Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Interesting dulcimer, but I have no clue as to who the builder might be.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

With the tuning head to your left, closest to you will be two melody strings, the first one is 1/8"in from the edge of the fretboard, the inner string 1/8" closer to center.  On the far side of the fretboard, you have the same situation -- the outer bass string is 1/8" from the far edge of the fretboard and the inner bass string 1/8" closer to center.  The middle drone is half way between the inner melody string and the inner bass string.   Generally speaking, as Skip mentions, the bass couplet has a regular bass string appropriate for the VSL, and the inner bass string is the same as a melody, and intended to be tuned an octave above the bass string.  From bass to melody,  the usual tuning setup is  DdAdd.

You can buy commercially made nuts/bridges from McSpadden, Folkcraft and elsewhere which already have the notches cut for 3, 4, 5 and 6 string layouts,

It's probably going to be 1/8" from the sides to the outside strings, another 1/8" between doubled melody and bass strings and  single middle string. The bass set is probably a bass and its octave with doubled melody strings. My 5 string Blue Lion is 5 equidistant strings, 1/8"  sides to outside strings. 

Look really close at where the strings connect to the pins also

I'm the new guy here.  I acquired a five string dulcimer as a restoration project.  It's missing the nut and bridge so I have no idea what the string spacing was originally.  I'm guessing it probably had two double strings and a single bass but can anyone recommend the proper spacing for the five strings?  The fret board is 1 1/2 inches (39 mm) wide.  Thanks for any help you can provide.

I haven't seen that sort of dulcimer before either.  There are nice ones offered on Shop Goodwill Online from time to time.  

I like to buy old dulcimer kits and put them together, whenever I see a good one on there.  Hope you enjoy it!

Ken, I found it on shopgoodwill.com, the auction site.  Goodwill organizations from all over the country sell on there.  The seller was actually Missouri Goodwill Industries, but you never know how it got there and from whence it came.  

There are usually a few interesting dulcimers on that site.  I check in every so often. 

Haven't a clue as to the builder, but I love the flower-scroll tuning head.  Where on the Goodwill site did you find it?  What town/state?  It has a certain "California" feel about it.

That's a lovely instrument, one made by a person with a lot of skill.  Enjoy!  

That is really nice looking, good find!

That's a beautiful dulcimer, and sounds lovely!

I have this beautiful dulcimer, which I found on the Goodwill auction site.  It is diatonic, so I'm guessing it's not very recent, but the style of the bird soundholes looks somewhat modern to me.  So I'm guessing possibly 70's or early 80's, early in the big resurgence.  The dogwood flower on the peghead of course makes me think of Kentucky, but there are several other states where the dogwood is common and beloved. 

It came with ebony pegs, but they drove me crazy trying to tune it, so I had them replaced with geared pegs so I could actually enjoy playing it.  The VSL is a little longer than I'm comfortable with--it's 27.88 inches, and my comfort zone is more like 25-26 for fingerdance; I'm going to try tuning it in DAA/DAG so I can play more in the center of the fretboard, and I'm also going to try using a noter.    

The style of the soundholes makes it tricky to see inside, but I tried today with a flashlight and I don't see any label in there.  Has anyone seen a dulcimer similar to this, and do you know who might have made it?  What with all the pretty details, as well as the arched fretboard, I can't believe it's a one-off. 

I'm partly curious and I partly wanted to share this pretty dulcimer. 

 20220625_112137.jpg - 89KB

They are trickier to play than they look, for sure!

All of mine have 3 strings. That’s what I fell in love with and that’s what my favorite players use. If you want to hear masterful playing, look for Lassi Logren on YouTube. Rauno Nieminen is also an awesome player and builder. I hope to try one of his instruments one day. 

The best decision I made in learning jouhikko was to reach out to an excellent player and arrange lessons. So worth it. 

Patrick

Sam indignant about his emoji:

I've made several of these pieces. The only ones I can sorta play are the two strings.

Thanks for all the really great advice and suggestions. The bridge is not slanted and I can regroove both the nut and bridge if Sadie opts to play left handed. 

And ... Dusty, HEY!

I too am a leftie who has had no trouble at all learning and playing in the usual manner.

I’m on to another jouhikko. The one in the previous clips was built without bass bar or sound post. Much as they were built up until about the 1970s, when folk revival brought them out of obscurity and makers started adding elements from violin building. 

The new instrument is the subject of a build video I posted on YouTube, as well. 

And my channel has a clip of me playing the alto big brother to this jouhikko, just in case anyone wants to see the difference. (I have replaced the alto strings since the video and eliminated the wolf.)

Patrick

I'm left handed but play right handed. Some folks can't! I let her try right handed for awhile....

I and a ton of other lefties have no trouble playing 'right handed' instruments. Both hands have important jobs to do.

Switching the strings will make it harder to follow written tab, for sure, and following instructions for making chords with certain fingers would be a whole different experience. You'd more than likely have to (eventually) make new leftie bridge and nut as well. Selling leftie instruments is way more difficult if you need to sell it later.

I believe more than 50% of left handed people play like right handers on stringed instruments. Why not let her start right handed and see how it goes?- for beginners, BOTH hands will feel extremely awkward anyway for a while when just starting out on a stringed instrument. Keep in mind that some awkwardness and frustration will be there whether she is right or left handed.

@kristinrichmond, you've received good advice so far.  The first thing to figure out is if your daughter wants to play lefty.  Have her play a little right-handed for a spell and then flip the dulcimer around and have her play left-handed.  See which way she feels most comfortable.  Some lefties play right-handed with no problem. Both hands are involved, after all.  But others find that the strumming or picking hand should be the strong hand.

If it turns out your daughter does want to play lefty, then you can just reverse the bass and melody strings, although as Noah and Ken explain, the melody string might buzz a little bit. There are some ways to "MacGyver" that issue short of getting a new nut and bridge, so if that's an issue chime in here again.

I wouldn't bother putting on a new nut and bridge until you determine that your daughter really wants to play lefty, that the strings are buzzing or the intonation is off, and that she is going to stick with it for a while. And if that's the case, perhaps her grandfather will buy her an instrument build for lefties and you won't have to lift a finger!

By the way, that old man smiley is an exact portrait of @sam, isn't it?

I’m left handed.  The left hand is the more active hand; moving; playing chords.  The right hand is in place strumming or picking.

 I think the usual stringing is great for left handers.

Some left handed folks have no problem playing right handed. Let her give it a try. If that doesn't work, try restringing, but as Noah cautions, you may find some strings buzzing or binding. In that case you will need a new nut and saddle (a.k.a. bridge).

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Mainly, the nut and bridge would need to be replaced so that the thinnest string (melody string) is closest to her. You might be able to get away with just reversing the strings, but depending on if the bridge is slanted for intonation and how the slots are cut, you may run into the melody string buzzing in the bass string slot, and the notes being off. 

We are brand new to learning the dulcimer. My 8 year old daughter is left handed. Will we need to re-string for her? Any advice is appreciated! 

I like the concept but I don’t think I can position the pick up, the sound holes are small.  

I've been eyeing that Clingon pickup for a while, but I am skeptical about one thing.  Watch the installation videos.  You have to get a magnet on the inside of the soundboard in the exact spot where you will put the pickup.  That might be really hard on dulcimers (or any instrument) with small soundholes.

Has anyone tried this one? https://www.clingon.co/clingon-pickup

Sounds like your family is growing.

The 6+ fret is quite useful. 

Exciting. I've heard wonderful things about Dan's dulcimers. Maybe you could show it to us after you get it. 

Only one (so far), but it's not here yet - just shipped and will be here next Thursday.  It's built by Dan Daniels of New Traditions Dulcimers in Indiana.  

Rene

@ken-hulme, disregard my post below. I misread your reply and thought you meant the tuners closest to the nut rather than the ones closest to me as I was holding the dulcimer in playing position.

Anyhow, going to restring it right after I post.

ETA : I have it restrung. Had to cut the 1st new middle drone and replace it. I had another string running over it instead of under it. No big deal, I bought extras. It took about 30 minutes but it shouldn't take that long next time. Tuned it DAA and let it sit about an hour. Still in tune. Sounds fine.

Ok Ken, thanks. The inner melody string in the photo is actually on the second to the farthest tuner from the nut, but I understand your info. 

Looks good.  -- the two melody strings go to the tuners closest to you; the middle drone and bass drone go to the tuners on the far side.

DO NOT take all the strings off at once.  Replace one string at a time.

I'm getting ready to put new strings on my new dulcimer but I'm not certain if they are the original strings.

 IMG_20220616_141639.jpg - 201KB

Well, you are right about dedication. I had a lot of motivation though. I felt bad when I started and even after losing 15 lb or so I started feeling better. 

I think I look older now but friends, family, and coworkers say I look younger lol.

I guess everyone is their own worst critic as they say.

Charlie that is so impressive- in less than a year and a half you lost about 100 lbs!  Sounds like you did it the healthy way too. I'm so glad for you.    It takes real dedication to do that. You have completely turned your life around through you own efforts.

Great seeing folks sharing their health related efforts and successes !

17 months ago I weighed 267 lbs. My BMI was 40 (obese). My a1c was 6.6 (pre-diabetes) and inching up every three months.  My doctor wanted to talk about insulin. So I told him to give me 3 months. Next visit it started going down.

What I did was got online and did my research and educated myself about the glycemic index of foods as well as the glycemic load. I bought a blood glucose meter and started checking my blood sugar before and after eating individual foods. Any that spiked my blood glucose over 125 or so, I eliminated them from my diet.

I started walking and doing light strength training as well.

This past March my a1c was 5.2. Doc laughed and said it was lower than his. He is 44 and runs mini marathons. I'm 64 with a history of smoking.

I finally reached my ultimate goal today. 165.75 lbs which puts my BMI at 24.8. I've gone from obese to the healthy weight range, albeit the higher end of the chart.

Anyhow, when I started I wore a size 46 or 48 waist pants and 3X shirts.

Today I'm sitting here in a size 30 waist jeans, size small briefs, and a medium size tee shirt.

In March doc told me I didn't have to worry about losing more weight but I pointed to my gut and said "what about this visceral fat that's left ?"

He told me that I need to up my strength training and work all my muscle groups especially my legs because short of that any additional weight loss was going to be muscle mass.

So I bought a nice bike, a Specialized Roll 2.0, and the visceral fat is melting away. I also increases my strength training a bit. Supposedly that raises your metabolism.

I feel pretty good. When I started I felt miserable, and had four comorbidities. Hypertension and taking four meds for that, obesity, pre-diabetic, and COPD.

I can't beat the COPD but I can avoid doing things to make it progress further like smoking. It's not bad enough for me to have to reach for my rescue inhaler. It's a rare occasion I ever do especially since I've lost weight and quit smoking. The other three comorbidities I have beat. I'm down to just one hypertension med and in March doc told me I could stop taking metformin.

So yes, in my case all I needed to do was educate myself as to what I could do to lose fat and simply be diligent about it. I eat all I want but I eat foods that don't create fat. No bread, no milk, no red meat, nothing with fructose, etc. Whole foods make up around 85% of my diet. Plenty of water and replaced soft drinks with Kool-Aid sweetened with erythritol in place of sugar. I also avoid foods that promote inflammation. Good video here ...

And according to my doc I did it in a safe manner. Iirc in March he said I lost an average of 1.6 lbs a week or so since I started.

I focus on glycemic load and net carbs instead of calories. I don't do the keto thing though.

@ken-hulme, thanks ! After just a brief glance at it I see it will answer a lot of questions I have.

I'm not totally sure if it's the same one (I think it is) that I bought from John at the Traditional Appalachian Dulcimore Gathering at Berea, KY, 2022, but it has a lovely sound, and looks better in person than in the photos. The only difference is mine has maple tuning pegs.

This is my 4th traditional dulcimore that I've purchased from John, and I highly recommend his work!