Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

Don't buy some sort of highly processed monk fruit sweetener, but just the juice without additives, or the dried melon itself.

I have not tried monkfruit but do know of very many recipes using dates.  

I had a return a few years back. I forgot to install a 6+ staple!!!!! He mailed it back, I installed the staple and shipped it back to him. I paid for shipping and that I know of he didn't have a problem with the inconvenience. Warranty is life time on wood and play ability......

DAN

www.dulcimore.com

Have you ever had to send a dulcimer back as soon as you got it? WITHOUT NAMING BRANDS OR LUTHIERS, I was curious what caused you to send one back and was the return policy one you could live with.

I just received a dulcimer on Friday and the intonation was off on the bass string on many frets and there was just a funny 'off' sound every time I strummed. It wasn't cheap so I sent it back. (Also since I had mentioned earlier I had ordered a Sweetwoods baritone, I wanted to clarify this was NOT the sweetwoods baritone) 

I'm hoping the maker will refund my funds and not make a fuss. I just know I wouldn't play it. 

Again, without naming names, what has been your experience with sendback?

I was looking at the sweetener aisle this morning and wondered about monkfruit. I have gotten completely away from most all sugar but might want to sweeten an oatmeal crisp fruit dessert and wondered if any of you have ever used monkfruit and if so, what brand or form did you use?

(playing on August 26 )

Wouldn't it be something if after taking a count, we ourselves could break/or set a record of FOTMD playing on our porches. I think I will invite my dulcimer group to come join me on the patio (hope that counts as a porch ;-)

The back porch on my childhood home was very small. Our front porch, on the other hand, was expansive. I remember lazy summer days sitting on that porch and reading books such as Tom Swift Jr. and the Hardy boys. Unfortunately, in those days I did not pay an instrument. It was also fun to listen to the storms come down the Hudson River with the thunder echoing around the mountains. Now we have a very nice back porch and I'll be playing there on August 26 if we are at home then.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Jan that sounds so nice.  :)

Funny how much everyone has in common in various ways...  In new york city as a child on Bleecker street, we had no fans or AC so as little kids in the sweltering heat of Summer we would secretly take our pillows and a towel and sleep outside on the iron fire escape.  That was our 'back porch'.  This was six flights up (no elevator btw).. so you can imagine how startling that was to wake up in the morning all sleepy and look down.      lolol  krazy kid stuff...

When I was a kid growing up in NC, we practically lived in the small back porch half the year--ate all our meals out there in the summer and the rest of the year my mom would enjoy a cup of coffee (or iced coffee) out there on sunny days.  We had a handy window over the kitchen sink that opened up onto the porch and it was great for passing food out and dirty dishes back in!  I remember snapping a lot of beans on that porch, as well as helping get peaches and other foods ready to can or freeze.  Lots of good memories!

Strumelia,

I feel my dinning room is outside. My table inside is pushed up against the wall & my dulcimers, music & all the misc have taken over the rest of the room. Thanksgiving 2 years ago, we had 16 of us around the table outside with 5 little children 4 yrs & under. It was so nice with enough room for everyone to feel very comfy. I hope you too will be very happy with your new porch.

*THANK YOU, ROBIN!*  ~that's one of the few things I actually do miss about fb~

Lisa, your porch plans make me so happy!

I downloaded the image from the Play Music On The Porch folks on Facebook. 

Yeah the new porch is going to change things a lot for about 8 months of the year.  Our house is pretty small- we have no dining room and only a small table for 4 in the kitchen to eat.  So when we have family or friends over we have to move the living room coffee table to the side and open up a folding table there to eat.  And our existing porch is only 7 feet wide so again, you can barely jam 4 people around a little table to eat.  It'll be so nice to fit our 3 grown children and their spouses and us all (8) together on the porch when they visit!- at least between April and October or so.

Quote: Well, fast forward to Spring and yes , we've got the new 14 foot square back kitchen screened porch lined up, in the works!  The workmen are set to start tearing down the old porch in a couple of weeks, and once they start it shouldn't take more than 3 weeks to finish up.  I can't WAIT!!!    

 This is going to be a major upgrade to our at home lifestyle.  I am envisioning sitting out there enjoying Summer salads, playing music, sipping ice tea in the shade while overlooking the beehives and the veggie garden, lanterns and crickets in the evenings (and screened, so no mosquitoes!)... 

That's nice Lisa. 14' x 14' is a good size. You'll enjoy it!

Love your update!  I wanna get in on those alfalfa sprouts...  My grape vine is looking good, but I think it will need another year before it produces.  We have blueberries on the bush that the birds always get before we do.  No blackberries yet, *I think*, and it will take another year or two before my hazelnuts produce.  We did make the front prettier and have plans for the back, so that we can live outside more. (Upcycled picnic table, seating, etc.)  I actually pulled up my square, raised beds for veggies, as we need to buy dirt, and it's gotten late again this year.  :(  I'm regrowing a cabbage my windowsill~does that count?  

I was given a little $ gift and did just order Sara Ivanhoe's 20-Minute Yoga Makeover.  I was sick for so long that we got out of the habit of our nightly walk and need to pick it back up again.  My littlest and last is weaned, which is bittersweet but opens up a new world for me.  OH!  ~and I've fallen in love with the chickpea~  

My .032 strings got here.   The notes I was tuned for was C4 C4, G3 G3, C4 C3.   Originally .012 .012, .014 .014, .012 .022.  I tried the bass string C3 C2 as .022 .032.    The .032 when tuned for C2 was too lose and would buzz on the fret-board and against the other .022 bass  string.   Now I'm going back to the original setup.  So my experiment failed but it was fun trying.  

That's WONDERFUL, Lisa!!!  Anyone know when Play Music on the Porch Day is this year?

N9LO:

Love your 'ugly' stick. Would love to hear it

This clamp is lighter than a C clamp & does the job but it is a bit in the way.

 clamp.jpg - 138KB

I have a Dean Markley 3001 XM Transducer pickup, it works well on my instruments that do not have a pickup installed. It can be put on & taken off any of the dulcimers & I change it back & forth. There is one dulcimer that when I press down on the pickup, the sound is such a deep bass - it's terrific. 

Question:

How to hold it down tight? Something to hold it from under the dulcimer to the top of the pickup - a C clamp is a bit large. Something like a capo in a very large size maybe  -  Any ideas?

 pick up.jpg - 72KB

I'm pretty good about growing alfalfa sprouts in the kitchen in quart mason jars all winter.  I keep a constant supply going for us, and boy they sure taste wonderful when they are absolutely fresh as opposed to store bought sprouts. It's easy, you just have to remember to rinse them once or twice a day while they're growing.  Since I keep the jars in the dish drainer next to the sink, it's not hard to do. The sprouts are our biggest source of fresh greens all winter.  It's great to be able to pile them generously on meals or sandwiches.

But now... it's Spring!  I've been doing a lot with the beehives and thus kind of neglecting my vegetable garden so far.  Today I finally pushed myself to get half the veg garden rows hoed up and planted with some onions, a few cabbages, and a whole lot of various tiny lettuce babies I bought in flats.  Boston lettuce, romaine, and leaf lettuce  -all those in both bronze/red and green-  and some iceberg.  Still three weeks away from planting tomato plants, which I'm pretty big on too.

There's nothing quite like the nice Spring feeling of pressing little green babies into the freshly hoed earth, with earthworms popping up here and there and bees humming by.      I like this time of year for the garden far better than battling the weeds at mid Summer...

The nice thing about vegetable gardens is that you get a little pleasant exercise outdoors while also producing healthy stuff to eat.  A win-win situation!

You will love the porch. I have a patio & feel it is an addition of my home, except in winter and spend very much time out on it.

 spectacular view.JPG.jpg - 84KB

Well, fast forward to Spring and yes , we've got the new 14 foot square back kitchen screened porch lined up, in the works!  The workmen are set to start tearing down the old porch in a couple of weeks, and once they start it shouldn't take more than 3 weeks to finish up.  I can't WAIT!!!    

This is going to be a major upgrade to our at home lifestyle.  I am envisioning sitting out there enjoying Summer salads, playing music, sipping ice tea in the shade while overlooking the beehives and the veggie garden, lanterns and crickets in the evenings (and screened, so no mosquitoes!)... 

Looks really nice.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

SWEET!

That's a sweet-looking dulcimer, George!

Steven

Wow!  This is such a beautiful dulcimer!!!  Can't wait to hear it

Thats a GEM!

Man, George, that sure is pretty.  I can't wait to hear it.

Couldn't wait to post pics, sound clip (s) ? coming. 

 glenn1.jpg - 138KB

http://www.bluelioninstruments.com/faqs.html

About 2/3 way down.

I'll post picture and sound clip over the weekend!! I'm really impressed with the sound from this, seems thinner bodied, but nice mellow, decent volume for it's size.

My scale length is 28".  It is for my "Ugly Stick" I just made.  It is called "Ugly Stick" because I built an "Ugly Amp" to go with it.

You didn't mention what part you are planning to play.  If you are going to play a true bass line, as implied by the CCGGCc tuning, then the CCGGcc tuning will sound funny when you play the melody strings.

If you are trying to play melody with a deeper drone then the CCGGcc tuning would make more sense.

I think you had the right idea to begin with.  cc GG Cc is what I would have used (melody to bass;) should have given it a sound similar to a 12 string guitar

I have my dream dulcimers, 2 by Kevin Messenger a Presnell and Thomas reproduction, one by Robert Schuler modeled by Jefferies, but one I have wanted is made by Bobby Ratcliff, like Ken H. has.

The real dream would have an original Presnell or Thomas.

I built a 6 string and I have a question about string gauges and tuning.  The people I play with tune CGC.  I tried CCGGCc.  It sounded good but the lady that teaches suggested I try CCGGc-c  which I am trying to say is that the first bass string is low c and the next bass string is another octave lower kind of like a baritone.  I was using a 12-12, 14-14, 12-22 and am thinking of making the bass strings 22- and 30 or 32.  What do you all think?

Vs a stick on or under saddle pickup, I guess. I lose track of what I write sometimes.