Banish Misfortune is in the Everything Dulcimer Tab collection:
http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/files/tab/banish_misfortune.pdf
Hopefully we will somehow be able to save Everything Dulcimer before it goes away June 1st!
I would love to find mtn dulcimer tab for the Boys of Wexford and banish misfortune...I think they are traditional tunes... Does anyone have these tunes... I have been listening to Leo Kretzner play them on youtube!
Perhaps a member, or a group of members, can consider taking the reins of ED in the future? Is this a possibility?
Thanks for the link, Dusty.
Yes, the tab archive at ED was a great resource for beginners. I learned a few tunes that way when I was first starting out before I gained the confidence to figure songs out on my own. I do hope that database is retained somehow.
But everyone should know that ED is not the only site to maintain free dulcimer tablature. I list 9 such sites on the Resources page of my website, and I'm sure there are others. (If you know of any, let me know and I'll add them.)
So sad. That like this site has been a breath of fresh air for those who love the dulcimer. Will sure miss the tabbed music.
Strumelia, is there any way you, we, could pick up that site if no one else does? I believe it is the most important website for tabbed dulcimer music; not to mention the wealth of general information.
Kusani, I was just as surprised as everyone else to find out about this today. Right now, everybody (myself included) likely needs some time to wrap their heads around it all. In any case, it's not really my place to insert myself into.
In the meantime, as others have suggested, people should take the time to download whatever Articles they are interested in on ED, and probably also a good idea to just take an hour or three to go through the TAB collection there and download your favorites. Saving your favorite articles and TABs will go a long way towards feeling a little more grounded. Lois' reminder is also good, in that most pages on ED will be still somewhat accessible through the internet archive.
The tab there is what lots of players want, but I just fell into a 3 year-old discussion here about tunings. It mentioned a DAA chord chart that went into several keys. A search sent me to a discussion on Everything Dulcimer by Stephen Seifert as he was developing a new handout about DAA chords. From there I went to his website & his 3 charts. I am pretty sure I've downloaded it in the past, but just to be sure I printed it out again. Since the site won't really plan to add anything, now's the time to prowl Archive.org on Feb 24, 2018 to see if it's complete.
I've also found the more people prowl a site there, the easier it stays to find it.
Strumelia, is there any way you, we, could pick up that site if no one else does? I believe it is the most important website for tabbed dulcimer music; not to mention the wealth of general information.
Thanks for posting this site. I just tried it out, great. They are up to Feb 24, 2018 at this time.
It may be an alternative the ED admins could use/recommend if necessary.
Everybody needs to get good at using the "Wayback Machine" at https://archive.org/ . By the time it shuts down we need to locate the date with the most complete scan of the site so that people can go to that date to prowl for an article or tabs.
As a storyteller I do that with a site that was a rich source of story suggestions but no longer is online.
I just went through the articles on ED and downloaded those that I thought I might want to review in the future. Ron Z has posted that he is no longer accepting any new content (articles, tab, events, members, etc.) so what we see there now is all there will ever be.
I'm shocked by this news. 
Everybody needs to get good at using the "Wayback Machine" at https://archive.org/ . By the time it shuts down we need to locate the date with the most complete scan of the site so that people can go to that date to prowl for an article or tabs.
As a storyteller I do that with a site that was a rich source of story suggestions but no longer is online.
Here is where you can get more info:
http://everythingdulcimer.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=34074
and here:
http://everythingdulcimer.com/ed_end_of_life.pdf
Thanks for the suggestions. I started with Herdim and they are not for me. I have now bought some firmer picks - Dunlop Tortex, Gibson, Everly Star, ... You name it I've got it or ordered it 
Again, thank you.
I have no idea how it was supported financially but it could be a great loss if not picked up by somebody or some group. June 1st. isn't that far off...... Strumelia??????
A valuable site is closing shortly -
http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/tab/
Personally, I'd play it for a year before investing even the small amount in a new nut and bridge and installation. Learn what it sounds like and plays like "as is" before doing any tweaking. Most "shops" won't know squat about repair/replacing dulcimer nuts and bridges anyway. If you must, buy a bone nut/bridge and D.I.Y.
I look forward to hearing you make it sing, Stewart!
I agree with Matt -- please start another discussion topic about "other tuning"...
Other tunings,..., many. This might not be the best forum to find people who can best discuss multiple tunings. As a start, try tuning each string down a step so that your instrument is tuned CGc(c). You can play all the same music, just everything will be slightly lower in pitch. Many players find DAdd slightly too high for comfortable singing.
If you want to explore more tunings, I would suggest looking through the books written by Don Pedi.
I am also a MD beginner and had problems with a high action of my dulcimer - after many detailed tips from very kind members here we took off the bridge, sanded it down approximately 2 mm (little by little - testing it repeatedly) and put on thinner strings which means 0.20, 0.12 and 0.09 - and it works much better now and still sounds good to me.
Since we have no dime and nickel here in Germany I took a 5 and 10 cent coin - but just as a kind of reference point. 
Love this song. Thanks for posting it!
I have a ( Dulcimer Factory dulcimer ) and the action is very good, no problem with pressing a fret or hammer-on's or slides, etc.
If you think it is the action, easy fix. There are post I'm sure on here about lowering action or you could take it to a guitar shop if no dulcimer people are around to help.
Glad you found a way around the problem, enjoy your dulcimer adventure
Egad! Thanks for the quick come-back! Your peg-box detail showed me something about my dulcimer that I did not know until just now. Your peg-box is obviously three-piece: Although the joining is as good as it gets, the grain is a dead giveaway (not implying that it is obnoxious or anything of the sort). I looked very closely at mine again and sho'-nuff it's three-piece too, except in my example the grain pattern and colors make it almost indiscernible - I don't know if that was deliberate or luck of the draw.
I'm curious, if you would further indulge me, about the nut end of the peg-box: Does it open under the nut into the body?
Comparing our examples with Jennifer's, I see that ours have a flat land between the distal end of the peg-box cavity and the scroll-head, while Jennifer's scroll-head drops straightaway into the peg-box cavity. I don't know if that represents a design change (Jennifer's is the most recent build) or just some experimental variation that Bill indulged in. As for design appeal, I guess it depends on the eye of the beholder. Regarding a practical purpose for eliminating that land, the only thing that comes to mind would be to shorten the overall length a bit.
On the tuners, from your latest photos it looks like I found a durn good match for you. A little polish on what you have and one would be hard pressed to tell the difference, old from new (if the dimensions match, that is). If you elect to replace the broken tuner be sure to leave that extension in the small hole opposite the mounting hole. Not that you necessarily need it - do it just to keep things "as was" as possible (I think it's intended to reduce lateral stain on the peg shaft). As for any adverse affect on collector value, if you keep the broken key, the instrument can be returned to where it was when it became yours. I have this ongoing project dulcimer (a Carstanjen courting dulcimer) that was unplayable as found and after crafting new nuts and replacing the fixed bridges to floating bridges now sounds pretty cool except for a body rattle problem caused, I'm sure, by unbound braces. Anyway, so far, everything I've done can be undone should some future owner want it that way - but from there it would become a wall-hanger only and/or an audio torture device. I'll be talking about this project soon in a dedicated post cuz I do need some advice on where to go from from where I'm at.
Moving on, as a three-course four-string with melody doublet, you could convert by cutting new string notches in the center of the bridge and the nut, but personally I'd hate to see you do that and rather have you opt to leave it as a four course, with or without the doublet. Of course, with the set-up you now have you can do a D-A-dd three-course with a somewhat awkward string spacing yet optionally swap to D-A-d-d four-course by simply loosening the inner string of the doublet, moving it over to the high drone slot, then re-tuning - no string removal required.
From your photos I see you may already be afflicted with the dreaded DAD syndrome. There's something to be said for someone who already owns a three-course trying a four-course. A four course is somewhat harder to master (and at first can be confusing), but it does have a different voice and to me anyway variety is a fun plus, if not the spice of life.
Well, I see I've droned on much longer than I intended to. So I'll close now with a thanks for the follow request - I'm flattered.
Here you go, Jim! Yep, I totally understood about the name and initials!
Linda, now what made you think I was in any way eager? 
No problem with the photos, five minutes with a photo editor and they look just fine. I'd sure appreciate detailed oblique shots of the key box and bridge area though.
You may have misunderstood prior commentary about Fleming's cursive signature. Both Jennifer and I said the first letters were hard to decipher. Jennifer thought "HB" for her example, while I assumed "Wm" (based upon an assumed abbreviation for William). I'm pretty sure Jennifer would confirm "HA" is possible (and hopefully she will respond). As for me I already conceded that the first letter has always looked more like an "H" than a distorted "W" and that the second letter is lost the the cursive "F" which starts the last name - so "HA" is far and away more probable than my original long standing speculation. As the grave stones confirm "William" was Fleming's second middle name and he went by the nickname "Bill" (which was what he used in our introduction) thereby filling in all the missing pieces of the puzzle. Using a second name as a call name is not especially rare, especially among Scandinavians. My full name is Arthur James Hedman and I've gone by James (or Jim) since birth. My grandfather "Pete", a Swedish immigrant, was Edward Peter Hedman. A little twist with Bill Fleming is that "William" was an "extra" second name and he apparently did not reference it in his signature - which probably explains why all my previous searches for a Bill Fleming were in vain. So much for the confusion about the signature except maybe the underlying date, which in all three cases is of the form "mm-dd-yy" - dashes not slashes, and with the year abbreviated to last two digits.
Another expository indicator provided by the photos is the spacing of the melody strings on all three dulcimers. They're closer together than any other doublet that I've seen on a dulcimer. A tad closer than even a 12-string guitar... more like what you'd find on a mandolin.
I really like the figuring on the book matched bottom of your dulcimer. The nut looks to be a replacement. I can see that the nut is displaced to the right, probably because it is not glued and the missing "high drone" is causing it to pull that way. It also looks like the nut profile does not quite match the nut slot, but maybe it's just an artifact of the shadow cast by the nut being displaced. I don't know that Bill used anything other than hardwood for nut or bridge/saddle. At least I have no recollection of that being an option on my custom build. I have a nice piece of vintage black walnut with your name on it if you'd like a replica of the one on my dulcimer. I extend this offer to Jennifer too, if she wants a replica floating bridge/saddle.
About that broken tuning key for the "high drone", you might want to consider moving the inner melody string to the now empty nut and bridge slots, giving you the four-string (no doublet) configuration that Jennifer used in her beautiful rendition of The Ash Grove . In other words change from the original "D-A-d-dd" to "D-A-d-d". Another alternative would to replace that broken key with one like the following:
======
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A little pricey perhaps, but there's a good chance that the your original keys are Grovers and these appear (except for the patina) to be a very close match. The specs, including a diagram, are on the web page cited. I know you only need one, but I don't know if the vendor would sell you a single key (you could always call and ask). Or maybe there is a kind builder/repairman reading this that could help you out.
As for what you paid for your Fleming, all I can say is wow! What a find! If you should decide to sell it, let me know, PLEASE!
I guess neither of us took to the Herdim picks, huh? Let me point out that you are experimenting with different materials, gauges, and designs all at once. You might try to limit the variables. For example, try to isolate the material you like before deciding what thickness works best. If you try four different picks but each one is different in shape, material, and thickness, you might not figure out why you prefer a specific one.
Since you mention it, let me say that my pick of choice is the Dunlop tortext pick, but I use the standard size, not the III. When I first started on the dulcimer I was using the yellow .73, then I moved to the green .88, and recently I've moved to the 1.0 blue ones. But I like heavier strings, and in general as string gauges get bigger so will the gauges of your pick. I like the tortex material, but find I need to moisten my fingertips a bit. You will often see me lick my fingers and then wipe them on my jeans to get just the right amount of moisture. It's probably not a good look on stage, but it's better than losing control of a pick and having it fly into the audience!
The only picks I've found that I prefer to the Dunlop Tortex are the Blue Chip picks, but those are way beyond my budget.
Thanks, Dusty. I have tried all three colours of Herdim picks, Red, Yellow and Blue and none suits me. One Yellow pick developed a small nick at the side and had to be thrown away after only a little use. I have a number of thumb picks left over from my attempt at learning the autoharp and today received three new lots.
The new ones are Dunlop Tortex III Green 0.88, Yellow 0.73 and some Gibson Standard Guitar picks. I also have some 0.85 and 1.5 Blue Maxgrip ones. ( I have goose quills but they have been locked away together with my lovely DAA Charles Hagen dulcimer until I started making progress with DAD. )
All I need now is some peace and quiet to sit down and play. I have had three hectic days and my dulcimers have not left their cases. Hopefully, I can strum away tonight 
Hi, @nigelbleddfa . I would encourage you to continue experimenting with different picks. Note that in addition to different shapes (teardrop, triangle, etc.) and design (thumb hook, hole in the middle, etc.), picks come in different kinds of materials and, most importantly, different thicknesses. You refer to your old Herdim pick as "floppy," which leads me to think you were using a pick that was too thin and you have found more success with a heavier gauge pick. As I have been playing the dulcimer I have moved to slightly heavier and heavier picks, and one reason I like the heavier picks is that it makes it easier to pluck single strings. I personally did not like the Herdim picks (too pointy), but I played guitar for decades before discovering the dulcimer, so my own pick preferences were mostly developed before I ever held a dulcimer. But you might revisit the Herdim picks and choose one that's a heavier gauge than the one you started with. Again, keep exploring different options. Eventually you will settle on the best pick for you.
Jim, I'm sending you these now because you are so eager! But they are pretty dark, so if you want me to try again later today I can. Mine clearly says H.A. Fleming 7-17-71 inside-- nothing William about it! But you did some good sleuthing to solve that mystery! Hope these help sate your curiosity!
Thanks, Rob, I have fallen into that trap already and am waiting for the delivery of three different picks this morning.
The Bumble Bee is a pick made by Fred Kelly and is a black and yellow thumb pick.
Nigel, as others have mentioned, picks are personal. I have a bag of picks of all kinds in my case, most of which I never use. Jerry Rockwell turned me on to "Pointless Picks," round ones that I really like for some things. I have a V-Pick "Bing" for use when I need to "stand out." Some Hercos including the one Ken H mentioned and some Dunlops. Even tho' I have a couple in the bag, I hate floppy picks. Floppier the pick, the less control you have. Bottom line: try out a bunch (another fav of mine is the Star Pick, the green ones) and buy more of what you like and put the others in a bag. When you find other dulcimer players who didn't bring a pick you can whip out the bag and say, "Well, here's a few." LOL
Some wound strings (phosphor bronze, flat wound, etc.) may be easier on your fingers if you are finger picking, but the unwound strings are like unwound guitar strings. What you might want to think about Ann, are thin leather thimbles which would protect your nails but still allow you sensitive feel of the strings.
I read your posting. We are similar "new players." What is a Bumble Bee pick?
I am very new to FOTMD. As I am learning, watching You-Tube instructions, I want to play with a soft approach. To me that means with the fingers of the right hand. I also play classical guitar and do not want to destroy my fingernails. Several questions cross my mind. Are some strings easier to play with fingers? I thought I read something about that a few months ago and cannot find anything. I know some people use finger and thumb picks. I would love to hear some reviews.
I was lucky to find a home (Middle School music classroom) for my mother's beloved piano. Shortly afterwards I learned how lucky I was. Read an article about how many people are finding it impossible to even give away pianos. People are even paying to have them go to landfills! The article did wonder about the wood being recycled to make new instruments.
Yes, they're heavy to move, but if you can manage that, maybe you wonder how to find unwanted pianos. If you have never discovered Freecycle, Google it and subscribe. You can post a request for people to contact you -- I would suggest mentioning your wanting to recycle the wood to make dulcimers. Probably once a year would be acceptable to post the request. You can sign up for more than one Freecycle group as they are grouped by geographical area. I would add just probably one at a time so you don't get swamped.
I am not likely to ever build a dulcimer, but this sounds like a great way to find beautiful wood rather than let it rot in a landfill.
Jennifer and Linda, I've done some more research and am convinced beyond doubt we all have Bill Fleming Dulcimers.
First I checked the source Linda referenced and came up with this:
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Directory of Contemporary American Musical Instrument Makers
Copyright 1981
Pages 44-45
H.A. Fleming
Rt. 2, Gatlinburg, Tenn. 37738
PT 1967 Active 1 emp. MTO
Historical Brochure 12/74
•Appalachian dulcimer Over 50 to
date †•Steel-string guitar 1-10
date †•Mandolin 1-10 to date †
=====
So here's a Fleming based in Gatlinburg, quite possibly active in 1981. But the guy I met in 1970 called himself "Bill" I thought - or was I suffering bad memory after 48 years? Since "Bill" was no spring chicken when I met him, on a whim I did a grave site search on Fleming with Gatlingburg as the location. In pretty short order I had my man. See the photo below, it explains everything!
You were both right, the signature on all three of our dulcimers is H.A. Fleming. And I was right after all - he did go by "Bill". His full name was Harold Anthony William Fleming. Like me, his nickname was not based on his first name - whoda thunk he'd base it upon a third given name?
The grave site search link is: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/45622428/harold-anthony_william-fleming You'll see my findings are pretty much "set in stone".
Linda, I'm just dying to see photos of your Fleming.
Jennifer, that rendition of The Ash Grove is breathtaking! You coaxed a sweet rendition otta that old box. {p.s. on second look that back does appear to be book-match after all.}
Jim
