Forum Activity for @randy-adams

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

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Ken..Our neighbor has a string of coondogs, mostly Redbones...raises them. When we bought this place 15 yrs ago we wanted to build a shop for our construction biz and maybe build a house later. At first I didn't wanna build the house b/c those coondogs were pitchin a racket all the time....neighbor lives about 1/3 mi. away....but I started liking their sound. I don't think he has a many as he used to & is too old to hunt anymore.When we were in high school my brother dated his daughter & went hunting a few times with him & I wanted to go but unfortunately the relationship didn't last.... : )....When you put up your tunes on ezfolk a while back I listened to them and thought they were nice but somewhat...uh....unremarkable....sorry....but after you put up your 1st shape note tune, which I took to right away, I went back & listened to the other tunes and....what happened?!....they are great!Maybe it took me a while to get used to your voice...: )....like it took me a little bit to start liking the sound of those coonhounds.I love the way you play & sing them tunes.

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

Bobby, thanks. My family has raised blueticks since I was a kid. I grew up coon hunting, but am too old and too hippy to do it anymore. It's a young person's sport. After my grandfather got too old to run with his dogs, he would still turn them out then sit in his truck and listen to them, but those days are over, at least in Pennsylvania.I've had four blueticks over the years. Sweet girls, all of them - never had a mean one. Never seen a mean one actually, as far as I know. Now Catahoulas, that's a different story.Coot, Roadie's surviving sister, will be our last coonhound. We've got two Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dogs - totally non-crazy, solid citizens - and any future dogs are likely to be Pyrs or Border Collies, given our ages and the direction the farm has taken in recent years.It sure is quiet around here without Roadie. She was one howling dog!

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

Thanks Robin and Andy. Dogs are one of our greatest blessings, I think.Robin, if that's how it works, and it may well be, I guess Roadie's off to the land of three-legged possums.

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

Ken,When our first old dog, a beagle mix named Benny, died, we said he went to the land where the rabbits were slow and the females were short.I'm sorry Roadie died and it's good her passing was a peaceful one.

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

Aw thanks folks for commenting.Roadie was one wild, howling, goofball dog She could make anybody laugh.

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

Sorry to hear about your friend and companion passing away. But at least it was a peaceful end, and she was at home with you when she had to go.

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

My condolences. Sounds like she had the best life a dog could ever wish for. And what a beautiful photo!We lost two of our beloved kitties this year, I know it's sad missing our sweet animals when they go.Have a loving warm holiday while thinking of Roadie and her happy life.

Thanksgiving: Old Blue

OFF TOPIC discussions

Roadie, our old bluetick coonhound, crossed over Monday afternoon. We had a lot of great years, and I'm sure thankful that we had that time together.Coonhounds are crazy dogs, blueticks are crazy coonhounds, and Roadie was the craziest bluetick coonhound I've ever known. My grandfather, George Washington Rice, told me, "Blueticks in the house has been the end of many a marriage", and old Roadie sure put that one to the test. I'm grateful to say that we were up to it.Roadie had never been sick a day in her life until Sunday, and she seemed only mildly ill then, just some stomach trouble. She looked OK on Monday morning, drinking water, but not hungry. She died peacefully in her sleep Monday afternoon.We'll have a good Thanksgiving, and I hope you do too. No need to feel sad about Roadie. She was all dog and she knew how to have a good time.Here's a song about a bluetick coonhound, Old Blue Ken
updated by @flint-hill: 02/16/19 03:34:09PM

Diane, A lending library for instruments would be neat!

Hi, Diane!I am a fan of a three-row chord set-up, majors in the middle, sevenths toward the treble, minors toward the bass. I have two chromatic 'harps-- one with 21 chords and one with 15. My 15-bar 'harp is does not completely comply with the majors in the middle, sevenths on top, minors on bottom but the arrangement demonstrates a logical compromise because it's based on the circle of fifths.Sevenths toward the treble side: C7, G7, D7, A7, and EMajors in the middle: Bflat, C, G, D, AMinors toward the bass side: Fmaj, a, e, b, fsharpYou can play most of an A chord by pressing A7 & Aminor at the same time; I'd rather have an A bar, though.The disclaimer to all this is I am far, far, far from expert on autoharp. I'm a strummer and by-ear player. Autoharp music theory discussions cause my eyes to glaze over. A weakness on my part that I'm willing to live with. LOL
updated by @robin-thompson: 01/31/16 01:28:54AM

I'm a bit late coming in on this thread looking at how long it has been running!!!!

In my opinion, the Jeffrey's I have (standard 3 string 70s version)is a great little workhorse. It has a lovely articulated tone - and his scale is pretty sweet (and much nicer to play than the modern curse of equal temperament )

There are just soooo many old dulcimers with a flattened 3rd and flattened 6th of the scale that we can no longer ignore that this fretting pattern is the sound of theearly instrument. It simply requiresus to re-learndifferent/earlier playing styles to get the best from these wonderful instruments. After all, these more natural fretting patternsproduced the sounds you would have heard ringing around those West Virginia Hills

Last week whilst sleeping I was woken by a strange sound coming from the corner of my bedroom. It was the single walnut dowel string post on my old Jeffrey's popping out. Lasted 42 years. Installed a new dowel and I'm good to go for another 42... Bob.

After a long interval I've just caught up again with this discussion. I'm another happy (UK) owner of an AWJ dulcimer, which I bought very cheaply on British eBay 3 or 4 years ago.I would counsel against changing the fret pattern to equal temperament. pristine2 is someone I greatly respect, and whose opinions are always valuable. BUT I think the plaintive qualities he loves in AWJ's dulcimers derive partly from the distinctive non-equal temperament. My advice would be to leave fretting alone, enjoy its lovely melody/drone qualities, and accept that to play more chordal music you need to turn to another dulcimer!

To the list of tunings which AWJ's dulcimers really, REALLY like I would add DAC or similar (Aeolian tuning).

A major cause of premature decay & death among vintage dulcimers is dessication. Long periods of dryness is particularly damaging. It will cause cracks, warp the fretboard and ruin the finish. Vintage mountain dulcimers sourced in the south central and southwest US usually show signs of dessication, but I've seen this damage on instruments from just about everywhere.

In the UK, dry air isn't going to be much of a factor except in winter when you have the heat on. Then you should really keep tabs with a cheap hygrometer. A relative humidity (RH) of 40%-65% is quite safe. If you're getting readings of 35% or less, your instruments ARE at risk. If they are already dry, 55% is a good number to re-hydrate them gradually over a couple of weeks.

I keep my US instrument room, which is really quite large, at between 42% and 51% during the winter using a console humidifier (placed at one side of the room, so the other side stays a bit drier). During the winter I have to add water to the tanks pretty much every day. My instruments are happy. That goes for all my wooden instruments, including my piano, which stays in tune much longer properly humidified.

Damp air can also damage your instruments, but is really less of a concern in temperate climes (unlike Hong Kong, where 95% for weeks on end is common). Dehumidification is a lot more expensive than humidification, too.

Totally agree with you Mike, with the rider that even when attending festivals, where accomodation was sometimes an oven of a tent, tho' more often one which was distinctly damp !!!, I have never felt the need to offer any special provision in the way of protecting instruments I had with me, and so far as I can see, this has in no way affected any of them adversly. (Well, perhaps sometimes just a suggestion of rust on the strings on my hammered dulcimer.............. lol)

John

Glossy Polyurethene/two pack finishes !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lol, tell me more?

JohnH

I'm sure Richard's right about the environment in which you keep the dulcimer being at least as important as what you put on it. Fortunately/unfortunately, I live in a humidity uncontrolled environment, simply because the house is so old and decrepit...most of the external environment seeps in regardless! Dulcimers seem to love it....

I seem to recall my own Jeffreys having very a very matt, dry-looking finish - which I suspect is pretty typical of the era before glossy polyurethane/two pack finishes. I'm not sure I'd necessarily put anything on it...with the exception of the fingerboard, where it really ought not to be dry. I use some mysterious oily preparation invented by the guitar maker Gurian in the 70s...and there won't be any more when it's gone after 40 years! But lemon oil also seems fine...

Before applying anything to the surface, I would place the instrument in a humidity controlled room for an extended period of time. Above 50%, but less than 60%.

R

If you want to play in DAG, I'd suggest a 013 in the melody course. It will hold its pitch much better, and will be a bit louder, too. Same gauge will do fine in DAA, but will be a bit too stiff for DAD.

For what it is worth, Jeffreys probably shipped his completed instruments in CGC or CGG. I have one 1991 Jeffreys that came in the original still-sealed box 18 years later. It was in CGC, and very nearly in tune!

To replace the fret pattern, luthiers usually plane down the board and use an overlay thinned to match the original height. You can decide to keep the original fret remnants underneath visible on the sides, or not. You can also plane down the nut and bridge in proportion to the new board surface, and skip the overlay.

R

Thanks for posting those snaps of your AWJ. It's a very early specimen, I'd say, probably from the early 1960s, before he adopted the scroll he seems to have used always thereafter. I assume there is no date written to the left of the instrument number?

I looked inside my 1972 model it says JR. coincidentally I just started building a replica of my Jefferies. Here's the lumber pile that in a month will become another dulcimer.. Bob

Mike

Good to hear that you have secured an instrument you love - with all its quirks! If you open my catalogue of dulcimers on the Nonsuch site and go to p14 ( http://dulcimer.org.uk/for_sale.html ), you will see a Jeffreys, together with some text which fills out a little of the detail given by Richard above.

'Fraid it's not for sale, having gone to N Wales back in August. there are others I know in the UK. I'd echo what Richard said about the tone and about the odd intonation. Sounded lovely in DAA or DAG however.

Do get in touch if you need anything, from new tuning pegs to capos...or just a chat!

All the best.

Geoff

Hi

I still have four AWJs (maybe even five, if I can find one that I've lost track of). I've handled maybe 10 in total. The earliest I've seen (and happen to own) is from the late 1950s, with half-width frets. It is the only half-width fret Jeffreys I know of. The rest range from 1962 to 1991, all with full-width frets. I'll be selling one or two, so I'll be writing detailed descriptions over the next few weeks. I'd be tickled pink to see them move at $400, but I'll probably set the reserve in the mid-200s.

Since you have already swapped out the tuners (with something very nice, I might add), and if you're still ready to invest in the instrument, I suggest you completely replace the existing fret pattern. You might even consider adding extra frets. From what I've learnt about the builder, I think he would applaud you (though I also think it important to preserve at least a few examples of unmodified originals, too).

Your impulse to preserve the integrity of the instrument is the correct and ethical one. Invasive surgery on a vintage instrument is a drastic course of action, to be sure. But occasionally, it is the right course, provided there are very good reasons, you are conscious of what you are doing, and you are willing to write about it. Documenting a change usually legitimises it, from history's point of view. Moreover, Jeffreys built in sufficient quantities (I can only guess about 2000 pieces in total) to warrant some experimentation. They are fine musical instruments, after all, and should be used as expressively as possible. That sometimes requires a radical change.

There are three or four people in the country capable of doing this for you, and the cost would be between $100 and $200, depending on which one you use. I hope to be one of those people soon, but I don't yet have the skills developed. I had Ben Seymour re-fret a late model Jeffreys for me last year, and I am very pleased with the results. Ben was careful to match the existing fret wire, and maintain the feel of the action. There are others capable of good work, too -- PM me for some suggestions.

Best,

Richard

Just one fellow, AW Jeffreys Jr of Stauton Virginia, whose name is often misspelt.

I spoke to his son a couple of years back. He could not enlighten me about the numbering system, but Jeffreys clearly used more than one. On the AWJ instruments I own, the numbers are not in sequence with the dates on the labels.

Jeffreys started building sometime around 1958, and his last instruments are dated 1991. Very few changes during the entire period, though he added a zero fret at some point in the late 1970s.

They are wonderful, very sweet-sounding dulcimers. They are not, however, in equal temperament. He instead used a much older fret pattern, probably left over from half-width-fret dulcimers, that yields a beautifully intoned scale on the melody course but doesn't accommodate chording very well.

AWJs don't sell for a fortune, though I remember one moving on eBay for $400. Depending on age and condition (the really early ones do sell at a premium), you can still pick one up for $125.

Richard

Try contacting an ebay seller called "melodymovers". He was acquainted with AW Jeffreys (not sure Sr. or Jr.) and may be able to shed some light.

Hi Richard

Eager to see it close up!

Thanks for giving a very thorough run down on what you see and hear. Warm and balanced is a pretty good start - and good intonation (as you say) a bonus. The fret arrangement sounds intriguing - any indication of date (presume no label, but provenance of any kind?).

The few Bonds I've seen all seem to be different designs - did he have "standard" types as such, or were they all custom made? And as for modelling them on US makers I wonder how many would have made their way over here in any quantity by the mid/late 60s?

We wait with baited breath!

Thanks again, Richard.

Well the aesthetics are not nearly as refined & elaborate as Geoff's, but my Frank Bond is a *wonderful* instrument, already up there with among the most valued vintage dulcimers I own.

It arrived in fine cosmetic condition, but it is clear that the last owner must have been frustrated. It was strung with the bass string in the middle.The ebony heal is very soft, so the strings just dig into it when you increase string tension -- the last owner probably never got it into tune.I just put a piece of felt there under the strings, which solved the problem ... eventually I will replace the ebony itself. The nut is destroyed, but there's a zero fret so it is still perfectly playable.

The sound is warm, loaded with complexity, and balanced. The intonation, totally against expectations, is just fine.

Bond must have used something like a Jess Patterson as model. It's nearly identical in shape to an Amburgey, though the top bout is a bit more slender and, like a later Patterson I own, the frets are almost full width. They aren't stapled, but fret wire cut to leave few hairs of space on either side, so they do not quite reach the edges of the fretboard.

This leaves the three courses of strings quite close together, making chording a little difficult -- my only real gripe.

I suck at photographs, but I will try to get some shots.

John Henry said:

....but these days, by the time it's draped over my stomach I have no need to use the 'tummy hitch' to lift the hem!

Had a chance to play the Bond that Geoff has and it was certainly not what I was expecting.

The only other Frank Bond I've ever seen was more than 30 years ago, so my memory of it is very sketchy. As I remember it was a typical slim hourglass style, spruce top, mahogany? body, fiddle edges, fiddle pegs, rusty strings. Far more silvery sound than to the one I had at the time(still have).

john p

Hi:

Sorry to have frustrated you! I was instantly punished with a higher price.

You've obviously got the nicer of the two Bonds, built with someone special in mind. I must have one of Frank's more pedestrian models, perhaps intended for general sale. I think it is rather less Sunhearth, and more a copy a 50s-era Jethro Amburgey -- albeit with full-width stapled frets & a North Carolina fiddle scroll.

Ah Richard

So you are the man who frustrated me, I should have guessed. We must try to co-ordinate next time!

I was wanting a companion for the Bond attached, which looks entirely different. This one dates from 1968 and came from the Fairport Convention household. Two of them went round the corner to Bond's workshop, by all accounts, and bought it for their first singer, Judy Dyble.

Very different design. Yours I thought had a touch of Sunhearth about it. Mine looks very Venetian gondola.

Plays well - light, transparent, sweet - though not entirely accurately by modern standards. Sounds better when noter-driven in DAA, as so often with earlier instruments. Interestingly, has rosewood sides and softwood back.

Do tell us more about yours when you get it please - Bond is a disappearing bit of UK dulcimer history.

Geoff

updated by @geoff-black: 06/16/15 06:44:08AM

Hi:

I could not resist acquiring this dulcimer, which I assume to be made by Frank Bond, from an Australian seller:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/261011188867

Pretty pricey, but it is a piece of history after all.

I assume the intonation is poor, but those look like stapled frets, which are quite easily tweaked a few cents in either direction without having to re-work the board.

Richard

AW Jeffreys was one of the most notable builders of the Revival period. He made over 3000 dulcimers, so yours is fairly early.

Please, please, whatever you do, have it restored, not just 'fixed'. That's a real piece of dulcimer history you have there; please don't add frets or change out the tuners or any of that sort of thing. It will have the 'high silvery' sound that those of us who love traditional dulcimers appreciate, not the mellow sound of a modern deep-bodied dulcimer.

Please don't have it re-fretted either. The fretboard may not sound accurate to more modern ears because of the way he usually fretted his instruments. They're what's called "mean intonation" rather than "just intonation". Accurate within themselves but not necessarily accurate to an electronic tuner. Not really intended to be played with other instruments.

A new nut can easily be made from hard wood or bone or horn, whatever the bridge is made from. The loose glue on one side is easily fixed using Titebond brand glue (not Elmers) and a small weight to hold the gap closed while it dries, just be careful to wet wipe up any dribbles.

If you have any other repair questions, ask over in the Making Dulcimers Forum, and we'll help anyway we can.

Still wear mine when in the workshop, I also went for the 'shortie look' aeon's ago, but these days, by the time it's draped over my stomach I have no need to use the 'tummy hitch' to lift the hem!

JohnH

Hi Geoff, there's a wonderful photo of Frank Bond in 'The Dulcimer Book' (John Pearse), using his boot as a 'third hand', fag in his mouth ... typical British workman.

He's wearing a tradesman's apron as well, something rarely seen these days. I used to wear one when I was frame making, but went for the more sporting look with the tummy hitch to raise the hem above the knee

john p

Hi Richard/Ken

Yes of course, I should have thought about the Kantele as a source for those two tail anchors - from two very different makers on different continents.

As for Frank Bond, he was as you say very fashionable in the UK about the turn of the 70s. I do indeed own this instrument, having bought it last year from Judy Dyble, who was the very first singer in Fairport (pre-'69). The description in my catalogue is as follows:

"Elegant headstock like the prow of a boat, with a heart cutout on the underside. Slim, elegant outline with softwood (spruce) top AND back, (brazilian?) rosewood sides. Heart-shaped soundholes (pointing to tail). Mahogany neck with rosewood (?) overlay and nickel frets. Originally strung with larger than usual gap between doubled melody string and two lower courses. Nut and bridge replaced to provide more conventional spacing and improve intonation. Scale length looks as though it was reduced while dulcimer was being constructed nut is placed well down the fretboard (by nearly 2). As a result, string break angle to nut is shallower than ideal. String location at bottom end a removable pin is ingenious and (as far as I know) unique. Woodworking is very good but fretting seems to be arbitrary, with questionable intonation on 1^st and 8^th frets in particular.Overall length 38, lower bout 6", upper bout 4, VSL 27" (medium scale). Standard violin hardwood (ebony/ized) pegs. Unusually for 60s instrument, has 6 fret.

Light construction and softwood back give this a light, transparent and sweet sound. An attractive and historic instrument."

A few further pics may be of interest.

All the best

Geoff

P.S. Notice Richard that you also did a piece on Peter Abnett - did a long article on him for our UK Nonsuch magazine, based on an interview when I picked up my newly commissioned dulcimer from him in 2010. Still writing a piece on Stefan Sobell, who is a bigger name luthier over here and who also started with dulcimers. Talked to him at length last year. Very interesting man.

I've not seen that type of string rod on a dulcimer before. But that is/was a very common way of attaching strings on the Finnish Kantele, Estonian Kannel and other Baltic "winged" psalteries.

Thanks for posting these pics of the Frank Bond dulcimer. Are there more of them (fairport7.jpg, fairport22.jpg, etc)? Do you own this instrument?

I did some rough & ready research on Frank Bond for the vintage builders list on ED a couple of years back. Interesting fellow!

(In retrospect, though, I have often kicked myself for finding and talking to both Roger Nicholson and Tim Hart about Frank Bond -- who very few people remember -- while asking virtually nothing about either musician, both of whom died shortly afterwards. A very memorable display of stupidity.)

Best,

Richard

Just checking this thread, having bought a mid-70s plywood Jeffreys No. 2883. Lovely condition, great soft dulcimer sound, appalling intonation....!

But I'm really posting to comment on the tailpiece. See the attached (Fairport 10) from a 1968 Frank Bond (English maker from North London). An interesting dulcimer, having been bought for the Fairport Convention commune (either by Tyger Hutchings or Richard Thompson) just before they became famous with "Liege and Lief".

In this case the tailpiece bar is made of some form of composite material. Works OK but the string break angle seems a little sharper than necessary.

A case of great minds thinking alike, or copying from a third party??

P.S. The Bond also has a really elegant and unusual headstock (see Fairport 8)...oh yes, and poor intonation just like the Jeffreys!!

That is some tailpiece. Though I've not seen a lot of dulcimers, that tailpiece looks most unusual.

You've got a beauty, Kevin!