That's a fun question. I've always wanted a Homer Ledford dulcibro. The craftsmanship is gorgeous, I love the metal sound, and it's a piece of dulcimer history. Unfortunately, but justifiably, they are quite expensive so that one might be a while for me lol.
What type of music do you play now and/or wish to learn in the future?
If you could have your dream dulcimer, or have it already, what would it be? Woods? VSL? Maker?
I'm thinking of getting a new dulcimer and wish to explore options. Thanks! Jazz
Three years ago this was asked by @shannonmilan "Do you mean to say they also differ on their tuning?"
"They" being dulcemores and dulcimers.
Yes and no.. What I said was " The most common tunings <for traditional dulcemores> seem to have been Unison (all strings the same gauge and same high note -- d-d-d) or Bagpipe (middle and melody strings an octave higher than the bass string D-d-d), with 1-5-5 tunings a close third."
So Yes, they do differ
-- traditional dulcemores are/were most commonly tuned to ddd or Ddd and other key equivalents
--modern dulcimers are most commonly tuned to DAA, DAd and other Modal tunings (DAG, DAC, etc) and their key equivalents
and No
-- in that dulcemores and dulcimers can be tuned to exactly the same tunings
.
I can't speak for what Ken Hulme meant, but I would say that the popularity of tunings differed by regions. What was popular in southwestern Virginia (bagpipe or unison) may not have been what was popular in Kentucky or North Carolina. Tunings were selected to suit the voice of the player if she/he was singing with the dulcimer. In a 1-5-5 tuning the bass string was set to "a good note" and the other strings a fifth above it. A good note being one that suited the singer's voice. Tunings also depended upon what suited the song, e.g., major or minor scales. Accepting a "standard" tuning allows folks to play together. When I first started playing it was CGG and moved to DAA and then to DAd. If you listen to other dulcimers players today, you will find many playing in other tunings when the perform solo.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
"Exact" is such a hard word! As Dan sez, back in the day there was no standard spelling for dulcimer/dulcimore/dulcemore, and there were numerous regional names for the instrument as well.
Today many of us use the dulcimore/dulcemore spelling to distinguish instruments made in a more traditional, less modern way. Our "bible" as it were is L. Allen Smith's landmark book Catalogue of Pre-Revival Appalachian Dulcimers. Hundreds of traditional designs to replicate or emulate.
Here are a few characteristics which a number of us use to distinguish between a modern and traditional "dulcimer".
Do you mean to say they also differ on their tuning?
I'm coming in late to this discussion Linda, but let me add a thought or two. First, I think the tuners are banjo friction tuners ( probably Champion) and the plastic buttons were replaced by walnut buttons. I don't know if this was done by the manufacturer (Grover) or by McSpadden. Second, wood is subject to changes in humidity and temperature. After taking the dulcimer out of the closet, there may have been some swelling or shrinking of the wood in the peg head. Sometimes when the screw bottoms out another washer, which is thicker than the original, can be used to thicken the side wall of the peg head allowing more space for the screw to tighten. There really isn't anything to malfunction on those pegs as they are a friction fit, but unlike violin pegs where the friction is within the peg hole, the friction on these pegs is against the wall of the peg head.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Linda
I'm coming in late to this discussion Linda, but let me add a thought or two. First, I think the tuners are banjo friction tuners ( probably Champion) and the plastic buttons were replaced by walnut buttons. I don't know if this was done by the manufacturer (Grover) or by McSpadden. Second, wood is subject to changes in humidity and temperature. After taking the dulcimer out of the closet, there may have been some swelling or shrinking of the wood in the peg head. Sometimes when the screw bottoms out another washer, which is thicker than the original, can be used to thicken the side wall of the peg head allowing more space for the screw to tighten. There really isn't anything to malfunction on those pegs as they are a friction fit, but unlike violin pegs where the friction is within the peg hole, the friction on these pegs is against the wall of the peg head.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
There is a small fiber washer in the mechanism if my memory is still good. Sometimes that can be the culprit. I have had some success loosening them a lot and then slowly tightening them back down. If you ever disassemble one all the way take note of the order of the metal and the fiber washers on the shaft. Sometimes just using them will get them holding again. After all no exercise for 40 + years and we all forget how to do things.
There is a small fiber washer in the mechanism if my memory is still good. Sometimes that can be the culprit. I have had some success loosening them a lot and then slowly tightening them back down. If you ever disassemble one all the way take note of the order of the metal and the fiber washers on the shaft. Sometimes just using them will get them holding again. After all no exercise for 40 + years and we all forget how to do things.
Dear Richard, thank you, thank you! Your suggestion is much appreciated because I finally got the courage to take it apart--your advice to take note of the washer order saved me. As it turns out, they have two metal washers sandwiched between a plastic ring. By taking them apart, and putting them back together, for some mysterious reason they then worked. I've attached a photo of the innards. I'm very grateful to you! Linda
Richard said " If you ever disassemble one all the way take note of the order of the metal and the fiber washers on the shaft."
Perhaps at some time in the past someone took one or more of them apart and incorrectly reassembled them. If one is better than another, you might have a model to check against.
Hiya again, Wally, see the response I just wrote. Merci, Linda
You asked "what type of tuner?" I just looked at your photo, and you tuners are interesting in their own right due to the way the wood is held between metal fingers. I can't find any match on the Elderly Instrument tuners web page, and there are a lot of designs there.
https://www.elderly.com/pages/search-results?offset=456&q=tuners
Friction pegs (non-violin type) are common on banjos and ukuleles. Looking at the following web pages I identified about five basic types. Some use fiber washers while others use plastic. Yours appear to be fiber since some are more compressed than others.
All About Ukulele Friction Tuners - Got A Ukulele Beginners Tips
Banjo Tuner Tips & Tricks
Some really old high quality instruments used tapered tuning pegs, apparently designed to fit in the holes used for violin pegs. A video dealing with these is:
1920’s Martin Ukulele- What to do about the friction pegs?
One of the videos mentions screws bottoming out. That might be your problem if the wood has shrunk over the past 40 years. That could explain the left-right difference.
Dear Wally, and you are a dear! I am amazed by all the learning I have gotten from your email and those of others who have replied. I never dreamed I would have the courage to take apart the tuners on a musical instrument because, in the past, I have had a 98% failure rate on putting things together that I have taken apart.
I didn't even have the language to describe those pegs because I knew they weren't the violin friction type, nor the geared type. So, thank you. As it turns out, they have two metal washers sandwiched between a plastic ring. By taking them apart, and putting them back together, voila, now they work--not sure why except maybe the dulcimer was happier that someone was paying attention to it. So again, many thanks. Linda
You asked "what type of tuner?" I just looked at your photo, and you tuners are interesting in their own right due to the way the wood is held between metal fingers. I can't find any match on the Elderly Instrument tuners web page, and there are a lot of designs there.
https://www.elderly.com/pages/search-results?offset=456&q=tuners
Friction pegs (non-violin type) are common on banjos and ukuleles. Looking at the following web pages I identified about five basic types. Some use fiber washers while others use plastic. Yours appear to be fiber since some are more compressed than others.
All About Ukulele Friction Tuners - Got A Ukulele Beginners Tips
Banjo Tuner Tips & Tricks
Some really old high quality instruments used tapered tuning pegs, apparently designed to fit in the holes used for violin pegs. A video dealing with these is:
1920’s Martin Ukulele- What to do about the friction pegs?
One of the videos mentions screws bottoming out. That might be your problem if the wood has shrunk over the past 40 years. That could explain the left-right difference.
You can use this website to calculate the string size: http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html . It tends to be a little on the light side. When I did the calculations, I came up with D = 0.018, A = 0.012, and d = 0.0090. I would suggest trying 0.020, 0.014, and 0.010. When you take the strings off, you can use a small block of wood and hammer to knock the pegs out if they do not come out on their own. You can clean them off with a mild soap. Murphy's Oil Soap works well. A small amount of peg dope available from a violin or music shop can help lubricate the pegs for easy turning and grip. I also use the Murphy's for cleaning the entire instrument. Where the scratches are, you might need to sand them out and refinish the area. It depends upon how much you want go get rid of them. Best wishes on your project and the new (to you) dulcimer.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
It sounds like you have a solid plan for maintaining and improving your dulcimer! Using peg dope for lubrication and Murphy's Oil Soap for cleaning are great practices to keep your instrument in good condition. Sanding out scratches and refinishing areas as needed can also help restore its appearance. Best wishes with your project, and I hope your dulcimer continues to bring you joy and beautiful music!
1 week from today is International Appalachian Dulcimer Day! 
Feel free to share any work you create (music, photography, embroidery, jewelry, poetry, etc.) which celebrates the Appalachian dulcimer and its spread around the world!
Richard said " If you ever disassemble one all the way take note of the order of the metal and the fiber washers on the shaft."
Perhaps at some time in the past someone took one or more of them apart and incorrectly reassembled them. If one is better than another, you might have a model to check against.
There is a small fiber washer in the mechanism if my memory is still good. Sometimes that can be the culprit. I have had some success loosening them a lot and then slowly tightening them back down. If you ever disassemble one all the way take note of the order of the metal and the fiber washers on the shaft. Sometimes just using them will get them holding again. After all no exercise for 40 + years and we all forget how to do things.
Those tuners should have a tiny screw in the end of each knob, which adjust how 'firmly' they stay in tune. Start with a 1/4 turn tighter and see how that works. Need more turn a little more... Too tight and they won't adjust.
Hi Ken, Thank you so much for the tip. That was the first thing I tried, and they were a little loose, but now the pegs on the right keep slipping. I appreciate the thought, though!
Making progress! For clarification @ken-longfield, to set up the action, you put the dime on the fret board, and the nickel on top of the fret?
Yes
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
@shannmilan... My path won't work for you.
We have a local lap dulcimer group which meets twice a week in two different configurations, one for beginners in a classroom setting, one for sort'a playing as a group. My wife has attended both for about five years, I've been taking an active part for about two.
I don't practice, so my skills aren't that good, but I have acquired a LOT of knowledge, as well as becoming a technician.
I also studied violin as a kid, sung in choruses, and am teaching myself viola, arranging music for a crank organ and trying to learn to practice.
As far as "courses" goes, what courses are available to you? Unless you live near me, I can't make a suggestion, except possibly for on-line resources.
I'll take note of that, you are very fortunate that you have a group session that caters to both newbie and advance players.
Making progress! For clarification @ken-longfield, to set up the action, you put the dime on the fret board, and the nickel on top of the fret?
Those tuners should have a tiny screw in the end of each knob, which adjust how 'firmly' they stay in tune. Start with a 1/4 turn tighter and see how that works. Need more turn a little more... Too tight and they won't adjust.
Greetings! A friend recently gave me a 1979 McSpadden dulcimer that has been sitting in her closet since 1980, and she is moving so didn't want to take it with her. It's signed by Larry McSpadden! The first couple of days I couldn't get it to stay in tune; one of the tuning pegs kept slipping; I finally got it to stay in CGC, much to my surprise and lots of tries. Then, after playing it a day or two I got it to DAD. I am ASTONISHED at the resonance and sustain on this instrument, not to mention the drone. Just amazing! So, I cleaned it up and restrung it, and now both pegs on the left keep slipping.
Does anyone know what kind of tuners these are and if they are fixable? The two on the right still grab, but neither on the left. Thank you for any suggestions.
She will be missed . I sold literally hundreds of her book Larkin's Dulcimer Book which I still consider the best dulcimer primer out there. I used to include a copy with my dulcimers . Lovely woman.
Sounds good! Do you have the youtube link you can share?
I just discovered this on youtube, and thought others might enjoy it. It's a scratchy old record, but the authenticity and simplicity make it truly wonderful.
"The Fox" / "Go Away From My Window" / "I Never Shall Marry" - Margaret & Harold Winters (EP)I seldom go to festivals anymore for workshops but just to visit with dulcimer friends. However, Dwain, your workshop interests me. I might register for the Pocono festival just for that. I can easily drive over, take your workshop, and return home. I'll see when it is scheduled to take place. Thanks for offering this.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Would be great to see you there, Ken. I can't remember whether we've met before.
I talked about how we should handle our dulcimers in class (that you mention Dwain) & your workshop. We are just north of Houston and it seems one of our players was planning on going to the Pocono Festival and will look for when your workshop is posted to registrar.
Thanks, that will be great
marg.
And Marg, thanks so much for mentioning the workshop and letting me know a player is interested in it. I was raised in East Texas, and always glad to see a Texan.
I talked about how we should handle our dulcimers in class (that you mention Dwain) & your workshop. We are just north of Houston and it seems one of our players was planning on going to the Pocono Festival and will look for when your workshop is posted to registrar.
Thanks, that will be great
marg.
I like the sound of the wound bass drone with the doubled high drones a lot!
I seldom go to festivals anymore for workshops but just to visit with dulcimer friends. However, Dwain, your workshop interests me. I might register for the Pocono festival just for that. I can easily drive over, take your workshop, and return home. I'll see when it is scheduled to take place. Thanks for offering this.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
(a workshop for builders and repairers on how to fix )
this would be so helpful, wish I was closer. What a good idea, I have often thought of using an older (with problems) dulcimer to demonstrate a few things, to the newer players.
If I may add a few details....
Reading the excellent books by Ralph Lee Smith: "The Story of the Dulcimer" and especially "Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions" clearly shows that the name "dulcimer" (or "dulcimore " and other variations) was already in use for the fretted dulcimer well before (at least a century) the folk revival of the 1970s. I have a little personal hypothesis about this strange disambiguation of the two types of dulcimers :
The King James I Bible, first published in 1611, quickly became the version authorized by the Church of England. The passages that interest us are in the book of Daniel: 5, 10 and 15.:
"Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made".
In this text, "dulcimer" is used to translate the Aramaic word "sumponiah", itself derived from the Greek "symphonia" (in fact, a kind of bagpipe), which the translators did not really know what to do with at the time. It was therefore the (hammered) dulcimer, very fashionable at the time, which saved them the day, thereby making this instrument an instrument of biblical times.
In the depths of Appalaches, with practically only the Bible to read, the hardy pioneers also found themselves in the embarrassment of baptizing the youngest of the family of alpine zithers, derived from the unpronounceable Dutch "scheitholt" or "zither". It was necessary to accompany the hymns, an instrument accepted by the Church, unlike the violin (the devil's box). What's better than an instrument name quoted in the Holy Scriptures? And there you have it, the Appalachian "dulcimer".
Homonymy was not a problem for almost two hundred years, when the two instruments had well separated geographical domains. It was only after the Second World War and the folk revival and the arrival of Jean Ritchie (the damsel with a dulcimer) in New York that the need for two distinct qualifiers arose : the hammered dulcimer and the pinched/plucked/fretted/lap dulcimer...
Of course, it's nothing but a(nother) hypothesis. Sorry if I was a bit long.
In the Appalachian wilderness, pioneers baptized a new instrument, derived from alpine zithers and known as the "dulcimer." Acceptable to the Church unlike the violin, it accompanied hymns, its name found in the Bible, making it ideal for religious music in the region.
By the way, at the upcoming Pocono Club Dulcimer Festival in Stroudsburg, PA (April 27, 27) I will be teaching a workshop for builders and repairers on how to fix cracks anywhere inside musical instruments, including aligning the two sides of the crackand cleaning the inside surface across the crack in preparation for glueing an interior reinforcing cross cleat.
All this is done from outside the inside the instrument! I pass all interior materials though the nearest soundhole, and clamp the crack with interior/exterior matching magnets, and clamp the cleat with a system of springs and stops. The workshop title is "Laparoscopic Crack Repair."I will be repairing a crack on an old dulcimer that was such a failure that I cut it in half to use for this sort of demonstration.
Attached is a photo of the interior cleat glued and clamped across the crack inside —all arranged with a thread passed through a small hole drilled into the crack and later repaired.
This workshop isn't on the website's schedule yet, as Norm Williams and I just talked about it last week. Builders, please spread the word!
Good information Dwain, I think I will share this with my class tomorrow.
Robin, double drone is very underrated in my opinion. I like the richness of the bass tone a lot. Some lute and baroque guitars as well as other older instruments have all strings doubled except the melody strings. This may have been for practical reasons (thinner strings were probably harder to make/more costly) but I do think it allows the melody strings to stand out more clearly from the drone.
Sometimes this sort of crack happens when the dulcimer is lifted or carried by grasping it by the top and back. The back is usually sturdier, but the top will crack at either its weakest wood grain or where the strain is greatest. The area where the top is glued to the fretboard is an area least able to respond by bending when the top is pressed by being lifted like this.
I see no reason here to suspect that was the cause, but builders regularly have to caution musicians to always lift the dulcimer by the peghead or tailblock (or strap) rather than putting the top and back into a vise-like grip between the thumb and fingers.
Similarly, trying to lift a mountain dulcimer by grasping the fretboard risks pressing fingernail dents into the top.
Welcome Rob!
You're going to love your new McSpadden, a great choice!
We would love to see it a picture of it, after you get it.
Nice to have you here @robmachin !
McSpadden dulcimers tend to be very reliable and sound wonderful.
Be sure to join our UK Group on FOTMD as well.
Thank you again,
All good & I took everyones advice and supported the sound hole, not just the one with the crack but I glued some wood under the overhangs in all the sound holes 
Yes, very glad to I was able to repair the crack and learn much, along the way.
marg
