Forum Activity for @strumelia

I'd love to hear some sound clips of you guys playing your whistles, if you ever care to post them here...

Geesh, Bill, looks like you're a whistle junkie as much as I am a dulcimer junkie. I have to admit, since I'm very much a learner on dulcimer, I haven't been paying as much attention to my whistles as I ought. I'm sure my Dixon will shriek in protest the next time I pick it up. Ahhh, so many instruments, so little time (and I'm retired, so I don't know where the working folks find time to play).

Bill, I have a Tony Dixon low D. My problem with switching from the high whistle to the low one was definitely too much breath rather than not enough. It's very easy to overblow the low whistle and get into the higher octave (if you're lucky) or get a horrible screech or squawk.

Enjoy your low D. I love the sound of mine.

Bill,

I just picked up a Susato high D. I've heard there's a big difference. Don't give up. Some time real soon it will probably click for you, just like it seems to do with everything we try. You'll do fine.

Well, take a deep breath,,,,,,,,,,,

then remember how you did it.

Three years, doesn't seem that long. Time really does fly when you're having a good time. FOTMD is really a place to have a good time and share in the love of the dulcimer. Thanks Lisa for such a great and friendly place to meet.

Strumelia said:

Thought I'd highlight this old thread from 2 1/2 yrs ago when we hit 500 members.... good times...

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/forum/topics/wow20-members-to-go-a...

Happy 3rd birthday FOTMD!

Thought I'd highlight this old thread from 2 1/2 yrs ago when we hit 500 members.... good times...

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/forum/topics/wow20-members-to-go-and-its

Happy 3rd birthday FOTMD!

Wonderful... Can't believe this site has only been here such a short time. Thanks Lisa for all your hard work to make this the most enjoyable music site of which I've ever been a part

Shucks you guys! ....

I remember little FOTMD when it was still wet behind the ears.

, Strumelia!

Happy Birthday FOTMD Thank you Lisa For giving us the great place to come and meet,learn, exchange ideals and make Friends.

Happy Birthday FOTMD!!!! Lisa, thanks for making a marvelous place where anyone can come by for fellowship and learning. Without this site I would not be playing as I am! Cheryl

Happy Birthday FOTMD!!! Thank you Lisa for providing a place where people can learn to play the dulcimer, learn it's history and share information and friendship with others. I am truly grateful for you and this web site.

Thanks for the nice card and for every thing you do Lisa!

Second vote here for Harpmaker's Student model. I've been messing around with dulcimer for nearly 40 years; played hundreds of different instruments, and IMHO there's not a better dulcimer out there in that $100-$150 price range. I own one that he slightly customized for me a couple years back. It's my 'go to' general purpose dulcimer. Also, he has a trade-in policy if your sister eventually wants something even nicer.

Hey, Kim! David Lynch's Sweet Woods student model is $125 and I've heard nothing but good things about it. Dave's a member here and so is his sister (folkfan). You can see a picture by scrolling down this page:

http://www.sweetwoodsinstruments.com/dulcimers.htm

Uh-oh, witness protection program stuff! I won't tell the coppers, I never saw nuttin!

Paul

For now, you can leave the old string on. After the nut and saddle are adjusted to the correct height, then take the old string off and put the new set on. You will probably be loosening and tightening the string each time you check the height of the new parts. Let the old string be the test unit. If it breaks before you are done, that's still a lot of wear saved from the new strings.When sanding, be careful to hole the part straight vertical so it gets sanded evenly. And keep your fingers clear of the sandpaper. Unless your job has to do with safe cracking!

Paul

Yes, you should be able to just remove the old nut & bridge. Don't take the string off, just slack them. Then put the new ones in place, set the strings in the appropriate slots and tighten up.

Then take a nickel and a dime. Put the dime next to the first fret. That's how low the strings should be there - just touching the suface of the dime. Balance the nickel on top of the 7th fret (not the 6+). That's how high the string should be there. If the strings are too high, slack them off and remove the nut. Put a sheet of 100 or 120 grit sandpaper grit side up on a flat surface like a piece of glass or a counter top and sand the bottom of the nut by pushing it back and forth 8 or 10 times. Put it back on the dulcimer, tighten up the strings and check the dime height again. Repeat as necessary until the strings just barely touch the dime. Then do the same things with the bridge and the nickel on top the 7th fret.

Got your address. I'll be back at the boat tomorrow or Wednesday (I'm housesitting for my Lady) and send the nut & bridge off then.

Kim; send me a PM with your address, and I'll send you a pre-made and slotted nut & bridge. I had to buy a package of six from Folkcraft awhile back, and have four left, adn you only need two. They should fit the slot perfectly. They will probably need sanding on the bottom to reduce the height and lower the strings to proper action height. I'll detail how to do that in my reply with the N & B.

And Kim ... please try to have patience ... it appears that you have made an excellent purchase. If the only thing wrong is the missing nut and bridge, I think you are going to be really happy with your dulcimer. Since the slots are cut, it takes the computation out of where to put the bridge. Try to get Kevin really good measurements on the depth of the slots as that height, plus the fret height and clearance, minus the depth of the groove for the strings is your 'action height'. It effects not only how easily your instrument is to play, but caneffect the tuning as well. I'll look back at the pics, but Kevin will also need to know if the dulcimer is 3 string or 4 (or more?).

I looked again. Four strings :)

How nice of you, Kevin! You're so right about the importance of properly fitted bridge & nut blanks.

Kim, the bridge and nut are a critical part of how you dulcimer will play and sound. They need to be cut and adjusted properly. If you would send me dementions, I could make you blanks that would fit ,but they would still need to be cut for the string set up and hieght adjusted.

Kimberly, if you have basic hand tools, you could do it yourself. I've got dulcimers with very basic nuts & bridges and one dulcimer on which they were very finely honed-- they all do the job.

Well, I just watched the episode last night on the Inspiration Network. John Boy had his own dulcimer in the beginning. He said it was made by Mr. Dulcimer.

Dana, from the brief glimpse I saw of it I thought it might be a Ledford. Jenny bought John Boy "the best dulcimer made by Mr. Dulcimer" as a going away gift. It had a light color sound board with a dark color fret board. The shape reminded me more of a Prichard (I've got Kevin's Prichards on my mind ). Do you have any guesses as to who the makers are of those nice looking dulcimers? I couldn't see the credits.

Folks, please no copying sections of Netflix or movie dvds and posting them here... copyright violations galore for FOTMD. Please think about copyright issues before posting any copyrighted or performance material on a public site.

Thanks!

Dana R. McCall said:

Judith if you can wait till Weds I found it on Netflix but they have to send me the disc. I'll post a clip of the song on here then.

Here is the photo I took of a picture of Richard Thomas (John Boy) playing a dulcimer. The picture did not show the entire dulcimer but notice he was using a feather to strum, http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/photo/photo-of-john-boy-girlfriend-and-dulcimer

We visited the Walton's Mountain Museum in Schuyler VA on Tuesday. I got a photo of a picture of John Boy playing that dulcimer. I will try to post it later. By the way, the Hamner home is not like the one depicted on tv. Also, Earl Hamner Sr. worked at the local soapstone quarry, cutting soapstone. The museum is small but has lots of memorabilia. All the cast members have visited that museum at least once. It was fun to visit. "Ike Godsey's" store is still there but modernized. It's more like a 7-11 and a small deli. Gas ain't cheap there.

Hey Dana Check the Credits on that. It should give the name of the song some where in it.

Judith if you can wait till Weds I found it on Netflix but they have to send me the disc. I'll post a clip of the song on here then.

Sorry I posted about the time you posted you had found it.

Here is John boy singing it.

There are minnows that nibble on your toes ... it's funny!

Me too.....I'm jealous! Unless the cost is losing body parts to biting things..... :)

... just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water .... duh, duh ... duh, duh .... duhduh,duhduh ... DUNT DUNT DUNT ............................

Hey Carrie, cottonmouths, snapping turtles ! Stop moaning ! It could be Sam in his skivvie's.............

John

Okay, enough already, i'm jealous !!!

John

Cheated yesterday. It's only a 5 minute walk to the swimmin' hole, but I was working on my ATV and had it out anyway (wiring in an inline fuse to the ignition) so I rode it over. Pretty clouds, water felt amazing .............