Keep coming back to these pics, 'the more you look the more you see' It took me a while to pick up on that 'D' end tailpiece which has a heart shape to its cutout !It's a bad enough job towork a nice cleanly finished inside to a typical 'D', lots of endgrain, me fingers ache just thinking about working that heart ! Just wish I could have handled it !! Lucky you seeing 'em Robin

John

John Henry said:

Sorry Bobby , its already gone ! ( I've made a couple 'near to' that pattern, be great to have the 'proper job'!)

John

Sorry Bobby , its already gone ! ( I've made a couple 'near to' that pattern, be great to have the 'proper job'!)

John

I'll take one these, one of these. can you even imagine all the beautiful music that has come from these instruments.

Can you imagine if someone told you you could choose and keep ONE of these instruments hanging on the wall there.... how on earth could one possibly choose? Just as well i suppose that we'll never be presented with such a 'terrible' dilemma. lol...

COOL

They are all so gorgeous!

Hey Dusty that Was MY favorite too.

Does any one know where this exhibition Well be heading next? I would Love to see it If it would come closer.

Thanks for sharing this. My favorite is the Parlor stove bass fiddle.

Laura Elder said:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150878062047267.406304.7...

Here are a few more pics from the Facebook link

Dusty, if your dulcimer knew about the dulcimers on the other walls, it would've bawled its little eyes out.

Dusty Turtle said:

Wow, I had these pictures up while playing my own dulcimer, which jumped off my lap with a tear in her eye and cried "gramdma!"

Wow, I had these pictures up while playing my own dulcimer, which jumped off my lap with a tear in her eye and cried "gramdma!"

In the lower photo, see the dulcimer with the open tailpiece that's heart-shaped? Any of you seen that before? If I remember right, there were 2 other mountain dulcimers with open tailpieces; one was an open circle and the other an open D.

The exhibit has a room devoted to each of these instruments: banjo, dulcimer/scheitholt (w/ 2 hammered dulcimers), fiddle, and guitar. It truly is a wonderful exhibit.

Thanks for the heads-up. May have to come over & check that out.

Thank you, thank you for posting pics, Laura!

I, too, attended the exhibit and plan to go back for more looks. There are instruments from both individual and institutional collections. Should you make the trip to Lancaster, you're in for a treat !

PS-Laura got permission to take photos; otherwise, there are to be no photos taken. I talked with a woman at the exhibit about the possibility of photos being made public so they could be posted or linked to FOTMD. Got my fingers crossed!

Van, thanks for your input....I think it will be a perfect fit for me. I Love the way the scroll looks....but functionally its just not quite as easy as the flat head on my MMD. When I talked to Sue at McSpadden she said they were getting very popular and she had just sold two others before I called. I'm wondering if eventually smaller scales will be the most common dulcimers?

CJ

Sarah!! I saw that one....so cute!

Glynda, Thank you very much for posting. I have an all cherry mcspadden and an MMD in Redwood/Walnut. I like the shorter scale length of the MMD, and I also want to keep the Cherry for its sound, but would sure like a little shorter scale length. Sue at McSpadden said there is no discernible difference in sound or tone since the body size is the same on both the 26 VSL and the 28.6. So why not go shorter, is what I'm thinking. Plus after going through a couple sets of strings I'm not loving the scroll head on my McSpadden....thinking that nice flat head looks awfully good! :)

Sarah....would love to hear your David Lynch...have you recorded it yet?

Thanks again,

Cheryl

I was looking at McSpadden's site today and saw they make a 26" VSL dulcimer with the same body as the 28.5" VSL. Has anyone played these...I'm wondering if there is a difference in sound, volume, tone?? I think I would love the shorter scale length, but not at the expense of sound.

Thanks!!

CJ

Hi Wayne

Thanks for the reply

The dulcimersounds great, and looks like it has been in the case for the last 35 years and never played.

Its a pain in the neck to tune with the friction tuners though.

Thanks again for the help.

Wayne Jiang said:

Hi Ed,

I talked to Steve Palazoo today got some info on your dulcimer. Steve is now a guitar teacher in Santa Cruz. In the late 70's and 80's he worked for Folkroots, the dulcimer company in Felton (near Santa Cruz) and he also worked for Santa Cruz guitar company. According to him there was a dulcimer maker in Santa Cruz named Ray Popelka in the early 70's. From what he described your dulcimer your dulcimer looks very much like Ray's dulcimer. Ray also taught how to make dulcimer thru Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation in the early 70's. Steve told me his girlfriend in high school had a Ray Popelka dulcimer in 1973. According to Steve, Ray is now living in Colorado.

Hi Ed,

I talked to Steve Palazoo today got some info on your dulcimer. Steve is now a guitar teacher in Santa Cruz. In the late 70's and 80's he worked for Folkroots, the dulcimer company in Felton (near Santa Cruz) and he also worked for Santa Cruz guitar company. According to him there was a dulcimer maker in Santa Cruz named Ray Popelka in the early 70's. From what he described your dulcimer your dulcimer looks very much like Ray's dulcimer. Ray also taught how to make dulcimer thru Santa Cruz Parks and Recreation in the early 70's. Steve told me his girlfriend in high school had a Ray Popelka dulcimer in 1973. According to Steve, Ray is now living in Colorado.

Very interesting. This does not have the body shape of a Folkroots/Capritaurus dulcimer. I'll ask Howard Rugg if he knows Ray Watkins.

Have more info and a pic. I bought the dulcimer and on the inside is "Popelka #122, Ray Watkins, June 1975, Santa Cruz Ca." It doesnt look like it has ever been played.

I found out the ad on CL was misspelled, it is a Popelka Dulcimer and the luthier is Ray

Watkins. The plot thickens

Thanks everyone for your input

Ed

One more thing. You might want to contact Howard Rugg about this. Howard is one of my friends In FOTMD. He started and ran Folkroots dulcimer the time your dulcimer was made

Wayne Jiang said:

I know a few luthiers in Santa Cruz. a lot of them made one of two dulcimers at one point in the 70's. The otherpossibilityis it could be build by one of the employee of Folkroots or Capritaurus dulcimers in Felton, Ca which is just few miles from Santa Cruz. Folkroots and Capritaurus was biggest dulcimer producer at the time in California if not the west coast in the late 70's.

Can you post picture of it. If it has body like the Folkroot/Capritaurus there is a good chance it was made in Felton.

Ed Day said:

Made 1978, dont have a luthier name.

Wayne Jiang said:

What year is it made? Do you have the name of the luthier?

I know a few luthiers in Santa Cruz. a lot of them made one of two dulcimers at one point in the 70's. The otherpossibilityis it could be build by one of the employee of Folkroots or Capritaurus dulcimers in Felton, Ca which is just few miles from Santa Cruz. Folkroots and Capritaurus was biggest dulcimer producer at the time in California if not the west coast in the late 70's.

Can you post picture of it. If it has body like the Folkroot/Capritaurus there is a good chance it was made in Felton.

Ed Day said:

Made 1978, dont have a luthier name.

Wayne Jiang said:

What year is it made? Do you have the name of the luthier?

Ed - do you mean Kokopelli? That's the name of one of the Anasazi Spirit people. My dear friend Kerry Coates of Ruidoso, NM was famous for her Kokopelli dulcimer design. Although she's not building anymore, she is performing and doing a lot of other things. Check her out at www.gilamountaindulcimers.com

Sevceral others have made Kokopelli themed dulcimers as well, including Molly McCurdy, Tom Yocky and Bill Webster

Made 1978, dont have a luthier name.

Wayne Jiang said:

What year is it made? Do you have the name of the luthier?

What year is it made? Do you have the name of the luthier?

Does anyone have any information on KopelkaDulcimer made in Santa Cruz, Ca. ??

Google search only came up with on on CL.

I hear ya!!! I have four steel strings and three classical guitars...now three dulcimers. I'm going to join you in the looney bin.....or the poor house! :) Thanks...I get my classicals strings at Just Strings...guess I never looked much further but will on my next string order.

CJ

A lot of folks use Just Strings . A string is a string, after all, whether one calls it a dulcimer string or a guitar string. Just pay attention to whether you want loop end or ball end.

I actually have a deal with a local acoustic music shop. Whenever they place their order for single strings I add to the order. I get a good price and they get a small but reliable profit.

The hard part for me now is that in addition to a few regular-sized dulcimers, I have two octave dulcimers, a baritone dulcimette, and on its way is a full-sized baritone.Even if you don't include a couple of guitars, a mandolin, a couple of ukuleles, and more, I need a certified accountant to keep track of my string needs. It's enough to drive you loonie.

Thank you Dusty. Yes....took a little bit to figure out what was what in terms of string size/tension.

Do you have a place in particular that you can buy in bulk for good prices???

CJ

Cheryl, the gauges you ended up with (12, 14, 24) are what I have come around to using on all my regular-sized dulcimers. Now that you are getting experienced enough to know what your preferences are, I suggest not buying strings in pre-packaged sets and buying them in bulk. You'll save in the long run, especially if you play more than one dulcimer on a regular basis.

Thanks Sylvia....I'm am once again really enjoying the McSpadden....its always been so easy to play but now it sounds even better!

Cheryl, so glad it was an easy fix. I am looking forward to the new video.

YESSSSSSSSSSSS !!!

Glad it worked out. I thought it would and now we get to hear another wonderful song!

Okay so this is crazy. I have a whole new dulcimer. Strung her with Riverlark Dulcimer Strings...very very nice...Purple label. I only use three strings currently so treble is .012 middle-.014 and base is a wound .024. I am floored at the difference. No more buzz or twangle of loose strings when strumming and with finger style the tone is clean and clear. And the instrument is actually sounds louder and rounder. Yay, yippee, yahoo!!! Such a little thing and such a big result. Thank you both for helping me on this, I couldn't' be more pleased!

I'm learning In the Bleak Midwinter today. Hopefully I can record this on the new version of my beautiful McSpadden early this week so you can hear it.

What Sam said! Changing string gauge to increase the tension will make the action (at least seem) higher. I wouldn't do anything to the bridge or nut until you found the best gauge strings for the way it's to be played, then you could play with the bridge height. Remember though, raising the bridge too much, particularly with heavier strings could change the intonation. It may not benoticeableto the ear, but you'll be able to "see" it on a tuner. That's one of the problems I'm having with my Marsh. Get the strings right, intonation is off at the 7th fret. We're now trying to see if it's fret placement or bridge placement. I'm hoping for bridge!

Sam, thanks for those ideas. I used to use paper match sticks to shim my guitar bridges back in the day. I thought it was my own invention .. :) I will try string change first and see what that does, then proceed from there if needed. Heading out to a guitar gig now....back later to fiddle with the dulci. Thanks again!