Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

Welcome to FOTMD, slssls.  Sorry to say I've not heard of Bill Todd as a builder, either.  Nice looking modern dulcimer though.  You may want to check out the booklet I wrote for beginners a few years back, called I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?   It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms, so we all speak the same jargon, plus answers to many beginner questions about tuning, playing, care and feeding of your new/old acquisition.  You can find it here for download:

I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What? (Article) - Forums | fotmd.com

That is a beautiful dulcimer. I have not heard of this builder. Perhaps someone will recognize the name and provide some information.

Hello!  I’m new here and just bought my first dulcimer used.  I’m looking forward to learning to play it.  I’m interested to find more about the builder, Bill Todd, and his Black Rose dulcimers.  I couldn’t find much online about him.  Does anyone have information on these dulcimers they’d be willing to share?  Thanks so much!

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I thought I had that McSpadden code worked out but this must be Ginger (g) Walnut (w) back & sides, Redwood (r)Top. Should have a couple more letters though. First, # of Strings, F or S (flat head or Scroll head), Shape (h Hourglass t teardrop), then type of wood for side & back, then type of wood for top). the letters for custom fittings.

Have i got this right?

Love mine, too.  It's standing right here beside me.

@strumelia, Hi, no shipping issues, not from ebay but it is second hand. Giving this to my wife and was just hoping to get a little back ground on it for her.

@dusty-turtle, thanks for the info, she has a couple of 3 string one, but this will be her first 4 string so I just wanted to check.

I believe the song was written by Alice Gerrard who sings here.  A young music friend named Matt told me Penny Seeger is the mountain dulcimer player in this recording.  

Great article Kevin63!

Well it’s not a Stockard, Gary Galileo says he has no idea who built it.

@illmade2 , have you received this instrument yet?  Are you experiencing any irregularities in the shipping/tracking info?  Was this an ebay purchase?

Hey @illmade2, it may be that there is little information on that particular maker, but as far as "common tuning," there is no reason to think your dulcimer is any different than others.  That instrument has three courses, with the melody course doubled.   The most common tunings would be DAAA and DAdd. The Get Tuned website can help.

Ok, Thanks, guess there just no info available, 

Yes, Rick is great to work with.  I'll try to post some pictures of mine.  I have had trouble uploading photos here in the past. 

Ah -- you're right, John....  dang these Senior Moments anyway!

Ken, "Perfection pegs" are made by Knilling.   That's their brand name.  And "Pegheds" are made by an different company.  As are Wittner "Fine-Tunes", I believe.

Thank you. I remember this tune from bluegrass festivals...The Osborne Bros. Found them tonight on you tube.

Rick Gooden. After telling him specs I wanted, ie 25" VSL, extra frets & showing him one of their web pics of a baritone that had the dark wood tones I like, I told him to take over & do what he does so well ... designing my new dulcimer to his specs. He explained everything he wanted to do, why, etc. and gave me options. I genuinely learned quite a bit. Above all, I was impressed with his confidence in his craftsmanship & product and his attitude towards how he likes to do business. I found that same sense of integrity with Ron Gibson & it really means a lot to me personally & its what makes me a returning customer. I had to laugh because he's simply not gruff like he looks in some of the pics they put up. :) I suspect he's just a man who'd like to put all that aside & get down to doing what he loves doing. I am the same so I understand. 

I'm sure I'll love the final product. Lucky you to own three. :) Hope I can drive down this fall & get a chance to see the shop and maybe see a dulcimer being worked on. I'm at the top of Illinois, west of Chicago & the shop is at the bottom of Indiana so a long drive but worth it. An overnight stay for sure. Put on some loud, good music and away I go......... 

Seeing shop...woodworking fascinates me...I'd be very good doing that I suspect because of my love of detail & patience. It must feel similar to what I feel as I progress through a very complicated Japanese knitting pattern using an exquisite yarn....takes so much attention but a thrill to see as it slowly takes shape in my hands. Can't wait..it'll be a loooooooooong 3 weeks I suspect. LOL  Hey, I'm still waiting for pics of those beautiful dulcimers you have ... hope you can post them. I'd love to see them. Thanks again.  Barb 

That's great!  I'm glad you had such a good experience.  Did you meet with Rick Gooden or Rick Huffman?  I'm sure you will love what they build for you.  The workmanship and sound are hard to beat in my opinion.. 

Gail..I met with Rick via Zoom yesterday & what an interesting man he is. We talked of cabbages & kings :). He made some suggestions & gave me a lot of information. I placed my order for a 25" VSL whale tail model with black tuners, butternut top, dark Peruvian walnut back & sides. Rick said he'd look for woods that have a lot of character as well since I like that. The whole experience was good & I felt he truly backs his craftsmanship & sound in every way. I also like the idea of knowing I have somewhere to send the dulcimer if I ever need to. I feel totally at ease with my decision. I mentioned you & Rick said he has several customers who have 5 of his instruments so you are in good company indeed.

He'd just returned from the Gateway Dulcimer Festival & they are totally out of dulcimers so he's starting on mine right away :) When I mentioned I like the dark configurations on the Peruvian walnut (plus want a warm sound) & butternut, he seemed to like that particular combination greatly & said it has outstanding tonality together. I actually prefer a darker top but with the black tuners & dark Katalox overlay on the fret board I thought it would look lovely which is also what I wanted. 

All in all, dealing with New Harmony Dulcimers has been a pleasure and I'll definitely be a return customer because of that. So many luthiers are just wonderful to deal with. Ron Gibson is one I've had experience with as well. Great people. I'm happy with my choice. Barb 

I found an interesting article about John Frazier.

https://www.southbendtribune.com/story/lifestyle/2021/07/18/student-teacher-reunite-over-dulcimer-built-woodworking-class/7970945002/

Thanks Geoff,

I had seen it but didn’t know the website belonged to someone here in FOTMD. It’s good to know there are still other North Country Dulcimers out there!

cheers,

paula

I remember Charley from Berea...nice dog!  And, at 6 months, he looks as happy as a Bassett  could possibly look!

Charley @ 6 Months :)

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If no-one's referenced it yet, here's my website page on North Country Dulcimers .  There's an hourglass and a teardrop model pictured.  I've sold three, one of which needed quite a but of work to strengthen the neck.

The Dulcimer-cello is a product of the other Dulcimer Ken -- Ken Bloom.  Beautiful instruments they are too...

I actually found a really cool picture but it’s on Flickr and I don’t want to either join Flickr or download it without permission and proper acknowledgment of the builder. 
 
it was a cigar box dulci-cello and looks pretty nicely executed. 

I was actually surprised I didn’t see more different ones. It seems such a reasonable mating. 

cheers,

paula

No need to reinvent the dulcimer cello. It's been done. Now if only I could remember where is saw a photo of one. Try this link: http://www.boweddulcimer.org/pocket-cello.html

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have deleted Tod's post. If it happens again please let me know immediately, folks, and I will take action that insures it doesn't happen again.  Thanks!

I’d love to play a bowed dulcimer. I am currently taking cello lessons. I imagine with a dulcimer set up with a curved fingerboard and say ddaD tuning; you could either play the dd, the a, or the D or you could double stop and play the dda or the aD strings. I wonder if an old cello fingerboard could be turned into a dulcicello. 

Dang. Now I may have to go invent something. Someone stop me!!!!

Cheers,

paula 

Tod -- your Flat Creek link led me to a McAfee Security Alert Page!!   Best to remove it before someone gets infected...

The Flat Creek Dulcimer shop is all over a bunch of business pages but I can't find a website for the company...  I've not heard of Flat Creek, but then I'm not any where near the Ozarks. 

That's a beauty. The bridge reminds me of bowed dulcimers or cellos. Maybe the builder was inspired by them?

I wish you big suchen with your move and building the dulcimer case.

The link leads to an "online casino", are you sure it's correct?

Hello, new here and pretty new to dulcimers as well. I recently acquired (waiting for it to be delivered) what I have been told is a Flat Creek Box dulcimer for my wife. She's the musician in the family. I have been trying to find some info on it but have hit a brick wall, other than the fact that the shop it came from is closed. Any information at all would be most welcome (ie. quality, common tuning, maker) Thank you in advance.

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What a great anecdote Ken! Robert seems like he was a sweet guy. I know he worked with special needs kids too. I was able to find an article about him and his wife Yvonne online in an old issue of Dulcimer Players News. I don’t know if he’s still around anywhere. I found a LinkedIn profile for him but it hasn’t been updated in quite some time. I sent him a message but if he’s anything like me he doesn’t really pay attention to LinkedIn. 

Nate, she does seem a sweet dulcimer. She’s the only one I’ve ever played so I don’t have much to compare with. I trying to play all my instruments more. I’m on a bit of a kick. I’ve played guitar for years, strictly amateur. I’ve been taking cello lessons for about a year and have just recently been teaching myself tin whistle. I can easily pick out songs on the dulcimer tuned ddaD but want to work on taking it to the next level. 

I need to build a case for her. My wife and I are moving to Europe next year and all of my instruments need to have solid cases. She’s the only one that doesn’t. (Actually, I also have a harmonium from the 1840s but that’s a subject for a different forum!) I’ve seen a couple dulcimer cases on eBay but the dimensions don’t work. Luckily I have a workshop and so knocking one out that will work shouldn’t be too bad. 

hope everyone is having a lovely weekend,

paula

Besides building dulcimers, Robert also made kazoos. He made them in various sizes. Often he used leftover wood from building dulcimers for his kazoos. One time I saw him at an arts festival and we sat down to play together. After a few tunes we looked up to see a crowd of about 20-30 people around his booth. We play a couple of more tunes and then he went to talk to some of the folks. He told me to come back later and we could play again. He said it was helping his sales.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Certainly whoever was the builder whether amateur or professional, they knew what they were doing. There are aspects of this dulcimer such as the bridge that connects to the soundboard instead of the fingerboard, and the bizarre hole in the strum hollow that are very neat to me. Thanks for sharing.
-Nate

I was able to actually find a used copy of “Irish Music for the Mountain Dulcimer “ by Robert Hutchinson online and it’s wending it’s way towards me even as we speak.

im very excited to know the origins of my dulcimer and learn more about the story of its maker. 

paula

I think I’ll try tuning them up to E and see if it makes a difference. 

I have tried out my floating removable Humbucking pickup on 4 different dulcimers so far and it works great, fitting each dulcimer.

With this video, I have moved the pickup up some and I am strumming behind it.