Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

I made my first dulcimer over 50 years ago. I've accumulated quite a few since then. Some instruments may only come out of a case once every five years or more. I have never detuned the strings and have noticed no particular ill effects on the these dulcimers. If anything, the strings maybe need to be changed after such a long time. But the the dulcimers themselves are fine.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

https://ebay.us/m/EcRFQT

here’s the link if anyone is interested.

I taught engineering mechanics (Statics, Dynamics, and Strength of Materials - the courses which drove students out of Engineering) for a quarter of a century. My view is based on a lot of 'book larnin.' Over the years some of us develop structural intuition just as musical intuition grows for some and not others.

My remarks are focused on "true dulcimers" with 3 or 4 strings and a stick which runs the full length of the VSL. The body is relatively narrow and the tension of the strings is modest. The sides, front, and back are sort of a stiff tube. The tension causes the body and fret board to curve very, very slightly and the wood to "creep" slightly over a period of days and "settle in."

An acoustic guitar body has only modest amounts of bracing inside, and the heavy wound steel core strings create a much larger tensile force. Solid body guitars are very different structurally.

A fiddle body is actually a complex shell shape, and the string tensions are rather low. On many fiddles the strings have a gut or nylon core.

On a modern instrument of these families the body might actually be graphite reinforced plastic. Tension will still cause minuscule bowing of the body, but there will be no creep.

There are no simple answers or explanations for such questions. I'm still trying to fully comprehend musical modes and remember chord structures.

The advice to loosen the strings is common for guitars.  But string tension on guitars is much greater than that on dulcimers, and dulcimers have the ultimate brace (meaning the fretboard) keeping things intact.  Tuning down a little bit, as John and Nate have suggested, is probably a good idea but may not be necessary unless environmental conditions are going to change drastically. If the instrument is just going to sit in your closet, I wouldn't worry about it.  If you are putting it in a storage unit in the desert with no climate control, you may run into problems that loosening the strings won't solve.

P.S. Congrats on your McCafferty dulcimer. I love mine, which is evidenced in how "used" it now looks.

"but, in my opinion, the minute aspects of wooden bodies' shapes are better preserved if string tension it maintained. "

Im curious to know more about this Wally. Are you basically saying that the wood "settles" when its kept under the correct amount of tension?  Or that the changes in tension would put more stress on the wood cells/finish? Both of those would make sense to me.

Id say that detuning the strings by just a little bit is a good idea. While some instruments seem to hold up really well to warping over time...other fare less well. Damage from tension, sunlight, or moisture would be cumulative over a long time. So overall, I'd say that you dont need to be overly concerned, but it's probably better to store it with the strings somewhat detuned if youre not planning on playing it for a while. It would probably only make a small difference over a long time though, if at all.

String instruments which are played regularly are typically "kept in tune" for many decades on end.

Strings may be damaged by age or environmental factors, of course, but, in my opinion, the minute aspects of wooden bodies' shapes are better preserved if string tension it maintained. If you unbox a dulcimer with loose strings it usually takes several tunings to get it to hold properly. Tension also keeps the "bridge" and nut secure.

Wooden pegs are another matter. They and the matching holes will undergo changes in roundness with changes in humidity. That's why moving a dulcimer from Phoenix to Seattle may require attention by a luthier.

If you have a 10 million dollar violin, controlled storage conditions are probably in order, but the primary benefit goes to the gut strings and horsehair on the bow.

If your dulcimer is worth less than $10,000, keep it in the case and keep it out of rain, snow, deserts, and floods. Storing it in direct sunlight probably isn't beneficial, but a lot of wall-hanging dulcimers stay playable.

Jon, I think that would be a good idea myself.  That way they won't stretch out unevenly over time.  Throwing some of those little dessicant packs in the case to keep down moisture might be a good idea as well.

Hi kid's once again it's me Jon Lilley. with one more of those silly questions. I just recently obtained my second instrument, a Terry McCafferty dulcimer, wonderful  instrument. but here's my question: if you are going to store an instrument for any length of time, should you loosen all the strings?

er wait...I guess one of the images worked....go figure

Don't bother with the attachments...They didn't turn out...

I did a quick look through E-bay and Reverb sites & completed sales..Selling on the high end for 900 ish, low end 3-4.

hundreds.

I do say though, yours is the best looking one!

I sent a link to a Facebook post about Jim Good. As you can see he made five string dulcimers; two melody strings, a middle string, and bass strings. He was an excellent craftsman and his instruments are treasured by those who own them. Your dulcimer appears to be in very good condition. Non-mechanical (wood) tuning pegs are not desired by many folks today and may affect the selling price of the dulcimer. It isn't easy to estimate a price for an instrument like this. If you put it on eBay and find a couple of folks who want a Jim Good dulcimer it could go for $500 or more. If you put a fixed price on it and sold through this website or one of the Facebook dulcimer websites you could probably sell it for $300-$350.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hello everybody! I am posting here to see if anyone has any information about Jim Good dulcimers. I recently inherited this one and it is dated from 1981. he has signed and dated this one as well. Curious to see how I could go about selling this or if anyone has any history or an approximate value.

any information is greatly appreciated!

Thanks. So good to know.

Here are some issues to consider when shipping items internationally. Personally, I can vouch for the fact that years ago I received a surprise bill from US Customs for $75 two months after receiving a custom instrument from a luthier in UK. The luthier/sender had no knowledge of this. You may or may not experience one or more of the following factors, and things can change over time. But it's good to be aware:

1-- The sender(or seller) and the receiver (or buyer) involved in an international transaction need to know if there are additional charges associated with receiving the package. On a recent transaction out of country, a receiver was charged more than $30 for taxes and import fees on a package valued at $45.. These charges to the receiver were not disclosed to the sender when the parcel shipped. When the buyer finalized the purchase he did not realize there would be additional charges due when the package arrived.

2- Get a firm commitment from the recipient in writing that he or she will accept the package even if there are additional charges for which he or she would be responsible..

3- The sender should provide to the shipping company an email and or a phone number for the recipient. 

4- The sender needs to know if the parcel is not deliverable for any reason if the parcel will be returned or destroyed. If the parcel is to be returned to the sender is he or she is then responsible for any import fees or taxes prior to return of the parcel. If the parcel is to be destroyed will the insurance cover the cost of the item in the destroyed package.

5- Mark the package return to sender if undeliverable, if that is what you want and if you are willing to pay the cost of returning it to you undelivered.

6- Tracking information for international shipments is not always accurate nor up to date.

Though I'm not sure, I think Mr. Gallier is no longer building.  

Hello everybody once again it is just me Jon trying to pick everybody's brain. I was looking into getting a Gary Gallier Dulcimer

I'm intrigued with his innovative design. Anyone out there have one and what is the V.S.L. on these things?  I noticed that he Gary is not really big on communicating. Thanks again

On reflection-I still play,but would hesitate to record, the music of my youth(Ottawa Valley style).A lot of it has been recorded many times over,why do it again?

Well, John and Lisa, I've been building dulcimers for over 50 years now, and I've already made tens of dollars...

Jamie, I used to whack out a few Appalachian Old-Time fiddle tunes.  Mostly, I play slow stuff these days.  

Right after I make my 2nd million in instrument sales......[I've given up on the first]......

It's a nice looking dulcimer, but I don't have a clue as to who made it. I've never seen one like it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I think the swelling member count is due to the free swag bags of merch being offered to new members. String sets, jars of "jam", and Turtle polishing cloths........

I remember when FOTMD was just a babe.  

Well Dusty right at the moment we have about 2700 members. However, because people often 'move on' to other interests, I like to now and then go in and remove members who have not logged in in several years, just to keep things current. Many times the member count has gone over 3500 and then I've done my housekeeping and gotten it down to 2500 again. Quality versus quantity!
I do however remember the thrill we had here back in the beginning of things when we were so new and small, and we'd reach another hundred members. Good times. And nice to remember members who were a big presence here, who've passed on.

That is one beautiful dulcimer. I hope you are able to learn more about it.

Wow.  2009? I think that's around the time I joined.  How many are we now? 2000?  3000?

@davisjames, I can't speak for other people, but as I was learning the dulcimer I would post videos of standard old timey fare as I learned the repertoire: Bonaparte's Retreat, Mississippi Sawyer, Cripple Creek, Whiskey Before Breakfast, etc.  But as I've advanced in my playing, I tend to record only stuff that's a little different, meaning originals or pop tunes or lesser-known fiddle tunes or Celtic airs or whatever.

I still play traditional, old timey music in jams, but I tend to no longer record the well-known standard stuff.  So the video and audio that I post is not reflective of the music I play on a regular basis.

Hello all, I wonder if anyone knows who made a dulcimer my stepmother just gave me. She told me this dulcimer was “made for her by some guy she met riding a train down the east cost of the US in about 1970.”  She does not remember much of the event, only that the man was very nice and upon learning that Jane (stepmom) was a music teacher, offered to make her a customer dulcimer.  Her choices for peg box decoration were a dog’s head or a woman’s head, and she chose woman’s head.  

The carving reminded me of some of Ron Cook's work, so I reached out to him and asked. He graciously replied right away, but said it wasn't one of his. He thought it was an "old style Tennessee version" of a dulcimer, and thought it was nicely made out of cherry wood with an oak head. I have examined the instrument thoroughly, going so far as to put an endoscope video camera into the sound holes in inspect the inside... but I found nothing.  

Any idea as to its provenance?  Anyone recognize the style? Seems like it was made by someone who knew their craft well.  Photos below. 

 Dulcimer-02 .jpg - 118KB

Fotmd member @randy-adams plays a good number of American oldtime fiddlle tunes. There are many others here as well, perhaps not posting as much lately.

(bump) ....from 2009, almost sixteen years ago.  

Few people seem to perform the old songs/tunes as solo pieces. They are most often found in the performances of dulcimer clubs or in jams at festivals. One person that consistently plays old time music, mostly from fiddle tunes, is Don Pedi. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ok, I have moved this thread to the "general dulcimer/music discussions" forum.

I think a lot depends on what members are posting videos and audios. Some folks who post a lot of music clips like certain various music genres- like hymns, or early/medieval music, or original tunes, or international folk tunes. There sure are a lot of videos posted here on FOTMD over the past 16 years!

It's just something I noticed(the dearth of old time American music in audio/video).. I meant to create a new topic in forums.

James, did you mean to post this in the "For Sale" forum?  (Just wondering, either you are I can change the location of this thread if you like)

I don't hear much old time American music on the website anymore.I love that stuff but I have to go back in the archives to hear it.In the meantime I'm delighted by the creativity and cosmopitanism of the videos and audio uploads people make but I'd sure like to hear more trad music from the places where the mountain dulcimore was created.

Like Robin, I was able to identify them because I have a Blue Lion with those tuners.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hey thanks you guys are the best. I’m sure glad I asked the question first before I started messing around with them.  I could have made things a lot worse, that's the problem about doing something that you don't know what you're doing