Thanks for sharing.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Looks good Kenh. I like the simple design.