Forum Activity for @jim-yates

This is a Marine Band Special in C that was given to me by my ex-father-in-law.  It's a 12 hole diatonic with a wooden comb.

This is a 10 hole Hohner Echo Super Vamper in A that I bought in Scotland circa 1969 when my Marine Band in A crapped out.  It's identical to the Marine Band except for the top cover plate.  I haven't been to the British Isles in many years and am not sure if these are still available over there.  Perhaps they now sell Marine Bands over there.

I've used McSpadden squeakless strings. I have them on two instruments right now. To me they are warm and mellow, but not mushy or muddy.  I like them. 

Classic California teardrop.  I can see Neal Hellman playing that one.  You lucky dog!  LOL

There's a thread on ED that's a "history" of the Capritaurus & Rugg & Jackel you might want to check out.

Rob

Susie, curious, will you have a pickup installed?

Howard Rugg and his partner were Revival era (1960s/70s) builders in California.  They sold under the names Capritaurus, Rugg & Jackel and FolkRoots.  The FolkRoots name was purchased by Folkcraft a few years back, and that company makes a FolkRoots series of dulcimers.

You can contact Howard Rugg (see the Members list here) and he can give you all the information about that particular instrument.

Looks very well made, I'm eyeing a used one, but know nothing about them, I like the inserts in the soundholes, it's a bit rough, but "normal" wear and tear, I'm seeing that it has ties to Folkcraft, but I have no idea what the woods are etc. Thanks for all the previous info on the Warren May, and any info on this one.

 s-l1600.jpg - 81KB

My bad, Jim.  Should have figured.

Merry Christmas 

Terry

There is a framed copy of this photo on my piano.

Jim, that is an amazing story.  Great photo of your friend and his HD.  Amazing.   Just look at the old cars.

I was stationed in West Germany near Frankfurt from May 1967 til Jan 1970.  Grand old time.  You ought to frame photo to pass along.  

In 1968/69 I took a year off to hitch-hike overseas.  I didn't want to take a guitar, but I did take a few mouth harps.  I became a much better mouth harp player from my roadside practice sessions.
Just to add a bit of non-mouth harp, but dulcimer (the wrong kind for this site) content:
Just outside of Kilkenny I was picked up by an older gentleman who asked me, "Are you goin' to the fleadh?"
I asked, "What's a fleadh?"
He told me it was a festival of Irish trad music, so I said, "Sure I'm goin' to the fleadh."
The fleadh was in New Ross and on the way there, he asked, "Do you know what a dulcimer is?"
I said sure and described Jean Ritchie's instrument.  He stopped the car and said that his was a different type of dulcimer.  It was a hammered dulcimer and the first one I'd ever seen.  I spent the day with Mr. Andy Dowling (pronounced Doolin) and a pleasanter day I can't recall.
Here's Andy standing in front of his car in New Ross circa 1969.

Jim,

What you had to say reminds me of my harmonica career, which spans all of 13 months.  I would say 75% of my practice time has been while driving a vehicle.  That is literally how I have learned to play harmonica to some small degree.  

Some may ask, "hey, that seems dangerous to me".   I guess it could be, but certainly not as dangerous as talking or texting on a cell phone, or playing with the radio or CD player, or road rage.  

Enjoyed your story Jim.

Merry Christmas

thanks so much Robert. I just checked and both washers are there. I did notice that in between the white turning part and the rest of the tuning peg there is an additional washer in between that. All of them are sort of crooked and don't lie flat in that space. I have no idea if that could be part of the problem. I do know that I keep a screw driver in my dulcimer bag because sometimes I have to retighten that screw you were talking about so that it doesn't keep slipping or not getting to the exact note...like it just keeps falling flat...when I do that it works ok for the song or whatever. 

thanks again!

Maria

Your tuners are the low end ukulele friction type. They work well enough on short scale nylon strung ukuleles but not suited for long scale steel string dulcimers. There should be two friction washers against both sides of the peg box. Perhaps they are missing. Did you tighten the screw's enough. There are very good inexpensive tuners you can replace them with. Contact a local music store for leads to a repair shop.... Robert. 

That was very enjoyable Randy.  Good work there.

Are you a tongue blocker or puckerer?  I am solely a lip puckerer.  Never could get the hang of the tongue method.

oh cool. I will try and do that!!! Even if they can't quite "Fix" it they can tell me what I have to do etc.

I also need them to look at the tuning pegs...they really slip when tuning as they are the "Friction' ones I think...I can tune just just right where it should be and then it goes sharp...and sometimes if the screw has slipped it won't get any more tighter it will just bounce back..it's so weird as I've never had a guitar with these types of tuning pegs...I'm hoping I can fix them as it would be nice to 'keep' the original equipment on it BUT I will probably never sell it anyway so maybe I should just have them replace them if it's easier enough (with geared tuning pegs) 

Thanks again

Maria

I recall finishing a gig with the North Shore Ramblers at the Wilno Station Inn and driving the 3 hour drive home to Port Hope in the middle of the night.  Since "hands free devices" are legal in Ontario, I put my rack on and made my way home while playing the harp.  Not sure that the police would approve, but it kept me awake.

Most, but not all, festivals have one or more builders in attendance who can certainly look at the instrument and advise you.

thanks so much. quick question. I've never attended a dulcimer festival but I'm planning to go to one in the Poconos in January. Do they have people like that who can look at it? thanks though for the suggestions though!!

thanks

Maria

I've enjoyed reading the posts in this thread. 

My brother Rex had a harmonica and he could play it!  I couldn't believe it. 

I got myself one. In 1971 & 72 I was driving a concrete truck. Lots of waiting around to load and unload so I brought my harmonica and learned how to play it. 

I've always been a fiddle tune and old time song player 

Will post vid later can't do it from phone 

Well, I got the bid on the Marine Band 365, off of Ebay.  $21.00.  Sometimes one shouldn't get what you wished for.  Another one for the drawer for my heirs to squabble over.

Merry Christmas to all!

PS:  Nice collection there Jim.  I also enjoyed the your friend's music.

This plastic parts box was bought at Canadian Tire.  It jst happened to fit six harps perfectly and fits in a guitar case.  The Elton harp rack is one that I bought in the early sixties, right after I first saw Jimmy Reed.  The only modifications I've made is lock washers and a bend in the frame so that it hit my mouth at the proper angle.
The box now contains a Marine Band, a couple of Special Twenties, a Big River, a Blues harp and a Lee Oskar.  I have them labeled A/e, G/d, lowF/c, C/g, D/a and lowD/a.

Thanks.  I think the same for mine. They are working on some prototypes in Jan that will slow things down a bit, but I'm sure they'll continue to work hard to get them out. They are working some long hours there, according to Steve.

congrats on the new dulcimer!

Susie, Probably Feb or March.

David, did you get any word on how long it would take?

Thanks for your help John. Are we there yet,  are we there yet.

David, it was really a pleasure to assist you with this process!  It's just plain FUN!

Thanks Jan! That helps, I kind of figured the third one was old by the way they dressed. Here's another one, I think it was taken around 1916 when my Grandfather was posted in Columbus, New Mexico after Pancho Villa's raid. At first I thought they were railroad workers, but after a closer look I think they were miners. The photo was in bad shape so I tried to clean it up digitally .

Joe, I'm curious, how did you remove the lacquer from the frets without damaging the fretboard?

That's awesome! 

i believe folkcraft bought folkroots out some years ago and continued to make the folkroot instruments.

I have enjoyed all of the episodes.  I just watched the one with Holly Tannen.  As it turns out, she bought a McSpadden Ginger from me and that is the one she refers to and plays near the end.  I'm so glad it found such a nice home!

Thanks Val, Wayne and I appreciate your comments.

Help spread the word ... please let your friends know about the podcast.

Patricia, keep up the great work. A real treasure for now and the future.

The Anticipation of it's arrival is a big deal. Congratulations David, your new dulcimer sounds like a beauty. Will be looking forward to pictures and hearing it. 

Sounds like a great combination of woods there, David. Bet it'll sound like a dream

Congrats! Sound clips when you get the chance..

Congratulations, very exciting! Hope you post pictures after you get it. I also ordered a new dulcimer from Folkcraft (a custom butternut/walnut with wenge accents and a galax back). They are a wonderful group of people there and great to work with. If you ever get a chance to visit them, you'd find it interesting.