Forum Activity for @ellen-rice

I live on the west coast and do what I can to teach/share the mountain dulcimer. Recently I was contacted by someone clearing out an estate and they wanted to pass on a dulcimer "to a deserving student."  I said I would be glad to evaluate the instrument and felt I could get it into interested hands if it seemed playable. 

I was delighted to open the carrying case to find a very pristine Warren May mahogany dulcimer made in 1990. I struggled with tuning the instrument and finally replaced the middle and melody strings and applied some "peg" dope to the tuning pets. I tuned it to DAD and it was . . . okay. I wasn't thrilled with it. 

Some times insights do come in the night. I woke up about 3 a.m, thinking "This is a Kentucky dulcimer. It may need to be in DAA."

Today I re-tuned the dulcimer to DAA, and it's now a happy, lovely instrument. I'm amazed at the change. 

But now I'm kinda stuck. We play DAD in my area (some DAC) -- and, while the peg tuners are now much, much better, it's still taking some care to tune this dulcimer. I'm not thinking it is for a beginner in my "neck of the woods." 

I'm thinking the right way to honor the spirit of the donor is to sell this instrument and replace it with a good quality beginner's instrument (I like Ron Gibson's  -- and basic McSpaddens).  In this way I could get an instrument into the hands of someone in the area and help them launch into this musical world. 

But how do I price this Warren May dulcimer? Who might be the right sort of happy home for it? (peg tuners, no 6.5 fret). Words of advice would be appreciated. I'm out of my depth right now. 

 small warren may.jpeg - 126KB

You could shop at www.juststrings.com for some great prices and quantities!

I mostly just shop the acoustic guitar string sales from wherever.  Depending on gauges, the 1-2-3 or 1-2-4 strings make up a three string dulcimer.  Yes, I have many leftover wound strings in a box. I shop the sales at CB Gitty for multi-packs of singles to make up the rest.  If I am looking for extra light strings, I will look at electric guitar strings, but never use the wound strings in those packs.  But that is just the way I buy strings. Others do it differently.

Where is a good source of strings?

I am able to get them from the luthier, but I'd like to have a backup plan in case he retires.

Its easy to find 3 & 4- string sets, but I have a five- string with the following gauges:

.011

.011

.013

.009

.024

Are these basically banjo strings? Guitar?

Does it matter, as long as the gauges match?

Should I buy a set of something plus singles? All singles?

As a recovered music teacher, those rules give me heartburn! LOL!

Those rules made me chuckle

I would laugh at those "rules," but they hit a little too close to home.

It is what it is. So be it.

Saw this on Facebook & have to share it here.  I'm sure my Kindergarten report card said: Does not play well with others.

 Golden Rules for Music Ensembles.jpg - 73KB

It's Mahogany.  I have a Facebook page, you can post it there

Thank you Howard for this information. I saw the dulcimer listed on FaceBook Market place and immediately contacted seller. She is the second owner - said that she purchased it from an older lady in Dallas. Since it is a pre-folkcraft Im meeting seller tomorrow morning to close the sale. She said that it is in like new condition with hard case. I haven’t seen the dulcimer yet in person. I know that it has a spruce top. The picture on FB did not show back or side, so I’m assuming either walnut, cherry or maybe mahogany. If you like, I will send pictures

Again, thank you so much for the info

Tom Campbell

Hello Tom

Yes it's pre-Folkcraft.  Date of assembly, 11/3/ 1983

Thank you Dusty for the info.  I will follow up.  No problem moving my post to appropriate forum. 

Tom

Like Dusty, I'm pretty sure that's a "real" FolkRoots Capritaurus, not a re-born Folkcraft.  Howard is easy to chat with...

I am (very slowly) working on an arrangement of the Irish Gaelic air "Song of the Books" or " Amhrán na Leabha."  It's a haunting melody. I found some sheet music for the penny whistle, which provides the basic melody.  But I've been listening to this vocal version and altering the basic melody to capture a small fraction of the nuances of the singer's voice.  The big task will be deciding on the harmonic accompaniment. Lots of minor chords, obviously, but beyond that I've yet to figure it out.

Once I've tabbed out the melody and decided on the chording, then I'll have to actually sit down and play it a bunch to see how it all fits under the fingers. More revisions to follow then.

You can rest assured I'll be listening to this tune non-stop for many days to come.

Hi Tom,

First, I took the liberty of moving your question to the Forum on specific luthiers, since it seemed more appropriate.

Second, I would guess from the model and serial number that the instrument was pre-Folkcraft, but to be sure, why not contact @howard-rugg directly?  He is a member here and usually has very good records about the instruments made by Capritaurus and FolkRoots.

Does anyone have any information regarding a FolkRoots D100S, serial number 193. I would like to know if it is pre-Folkcraft or not. 

thanks,

tom

Wow, I’ve never seen a gourd banjo before. It looks fantastic. So much to learn in life!

Glad your fingers are all there. I try to do fewer stupid things as I get older. Some days I succeed. Probably good that I don’t have too many power tools. :)

TL/DR; Nell, if ball-end strings are ok, maybe you could try D’addario “Chromes” flat wound stainless steel for the wound string. Mellow toned, and no squeak. And if you play with a pick, definitely try a heavier and/or less pointy pick, as it will produce a darker tone.

*****************

Hi Nell. I’m new to dulcimer and I haven’t tried the Curt Mangan strings, but I have tried and compared a lot of strings on guitar over the years, and recently on dulcimer. I’m pretty geeky about this sort of thing. Hoping not to derail the topic, but maybe you’ll find something here that’s helpful.

First, if you use a pick have you tried using a heavier and or less-pointy pick? Or even just rounding off your present pick with sandpaper or a nail file so it’s less pointy? The tone will be a little less trebly, and maybe that’s all you will need.

If you’re wanting to experiment with strings, read on at your peril. :)

Here are my initial impressions from experimenting within a single gauge on one dulcimer, acknowledging that Ron is right about different instruments having their own tonal characteristics and Ron, Corvus and Ken are right about gauges being important, with heavier strings generally being a little less bright.

My short experience is with DAD tuning, 12-14-24 gauges, on a 26” VSL instrument. And note that on the dulcimer I really don’t like squeaky strings that make scratchy sounds against the pick. Maybe that will change with experience.

Guitar or dulcimer, the thing I notice is how well the tones of the plain and wound strings match — I don’t like having a really bright-sounding or dark-sounding wound string next to the plain string. I don’t like an obvious difference in tone when going from string to string, and you can’t change the tone of the plain strings very much and keep the playability the way you like it. Given that, I have been sampling the tones of wound ‘D’ strings and hoping for a pleasing match with my plain strings’ tone, here is my current list of wound string impressions:

Round wound phosphor bronze .024: I think round wound strings generally sound brighter than flat, “half-round” or “ground wound” strings. Anyway, when new these strings are too bright and shimmery for me as compared with the plain 14-gauge string, but also way too squeaky. I won’t bother trying round wound 80/20 bronze because of the squeak.

D’Addario Ground Phosphor Bronze .023: Better tonal balance with the 14, but still a little bright/shimmery, and a little quiet, so the ‘A’ string jumps out. I should try .024 gauge.These are ground to an almost smooth finish, so they’re only a little bit squeaky/scratchy.

GHS Burnished Nickel Rocker .024: Also ground to a pretty smooth finish. Louder than the D’Addario ground phosphor bronze. It has a bright edge but also a strong fundamental note so there’s a nice balance with the plain strings. I really like this string.

D’Addario Chromes .024 flatwound: Darker than the GHS above, but not dull. I really like this string too. Super smooth finish, no squeak at all, and to me sounds very matched with the plain A when played open. As you go up the fretboard it starts sounding a little darker compared with the plain strings. I think this string might work well for you, and if it strikes you as dull, then try the GHS Burnished Nickel Rocker or the D’Addario Ground Phosphor Bronze.

GHS Precision Flatwound .024: Really dark and plunky to my ear, and despite being flat wound they have a little grittiness to their feel which I don’t like. They just sound dull and percussive to me.

Plain .022: I don’t remember where this was on the dark-light scale, sorry. Really did not like this. Took it off after 5 minutes. It didn’t intonate well higher up the fretboard, and just didn’t ring nicely up there either.

At the moment I’m switching back and forth between the GHS Burnished Nickel Rocker .024 and the D'Addario Chromes .024, and I like them both. I realize of course that others will hear differently, have other opinions and desires tone-wise, and that I should probably just practice more… :)

- Dave

P.S. Note to Ron Gibson — Thanks that instrument is totally addictive!

It was a close call but I was able to avoid any thing getting cut on my band saw and I was doing something that I knew better i was trying to make the tail piece thinner after shaping it  by taking a 1/8 inch slice off and the blade grabbed the tail piece when i got about half way through and flipped it pulling my hand towards the blade it was a stark reminder that accidents happen when you least expect them, the bad part is i knew better than to do what i was attempting it was a stupid thing on my part that i will not do again and yes at 62 people still do stupid thing LOL me included

Super cool! Glad you're back with us.

Don, it's wonderful you're going to build gourd banjos for your kids and grandkids!  

Oh, I'm so glad you kept all your fingers in the process of working that snakewood!

To start I tuned it to standard G tuning which I did for a reason I wanted to see if it would hold up to the strain or literally come apart I left it that way for 4-5 days and then i de tuned it down to C# A C# E A that tuning is starting at the fifth going to first strings.

The moon inlays I hand cut out of a 8mill copper sheet with a pair of scissors I used Jacks green patina to age the moon inlays, since I wanted it fretless I wanted some kind of markers for as to where all the frets would have been if they were there

the sound hole is also man in the moons facing each other the neck is hand carved from a 2x4 piece of zebra wood i had laying around the peg head is the only thing I had to use a power tool to cut out

I am pretty happy with the way it came out but there are things i will not do the same on my next one like bolting the neck on solid which made it extremely difficult to install the goat skin head  i have four more I will be building because my son and daughter want one and two grand kids also want one

this one i just finished is my trial run to learn what and what not to do

I currently have it strung with nylon La Bella (Classic 17) .019, .022, .028, .025, .019

forgot to add my twist on the tail piece I used a piece of snake wood I had laying around that I cut out with my band saw and almost lost some fingers in the process, LOL

Love that gourd banjer!  The moon inlay! And the copper tacks?

Wow i bet it has a wonderful deep voice. How are you tuning it Don?

I like the sound of gourd banjos with deep voices, Don.  Enjoy playing your new build!  

Thank you @ken-longfield it only took me about 6 months to build but i am happy with the way it came out the gourd pot is just over 12 inches across and 4.5 inches deep it has a very deep old voice

Very nice Don. Have fun playing it. Welcome back.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well I have been fairly busy for awhile between taking care of my wife and building her a Dulcimer and me a Gourd Banjo I have finally completed my Gourd banjo and wanted to post up a couple of photos

so here they are

 gourd banjo.jpg - 41KB

A nice honor. Congrats Don.

Yay for Don Pedi !!

Thanks for sharing this, Ken!  Don is a treasure!  

Thanks Kenl. Great read. Don is quite a fellow.

Many of us know Don Pedi and his career as a dulcimer musician with an interest in the North Carolina dulcimer community. I came across this article today: https://www.bpr.org/post/spotlight-bpr-music-host-and-dulcimer-master-don-pedi#stream/0

Congratulations Don!

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I don't use fret markers. As Dusty said, "The diatonic fretboard IS your fret marker." I have never put them on any of the dulcimers I've built either. Doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

My first dulcimer had no fret markers, and I managed fine. The diatonic fretboard IS your fret marker. The first skinny fret is 3. The last fat fret before the three skinnies (assuming you have a 6+) is 5. The last of the three skinnies is 7.

Since then I've bought instruments that have fret markers, and you do get accustomed to them. But unlike the banjo, the dulcimer does not need them.

I think now the main reasons to mark at 3, 5, and 7--even if you don't play only on the melody string--is because that's standard and you want to get used to the way most dulcimers are designed so you won't get confused if you switch dulcimers. And yes, those fret mark stickers look great and come off very easily.

Thanks Susie, Ken and Tukano, I've gone ahead and ordered some stickers. I just hope they're as removable as the vendors say because I'm sure I'll have to reposition at least one of them. The information about why people mark those particular frets was most helpful, Ken, and I thank you for that.

Lorilee

If you really want to have choices for fret markers, I'd suggest this place:

https://www.inlaystickers.com/

I've used them on occasion for various instruments (for different purposes) over the years. Easy to apply, look really nice, and you can remove them without residue.

When I recently purchased an instrument without a fret marker on a particular fret that I was used to, I added a sticker to the fretboard. Here's that instrument. All but one of the markers are actual inlays, one is a sticker. Can you tell which is which?

Folks use bits of Avery labels for temporary fret markers.  There is no standard for marker positions, but as @tukanu says, markers at frets 3, 7 and 10 are common.  Why?  Fret 3 is the start of the Ionian modal scale,  Fret 7 is the end of the Mixolydian modal scale (which starts on the open fret).  Fret 10 is the end of the Ionian modal scale.  

Here is a short video about tempered tuning that may be of interest, especially to those of us in the learning mode. It was presented on another site [autoharp] and I'm 'borrowing' it.