Forum Activity for @marg

Always enjoyed Fiona's radio program, book sounds equally good

It all depends on what the current string gauges are, and the VSL -- the Vibrating String Length, or distance between the nut and bridge.  Unfortunately "extremely taut" is sort of subjective.  What's extremely taut to you might not be to someone else.

Tell us the VSL, and ask your f-i-l what gauges of string he had on the dulcimer when he gifted it to you. 

Once you know the VSL you can go to the Strothers String Gauge Calculator, enter the VSL and choose "d"  not "D" for the note you wnt to tune to.  The calculator will tell you what gauge the string should be for that note and that VSL.  Be sure to select "d" not "D".  Most people today write DAd rather than DAD, because that tells the reader that the bass string D and the Melody string d are an octave apart -- the melody string being higher in pitch.

Usually a melody string that can tuned to A can also be tuned to d, although it certainly will be more taut at d than at A.

Steven, we all can't wait to hear about when you get it!      Post pictures!

What is your 'scale length'- the length in inches from the bridge to the nut?

And do you happen to know what gauge/thickness of strings are on it now?

Sometimes the tightness can seem extreme to a new player and yet not really be too much.  After all, the melody string(s) are not actually breaking when tuned up to high d, right?

Robin, that's the one he's getting!  I'll have to make another one for me...

I heard John play one of his Uncle Will Singleton dulcimers-- we were outdoors in Hindman KY-- and it sounded wonderful! 

I just scan the songs I want into the MobileSheets program from my Join the Jam books

Joe 

Exciting, be sure to post pictures for us!!!

John is a good guy, and a great luthier.  I have one of his Uncle Ed Thomas replicas.

I just ordered the "Uncle Will" Singleton dulcimer from John Knopf and I can't wait to get it! John answered all my questions very promptly, sent me a link to a sound file of the dulcimer being played, and gave me some welcome advice about how to handle a newly delivered dulcimer in cold weather.

I'll tell you all more about the dulcimer when I get it...which I hope will be soon!

Ken, I bought the book several months ago yet haven't gotten to it yet.  Looking forward to when life allows the chance to really enjoy it!  

DAA#d is another. It effectively gives you a chromatic capability This tuning can be retuned to DAAd, DGA#d, and DAA#c. Janita Baker, Mark Biggs and John Sackenheim are some folks using these tunings for fingerpicked arrangements. I have messed with DF#AA and DF#Ad, they allows bar chords, some 7ths and some minors.

Glad to hear of your success, Maria.  When you perform, I would suggest a new piece of that window decal stuff since it loses a bit of its stickiness every time you move it.

That's the one alright, are you familiar with his worlk?

 Thanks for the tuning info, and just remembered I have a June Apple Banjomer that is strung standard but is slotted for equidistant also, may jus have to loosen up the strings and give it a go round with some of the tunings you suggested. 

George, there are a lot of different tunings for 4 equidistant strings.  My 1st dulcimer was tuned DAdd, so that's how I kept it, mostly.  Nowadays I use more DAAd.  I love DAdc, fretting mainly the melody string and letting the others drone.  DAdA is one Jean Ritchie used and noter players still use.  I came up with DGcd for "Rocking the Cradle that's None of My Own." I love the freedom of 4 independent strings.

Is the that the Fellenbaum that was on Ebay?  I did look at it.

Hi all, I'm looking at my first equidistant strung dulcimer and was just curious if it is tuned the same basic D A D for example, or can or should it be tuned differently? Thanks in advance, it's a 1982 Tim Fillenbaum if I'm spelling that right.

Fiona ought to know. Love her radio program... Robert...

I just finished reading this book that I received as a Christmas present and am wondering if anyone else read it. If so, what do think about the book. For those who have not read it, here is the the complete title and other information: Wayfaring Strangers - The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia by Fiona Ritchie and Doug Orr. It is not a book about dulcimers, but it does contain information about dulcimers. It is primarily a book about the people and their songs as the migrated from Scotland and Ireland to the New World. The book comes with a companion CD. I enjoyed reading the book and listening to the CD. The interviews with people who play the music provides wonderful insights into the songs and their meanings for them. The history is fascinating and covers Scotland, Ireland, and the United States. It also covers the evolution of the music into an American form. It is worth checking out from your local library if you haven't read it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

DUSTY YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!

check out the video I did and gave you kudos on screen and on the credits!! thanks so much your window decal did the trick!!!

I will post the video in the video section too!!

Maria

adhering the Myers Pick up to the Dulcimer

I came back from Louisville with a Warren May small older dulcimer called a groundhog. I wasn't able to go see Warren but did speak to him on the phone and told him I had picked up one of his dulcimers. He is so nice I wished I had the time to visit him. The dulcimer has such a beautiful sound, I hope you find your special one.

Next time I change the strings will see about swapping the 2 pegs. Thanks ken and everyone for help with first wooden pegs

Ryan, no I don't have a physical shop. I do sell Folkcraft dulcimers and usually keep a few in stock. Actually, you are closer to Pristine2 who sells some used dulcimers from time-to-time. He lives in Hollidaysburg. I do some building and repair work.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for the input so far, more is welcome.  If/When I get dug out (1200 foot drive up the lower side of a mountain) I will check out a couple of semi local places to see if any can fix the nut and how much. I can probably handle the tuner replacements if I decide to stay with what I have. The reasonable side of me says, wait till I learn more about how to play what I have, the ooh ooh shiny thing side says just buy a Ban Jammer.  That is how I ended up with a Banjo, Mt Dulcimer, Uke, Uke Banjo, and a Pixie Lute (walking dulcimer) hanging on my wall. Spent about 2 months on banjo and hung it up, a couple of weeks on the Uke (Uke Banjo was just to neat and cheap to pass up), MD the first time a couple of weeks, Pixie Lute a couple of months. But they do look nice on the wall.

The point is to not take them all off at the same tim so that the floating bridge gets loose.  You could certainly take two off to swap pegs.

I'm all for getting a better dulcimer if you think it will encourage you to play more and if it will help you sound better.

Whether that new dulcimer is a banjammer is a different question.  The banjammers are louder than regular dulcimers, but one trick would be to shove a towel in the back and mute the sound a bit. Lots of banjo players do that anyway.

People must love their banjammers. You hardly ever see used ones for sale.

Yes, that is what I did today but not sure how I will be able to swap out the peg if always only one string at a time. I think if I could swap, I would put the peg from the second slot into the bass slot. For now, all holding, so good as is. 

With a floating bridge, you really never want to take all the strings off at one time.  Always change one, then the next.....

Those Hondo dulcimers were pretty good sounding instrument, regardless of who made or imported them.  We have learned a bit more about making a "good sounding" dulcimer since then, though.  I've played a few Hondos, and have played modern made dulcimers I've liked less. Nuts and bridges are inexpensive to replace.  IIRC those Hondos have uke-style metal friction tuners which are easy and inexpenisve to replace as well.

I've built a few banjimers over the years.  Made the first one because I sorta liked the sound I'd heard from others, and thought that it would be a good addition to my 'stable' of instruments.  Turns out that, for me, the banjimer sound only goes with a limited number of songs in my repertoire -- less than a dozen actually, out of a couple hundred tunes I play regularly.   I can't speak for a group appreciating the sound of a banjimer; groups are their own dynamic.

You can get a dulcimer built to your specifications for $350-$500 or so from a builder like Harpmaker Dave Lynch and some of the other builders who frequent here. 

On utube look for Gavin Atkin. He's a button accordion player who plays this tune and many others slow. Very easy to learn from his videos..

I discovered my recorded version has a c part that was not part of the original tune. It was added by some Canadian fiddlers, taken from the tune Money Musk... neat huh... Robert...

Actually an HD-4 was spruce and rosewood and should have a pretty good sound.  I'd think it would be well worth repairs.

Well, I found a 3rd setting of Reel de Gaspe.  Here they are.

reel de gaspe.pdf - 76KB

I didn't even know my current MD had a name but I looked inside and it is Hondo HD-4 made in Korea and has a date of 1981 on the label. A quick Google confirms it was an inexpensive instrument one step up from a cardboard starter dulcimer and one of the first mass imports of foreign instruments.

The tuners are the type with the screw in the end and I already tighten them and it helped some but they still don't hold long. Seems to have a value of about $25-50.

Changed out my strings today, notice one of the pegs may belong to another hole then the one it's in. It didn't fit in it's hole all the way but works as is. I wasn't ready to take more than one string off at a time, because of the floating bridge.  Maybe one day I will swap the bass string peg for the 1st string peg. While the pegs were out, I cleaned them some, and rubbed a pencil on them and a little peg dope.

Tuned up and ready to go. Thanks everyone. 

I built my own banjimer. It's fine to play, and not a particular bother to others. If it does bother someone, just play softer. :)  You may end up not wanting to play it like a regular MD, there's something about them that leads you to expand your horizons. You don't have to get a 'custom' MD, most all makers have standard models you can choose from. 

As far as your current MD, a piece of credit card under the nut [1st] will probably help and let it be more or less playable. Ken gave the fix/trouble shooting on them. It being that old does not necessarily mean it's cheap or poorly made, especially if built by a recognized early builder.

According to thesession.org ( https://thesession.org/tunes/3767) there are 2 different tunes called by this name.  I hope to have both of them tabbed tonight or tomorrow.  When I do I'll post them both on here, so you can tell me which one is the one you want.

Jim, it seems to me that there are several things to consider here. The repairs to your current dulcimer should not be very expensive. Making a new nut and/or bridge is not difficult. Are the tuners wood, mechanical/metal friction, or planetary? If they have little screws through the button, they can be tightened. You did not mention who made your dulcimer. Knowing this, would aid us in figuring out if it is worth fixing up. It is important to play an instrument with the sound you like. It will make you want to play it more. There are many good luthiers out there who would be happy to make you a custom instrument.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ban Jammer has a banjo like sound I like. Full custom is probably a lot more money. I would just go with a slightly better quality MD rather than custom, till I was good enough to justify the cost. Ban Jammer is just an idea that I was hoping to discuss to either talk me into or out of the idea.

My current MD has tuners that keep drifting and the nut groves are to deep and that is causing some string buzz. Not sure what it would cost to fix these items (not a instrument repair person). I would end up with a cheap with MD with some upgrades.

Jim...

Any Ban Jammer owners on the forum?  I really like the sound of them from online videos and I'm thinking about buying one. Since after years of procrastinating I'm actually starting to try to learn to play again. I have already discovered how cheaply made the Mt. Dulcimer I have had for 30+ years is and before putting money into some upgrades on it, maybe I should just replace it with a better instrument.

Any thoughts? Would I be a distraction in a class of regular Mt. Dulcimers?

Jim...

Thanks for the pictures, Tom. I'm glad to hear you're happy with the pickup.  My Myers pickup does not have the soundhole mic; it just works off vibrations from the wood, I guess.

I updated the post. Pics should be there now.