Forum Activity for @robert-owens

Thanks Strumelia. I thought I had replied to you the other day, but don't seem to see it here, so will repeat it here. I appreciate your helpful suggestions about string gauges, tuning pegs, etc. Now that I have basically taken apart and put back together the instrument, using Titebond glue, I feel like it's pretty sturdy and not as fragile as it had been. So I've ended up starting with just a set of D'Addario EJ64 strings (which I could get cheap and free shipping from StewMac, who I order a lot from), which gives me two 0.012 gauge strings for the melody & middle, and a 0.022 for the bass. And for the pegs, I did want to at least start with the original type of wooden friction pegs, to take it back closer to its original configuration...I may upgrade later. So I was able to find some inexpensive ones online that I was able to make work for now. Now I'm at the point of setting it up, and I have some questions about that, so I'll ask them in my next post, to everyone. Thanks for any additional advice! 

Hi,    The main purpose of that bridge is to adjust intonation, as I understand it.  Speak with Joe Collins, who is affiliated with NHD.  He is very helpful.  Good Luck!  

Anybody out there know anything about the New Harmony instruments bridge? The main question I have is about the Accutune module bridge. Any idea can you adjust the action and then lock everything into place so it doesn't get out of adjustment? Or you just adjust it for intonation, and no option for action, and it has a tendency to move out of place? 

Thanks Robin. It's one of the most finely crafted instruments I own. I would love to hear from anyone else that owns a Stockard dulcimer, as well as any info on how many he may have built, etc.

I am updating my homeowners insurance and would welcome any opinions on its value. It was so long ago I can't remember what I paid for it.

You have a treasure there-- happy strumming! 

Thanks Dusty.  

I fixed the spelling in the title. And yes, John Stockard produced very elegant dulcimers with impeccable intonation.

VERY nice! I really like the headstock neck area....impressive.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Ken. It is obviously a John Stockard dulcimer. Misspelling error.

Old Dawg, you might want to check the name of the maker of your dulcimer. The photo of the label says it is made by John Stockard. He was a builder in Georgia.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Many years ago I contacted John Stockard about building me a dulcimer. He told me he was no longer building but he would be willing to sell me one of his personal instruments. I bought it. It came in a "well traveled; soft case. The dulcimer was in excellent condition with minor wear. If I remember correctly, he called it his concert model. It has a beautiful, full round sound with excellent sustain. It is 38" long. The bouts are 8 1/4" and 6 3/4". It has gold Gotoh tuners. Attached are some photos I took this morning. Thanks in advance for any responses.

https://www.amazon.com/Imelod-Contact-Microphone-Ukulele-Mandolin/dp/B01M5IB4X7

This one is nice in that it has only a 10 inch lead so you don't have wire hanging all over. The lead is braid instead of plain plastic. "looks" like some of the more expensive ones.... That being said, I know of no manufacturer that uses a different piezo element in its' pick ups.The plastic housings may look different, but electronically and mechanically they ALL are the same. The price points are based on marketing, not what is inside. And at under 10 bucks it is sure worth the trying either way......

I would suggest perhaps using a small square of "alien tape" to affix to the dulcimers top, no worries then of double sided tape marring your good looks.....

Since apparently amplification isn't allowed, you may want to consider a particularly loud dulcimer. Some dulcimers are quite a bit louder than others. There are a lot of options depending on what kind of tone you prefer. In general, larger dulcimers that can support heavier strings will often be a lot louder than smaller instruments, however if you are looking for something portable, you may need to compromise. 

Remember to "dab" the area...don't "wipe", In case there is residual pencil marks etc,you don't want to rub them off.

I've exposed some "made for xxx" or dedications and poems over the years....Enjoy the quest!

That’s a great idea John. I’ve repacked the dulcimer so won’t be able to try that until I get back home with it in two weeks. I’ll let you know if I’m able to read anything.

Here's a handy page concerning busking/playing/performance on NYC subways:
https://www.mta.info/agency/arts-design/music/subway-performance-rules
You'll have to obey their stated rules on amplification (since you mention 'pickups'). 

A hardshell case might be good to protect your dulcimer while moving around/crowded stairwells, rain, etc.

One cheap solution might be to buy or build a wooden "possum board" to put your cardboard dulcimers on while playing acoustically... such boards do help increase volume and resonance, without electronics. You could make one to fit your existing instruments pretty easily. Do a site search here for "possum board" and you'll find lots of info.

I'm thinking about starting to busk in the NYC subways in the next few years (if/when I ever get the courage). Right now I have two Backyard Music dulcimers with cardboard soundboxes—one diatonic, one chromatic—but would love to acquire a more grown-up instrument with a built-in pickup that isn't TOO nice to the point where I'd worry about it getting broken in the subways. Do you have any recommendations? Should I instead get a guitar pickup for the cardboard dulcimers I already have and do my best with one of those? 

Asking for a friend.  We play in a group and sometimes need to plug in for a local performance.  My friend has a wonderful 26" walnut/sycamore McSpadden.  She meant when she ordered it to request a pickup, but didn't look at the order form closely enough and it was didn't happen.  We live in Alaska, so not feasible to take it to Mountain View.  Sending it in to add a pickup probably also doesn't work, as this is her main player and there'd be a least a month down time.  So, do any of you have recommendations for an external pickup?  I'd probably be interested myself for some of my more vintage dulcimers (for instance, I have a lovely 1991 teardrop Blue Lion).  Thanks in advance.

Paula, I'm glad that you finally were able to connect with your Chet Hines dulcimer. Enjoy it. Let us know what you find if follow John's suggestion.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That is SO nice! I always wished some of these instruments could talk and tell the tales of the past....Yours comes pretty close!  A water wet q-tip brushed over the old scratches may bring out enough contrast to read them...It'll evaporate with no harm done...

Sometimes comments get embedded in forums on related topics.  Here was one place the video was posted , in a conversation on the popularity of the dulcimer.

I clearly was not using the search function correctly. I was very surprised to not find anything and will have to try again. Thanks for the reply!

An update on my Chet Hines Dulcimer!

I was able to make it back to Texas today and am at my in-laws house where I had the dulcimer delivered. I finally got to see it in person. 

I had also found a copy of his book and had it delivered to their house as well. 

imagine my delight when I discovered on page 111of his book a picture of my very dulcimer. The grain is very distinctive and there’s no doubt it is my dulcimer. I’m so very excited to own this wonderful instrument. 

it does look like there may be an inscription visible through the lower sound holes. They look lightly scratched into the inside perhaps with a nail or an awl. I can’t be positive as there is little contrast between the inscription and the wood it’s on. Once I’m back home in Portugal I will try and see if I can bring that out. 

cheers everyone and thanks for your help with this project!

paula

There are a few other places around FOTMD where people discussed this video.  I am more impressed with Seyfried's singing than her dulcimer playing, but it's all pretty impressive.  And it's great to see the dulcimer get some mainstream attention.

I know this isn't super recent - I think it was about a month ago. (If someone posted about it on here already, I missed it, and do apologize.) I'm not up on TV shows or celebrities, but I enjoyed watching Amanda Seyfried play and it is fun that apparently the dulcimer got some recognition.  

If they ask you to "jam" ....It's not the strawberry kind......

Thanks all for the comments. I'm only about 45 min north of the Janesville group, and they're quite active and welcoming online. There's a smaller group here in Madison, who are mostly all in the Janesville group as well. During my online chatter with the Janesville group I've identified several other folks near me who want to join up. I've already got an invite to a member's house this weekend to go over a few tunes. The community seems welcoming, relaxed, and just what I'm looking for 👍

Ah, the DAD malady has struck. That is "dulcimer acquisition disorder."  Thankfully  it is not fatal.

Seriously, I have a number of dulcimers. For the music I play I have found a particular song may sound better on one than the other. I have one tuned DAA, one in EBB, one in DAC, etc.  So enjoy adding to your collection. The more you have the more time you get to spend playing and enjoying them all.  The Warren May dulcimers are great instruments and expertly crafted.

Thank you for posting this. I'm also a beginner, and also happen to have 2 very similar dulcimers (though not from the same builder). I think I will do exactly as you mention, and keep them in different tunings. I'm just starting to learn about and practice that, and I will be able to spend less time tuning that way. I can keep one in DAA, which I've used most, ready to enjoy things I already know, and use the other for DAD, and whatever comes next.

 I wistfully think about some day having a flat-headed one......

And then there were three......That's how it starts.

If you are not in a dulcimer group, try and find one.   https://southernwisconsindulcimerclub.com/about/

This group is in Janesville, don't know if it's close to you.

Offer lessons? Offer to stumble along with another novice, learning together? The music may not sound great, but the fellowship is nice....

Hello all,

I have a very "spoiled" problem! Just starting out on the dulcimer with an hourdrop all-walnut model by Warren May that I bought from him last year: 6.5 fret present (as I think all his models have now), currently tuned to DAD. I then fell in love last week with an hourglass poplar model with a lot of green color, absolutely beautiful. It's currently being finished up in his workshop; admittedly an impulsive purchase which now leads to my questions ;)

Obviously I'm a novice and barely know what I'll end up needing/liking. That being said, how do I best take advantage of having two dulcimers by same luthier, each with a 6.5 fret, 4 strings, same length/size, different woods and different shapes? I know the woods will have different warmth/brightness, etc. Maybe keep the poplar in DAA? I'm interested in noter/drone playing although also joining a club nearby. Any thoughts appreciated! I'm quite probably over-thinking this as I don't have the second dulcimer in my hands yet!

PS: every time I need to restring, I wistfully think about some day having a flat-headed one 😉

Thanks Ken for your reply - I can easily obtain bottleneck type slides here where I live, so it's the rod I'm looking for.

Dusty, this is terrific news! I'll make the donation and send you a PM right away.

This is a great thread, and what a great old dulcimer! Beautiful wood too.
Just my 2 cents, but for a fragile old dulcimer like that at 28" scale length and a peghead that will need either bracing or restoring, I would put on melody strings of 0.010 gauge, whether you decide on a C tuning or a D tuning. These slightly thinner strings will not be quite as tight tension on the old instrument.  I might put 0.010 melody, 0.010 or 0.16 middle (Dad/DAA) and a .022 bass. middle. I'm assuming you'll maybe try to put in original type wooden tuning pegs after renovating the peghead. You could go with real nice Whitner viola pegs which would look just like old wooden pegs but would tune like machine pegs, like butter.

Okay, great, thanks! You're certainly a wealth of info about all of this...glad we have connected. I will follow your advice and try those string gauges, and will experiment with tunings, etc. Thanks again!

With a 28" length I think you would do well with 0.012 for the melody string (the one closest to the player), the same gauge for the middle string, and 0.022 or 0.024 for the bass. Your dulcimer does not have a fret between the 6th and 7th frets. Therefore you will need to play in the 1 - 5 -5 tuning. To play the in mixolydian mode you need what we dulcimer builders and players call the 6 1/2 fret. As to accompanying your singing voice, the bass string gives the key. When you tune it to D and the other strings to A, you are in the key of D. Tune the bass to C and the others a fifth above that (G) and you are in C. You can play in E and still keep the other strings at A. You'll need to find what works for you through trial and error. When you get to this point you can start another forum with a question about this as I'm not singer and I'm not the best authority on musical theory as it applies to the dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks Ken. Well, I don't know if that's more than I want to know, but it's more than I knew I needed to know! So, I've measured the vibrating string length of my dulcimer, and it looks like just a little over 28" (maybe 28-1/16"?). Given that, would you have any advice as to what tuning I might want to use? I'm not sure how to decide that, but would it relate in any way to my voice range (assuming that I sometimes might want to sing along with my playing)? If so, I have a fairly low range (not sure how to classify it...have never had formal voice training, etc.)...for example, I often sing the bass line in choral songs, and I often end up tuning my guitar down a full step to be able to comfortably sing certain songs (if I don't want to otherwise change keys, etc.)...does that help in any way?

As for the nut & bridge, I agree with you that the Wilcutt example definitely has metal for those two parts, with notches for the strings cut into them, etc. The nut on mine is somewhat worn and chipped, but it is definitely some kind of wood, and it looks very similar to the rest of the wood on the dulcimer (and it also has notches cut into it). (And as I think I said previously, the bridge is missing, so I'm not sure what it was made of.) I think I should be able to fashion some kind of wooden replacements out of the various varieties of hardwood scraps that I have in my shop.

As for moving to friction tuning pegs, I have found some different versions that might work, both on the International Violin Co. website, and on Amazon. I will keep looking around for options before ordering any. And I still might try and make them myself, since I would ideally like to replicate the shape of the knobs on the originals.

Thanks again!

Thanks Nate. I have various hardwoods as well as bone blanks for guitar saddles & nuts that I could maybe use. I also have the reamers, which I use for installing guitar tuners. Will do some online searching for the pegs themselves. 

Thanks again!

Well, in discussing the tuning pegs I forgot all about your other questions. It does look like the nut is made of metal. Perhaps it is a piece of sheet metal (steel)? In the Willicut photo the bridge looks like brass. As far as strings go we need to know the vibrating string length to calculate what you would use. Measure from the inside edge of the to where the strings touch the bridge. You can calculate string size by using the Strothers string calculator. You can find it here . You will also need to know what notes you will use for each string. When Dixon was making dulcimers the accepted standard was C - G - G. Today the standard is D - A - d although many people still play D - A - A (an octave higher than the old standard). Sometimes these tunings are referred to as 1 - 5 -5 and 1 -5 -8 tunings or Ionian and Mixolydian. The former tuning has a scale beginning on the 3rd fret while the latter has the scale starting on the open string. That may be more than you want to know at this point.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

On one hand, if you particularly wanted to install a "zero fret" made of metal that is an option. Common materials for dulcimer nut and bridge are very hard woods, bone, and plastic.

For the pegs, others might be able to provide insight,  but pegs of standard sizes are super cheap and "peg hole reamers" as well as "peg shavers" might be useful tools to use

Mike, I have one of the Hall brand pyrex glass noters that Amazon used to sell. Here is the listing explaining that it is no longer available: Hall dulcimer noter .  That is the exact model I have.  It was given to me when I bought my first dulcimer about 14 or 15 years ago.

It is well made and very pretty.  It produces a very bright tone and slides around like butter on a hot skillet, although my noter skills are pretty poor, so I can't do a good demo. I have trouble avoiding the fret wire.

I never use it.  If you pay for shipping plus make a $10 donation to FOTMD, it is yours.  Send me a personal message if you're interested.  I would package it up and get some estimates on shipping before you have to commit.