That's a beautiful psaltery, Susie. Of course, I wouldn't expect anything less from Masterworks. I am sure it will give you many hours of enjoyment. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
hahaha Dusty!
This particular spot has very gourmet coffee, and not all that cheap. They do prepare exotic drinks like turmeric coffee and 'golden milk', etc, they do offer decaff espresso which i appreciate (after having already had my coffees at home).
Dusty, I bet the young folk listen to their playlists and also spotify on their phones with bluetooth speakers when out and about. But perhaps some of them like to leave their always-connected techy jobs and have their apartment to unwind in, all retro and low key and mid-century-modern... so they enjoy the tactile feel and sound of playing vinyl records that spin around all old-fashioned like ...and pretend to not have the constant pressures of work for an hour or two. Some of them are also into writing with typewriters, and keeping leather journals.
After selling my bowed psaltery several years ago, I decided to get back to it. I knew I wanted a Master Works, so I took the plunge. I ordered it in November and just received it about a week ago. This time, I'm learning it right....without the use of note guides. With their inlays at the C and G notes, it's going really well, and it's going to be more enjoyable doing it right. I'm loving its tone and feel. I knew I'd love a MW BP, since my sister had one years ago. This makes a nice little travel instrument too. So, here she is. Zebrawood top, Alder back, and Maple sides.
Did you remember.."Going in Circles" and "Grazin' in the Grass" by the Friends of Distinction?
Just one correction, Strumelia: the coffee place was not hip until you arrived. Wherever you go to grab your morning joe is the hip coffee place.
I find the current interest in vinyl curious. Personally, I miss listening to an album (scratches and all) while slowly reading the liner notes. With Spotify you can't even figure out the musicians who play on a given track. But why young hipsters would prefer to buy big bulky albums rather than click a button on Spotify is beyond me.
Happily, I live in a place that has a lot of small cafes. Some of them are enjoyable places to hang out. Each one has a slightly different vibe. Some are genuinely social spaces, with lively conversation, local artists' work on the walls, poetry readings, open mic nights, and the like. Others are quieter, clearly conducive to students and others getting some work done. But I also share Ken's predicament of only wanting plain drip coffee. The baristas are all disappointed when I don't order a lavender latte with almond milk or something like that.
Sounds like a fun time. It certainly brings back memories watching the Sam the Sham video. Although we have a small coffee shop in our town, it is not much of a hangout. It can seat about 10 to 15 people if that. While the owner roasts his own beans, you really can't get a cup of coffee there. If want a latte or espresso, that's fine, but ask for a cup of black coffee and the wait staff looks at you like you came from another planet. And decaf, no way. Needless to say, I've only been there once since it opened three years ago. Now if they had folk music, I might venture in, but what would I drink? Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience, Strumelia.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Yesterday my husband suggested we go to a hip coffee place that recently opened in our village. They also sell old vinyl records.
Lots of millenniums and hipsters with children go there because it's a happenin' place and they get to hear and browse 'vintage' music while sipping coffee and watching their toddlers play. Some of us seniors village residents like to go there as well, because it's relaxed and cozy, and the music choices are sometimes what we grew up with.
Yesterday, the owner (who usually makes their excellent espresso drinks), overheard a little table of us Old Folk mentioning songs we remembered, and the subject of Wooly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs came up. Next thing we knew, the owner had secretly punched it up from behind the counter on the sound system from his phone, in all its thumping glory.
So everyone in the cafe got to see a group of grey haired Boomers doing the frug from our seats and belting out along with the song- "Matty told Hatty, 'bout a thang she saw...." and of course we all chimed in at exactly the right time (because every word and note is seared into our old brains) with "Watch it now, watch it watch it watch it!!"
We Old Geezers must have been quite a sight -but we didn't care! Which of course made it even more fun.
I imagine the owner, a wise young man in his 30s, must have felt like a cosmic puppetmaster, making us all sing and dance with a simple click of his finger on his phone, and bringing everyone there obvious joy.
Price reduced to $890! Thank you for your attention.
Hi Nate, appreciate your comments about my oddball find. Yes I do still play dulcimer. Never been a good player but like the nice feeling it's sound gives. Still have my Romanian dulcimer made by Hora. Also have a Red Kite made by the Hagan family in Missouri. Also have a 1970's Homer Ledford instrument, which is a dream.
Though I have to confess I haven't been playing them much lately as I have been putting some time into learning 5 string banjo old style. I have a great instrument from ODE in Boulder Colorado . But I still love the dulcimer and played it at Melton Christmas Folk Festival in the UK where I had several requests to explain ' what's that you're playing, sounds sweet ! '
Great story, Jim. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
That's an awesome story Jim. Thanks for taking the time to share it.
My brother Bob has a yard sale balalaika that he got a few decades ago. Since he had no idea how to play or tune it and he got it before everyone had Google, he tuned it like the first string courses of his mandolin. He figured that not many fiddle tunes utilized the 4th string anyway and he was right.
Bob's Balalaika
I was never convinced about any heritage as a mountain dulcimer. I believe to was better related to some of the dulcimers European cousins such as Epinette des Vosges or Hummels
I have heard, and tend to generally accept similar things. I almost never play in the second octave unless it's with a noter, and the frets have to be so dang precise when they're that close together, so I often just don't bother adding many extras to it. 9/10 times if I need an extra fret it's either for chord strumming, or because a tab used it, so in either case I don't usually need it an octave higher.
I do find it especially odd that the second octave *does* have a 10.5 fret but no 8.5 fret. I would think that the 8.5 would be much more useful if you were to pick only one of the two.
@nate, I've seen well known luthiers do that in the past... only adding extra frets on the first octave, when building a new dulcimer. Like you, I thought it was odd. One time I asked and was told that most players don't play up in the second octave anyway, and also that it was tricky to get accurate tones on frets when they are so close together. Or some such explanation.
Kind of funny to see the 1.5 and 3.5 on the first octave, but no 1.5 fret on the second octave (8.5 fret). It makes me wonder if the extra frets were added after construction. In the past i have sometimes added half frets for specific arrangements, and Im usually too lazy to also add the fret to the second octave.
Hi @jim-yates thanks for post. I puzzled for quite a time over that instrument. Finally I concluded that it was definitely homemade despite some fine detailing and I was never convinced about any heritage as a mountain dulcimer. I believe to was better related to some of the dulcimers European cousins such as Epinette des Vosges or Hummels
It had a slight curvature to the very thin fretboard which made it quite difficult to set up. But it was great for playing the blues !!
In the end I sold it on eBay and doubled my money
I got no complaints from the purchaser which I took to mean he is a better musician than me.
That looks almost like a full-chromatic fret pattern. It would be hard for me to play without the more familiar diatonic pattern. Hope you can have some musical fun with it!
Sorry, I see there is no edit option. My second paragraph should have been:
Traditional dulcimers are fretted diatonically. If "W" is "whole tone" and "H" is "half tone", from the nut it would be:
W W H W W H W W W H . . . To play an Ionian scale, you would start on the 3rd fret.
It's a little late to be adding to this thread, but I was surprised that no one had mentioned the way Mick's dulcimer is fretted.
Traditional dulcimers are fretted diatonically. If, f "W" is "whole tone" and "H" is "half tone", from the nut it would be: W W H W W H W W W H . . . To play an Ionian scale, you would start on the 3rd fret.
Since the seventies, most modern dulcimers have an added fret (6+) making the frets:
W W H W W H H H W W H . . .
Folks have started adding frets as they need them and I have even seen dulcimers fretted completely chromatically.
Mick's dulcimer seems to be fretted: W H H H H H W H H H W W H H H W H H H
Can anyone see the reason for this?
You might find help with this group as well
This might be of interest to you: https://www.dulcimer.org.uk/
I'm Scotland based and whilst there's an awful lot of cool spots for folk, I rarely find a place where I come across a dulcimer and wow do I miss that sound of sweet music. Anyone else UK based and find they came across dulcimer players once in a blue moon, even in the folk scene?
Thanks everyone for your generous responses!
Im really glad you mentioned camera and light source angle Ken. That is definitely what i was failing to consider. I guess if the camera and light source were both directly above the instrument, the shadow would move much less
I think it is an optical illusion created by the shadow and camera angle. With different lighting, especially no glare, and camera directly above the fret board I'm sure you would get a better look at the strings.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Id really love to know more about this. I've seen Bing do it in a few videos and I just can't wrap my head around it. I believe it is due to the interaction between the vibration of the string and the cameras frame rate, but visually, the shadow seems to move a lot further than the actual string does. Is the bass string actually moving over the edge of the fingerboard, or is this some type of optical illusion?
Following up on John's reply (again), you might join the UK and European Dulcimers Group, and ask if anyone is looking for a dulcimer. John and Paul Crocker are active in the British dulcimer community. John is a member here as John Henry. Paul is also a member here as Paul Crocker. I'm sure there are some folks in Great Britain who would enjoy having an older FolkRoots dulcimer. Best wishes on finding it a. new home.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Jonnyd....Sorry to have digressed on your initial post...But I hope it gives you a small glimpse into this community that is FOTMD. This site is filled with folks like Ken that are passionate and more than willing to help you in all things Dulcimer. [and quite a bit more if you ask...]
I just happened to notice that you and your D50-S are located across the pond. This brings your sale to a whole new level, as I have absolutely no idea as to the supply/demand in the UK. I DO know that the shipping of a Dulcimer [or Aeolian harp] to the UK from these hallowed shores is easily in the $100 range, and then there are the VAT and customs fees. Seems like we Americans always focus on English taxes....
I have only been part of FOTMD for a year [happy anniversary to me]... But perhaps Ken or some of the Veterans know how to find or join groups in the UK? To perhaps find what your market is?
john
No time like today to get a youngster involved!
I agree, John. The two used FolkRoots dulcimers I bought are doing just that. I look for inexpensive dulcimers that I can rehabilitate which our dulcimer group can put the hands or on the laps of folks who want to learn to play the mountain dulcimer. After a few months of playing those folks usually ask if they can buy the dulcimer they've been playing. As the lending instruments are purchased by students, I start looking to restock the herd.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Bing Futch 342
I happened to be surfing the internet Looking for the tab for Black Mountain rag. And came across this video. what I find really interesting about it is that the way the camera is set up and the lighting you can actually see the bass string vibrating amazing just thought I'd post the link in case somebody was interested in seeing how much the bass string actually vibrates
I may be just a bit cynical..[well maybe more than I should be...] But a New d-series at Folkcraft will set you back a thousand dollars. Is there something more than 2 frets I'm missing? Or is the workmanship 10x better now?
The used market is an interesting place...The "older" players I engage with seem to lean towards more frets, newer builders, and tend to be more afflicted with DAS. Effectively hoarding the used instrument market....
The "newer" college age players, are leaning towards fewer frets, and traditional "revival" instruments. Perhaps there will yet be a new resurgence in the "old ways" that were new to us so many years ago...
I foresee a HUGE tidal wave of used instruments hitting the market in the next 10 years or so, as the heirs of the DAS folks wonder what to do with closets full of "somedays"....that need to be cleaned out.
No time like today to get a youngster involved!
If Howard Rugg sees this post he can help tell you about the dulcimer. From the information you provide it was completed on July, 26, 1988 and was the first one completed that day. The top is spruce and the body is walnut. It is in very good shape. Without a 6 1/2 fret is not as desirable to dulcimer players today. I would put it at the lower end of John's estimate. I've recently purchased a couple of similar D50s for $125 and $15O.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Hello Jonnyd,
If you give a quick web search for D 50 Dulcimer [I use duck duck go..] You'll find several old listings on the "REVERB" sale pages, and a bit of history of these instruments. Yours has a spruce top, and what I would consider a very nicely figured black walnut back, sides and headstock. The fret board top "may" be of some other wood, as I can't really tell from the picture. If not walnut, could be mahogany, rosewood or?
Sale prices looked to be in the area of 3-500 [ish], But again, this depends on finding the right buyer, case, shipping etc. I would suggest that you take some time and peruse this site and the multiple forums....perhaps the best "buyer" could be some one that has never discovered in over 30 years just how much joy a dulcimer and the "community" around it can bring......
Best wishes for your New Year....
Very cool. Mawhee was the absolute first maker that I learned about, after trying to look up "walkabout and stick dulcimers" lol. Welcome to the forum. I hope your personal connection to the dulcimer grows into a lifetime of enjoyment.
-Nate
Hi,
I got myself a dulcimer more than 30 years ago and have finally decided to let it go, as i never gave it my full attention. I just want to make sure it goes to someone who will take good care of it. So I'd really like to know what woods it's made of and any other details about it so I can give any buyers honest information.
Here are the details of my dulcimer.
There’s a label inside: Rugg and Jackel Fok Roots Dulcimer
D-50 S 726881
Approximate measurements are:
Length: 37”
Height: 3”
Width at widest point: 7¾”
Yet another reason to take up the Didgeridoo......Sure is pretty though!
My friend, Rob Lackey, had a Mawhee dulcimer. Here is a link to a YouTube video of him with the dulcimer playing Black Eyed Susie. Unfortunately, Rob died a little over a year ago so we can't ask him any more questions about his dulcimer.
You may already be aware of this video if you've done a search for John Mawhee on the internet.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
