Forum Activity for @strumelia

One word of caution to those who use stickers on their fretboards-
There are good products for removing sticker residue once you've decided to remove longtime stickers. However, few people take into account that wood darkens over time when exposed to light- even normal room light while playing. If you leave stickers on for a year or more, when you remove them you may find that the wood is lighter colored under the stickers, thus you are left with unsightly 'ghost' marks where the stickers used to be. These marks don't even disappear when you rub oil on. I've seen these poor dulcimers on Ebay with their ugly light colored rectangles up and down their fretboards. So, consider removing fret board stickers after your initial learning period, before they create permanent cosmetic damage.

Not sure everyone agrees with minimalistic fret markers.  https://www.pinterest.com/deachasuravanic/fret-markers/  Besides, what is wrong with decorations?  (In case it wasn't clear, I am laughing a little at this discussion.)  Fret markers are very much the choice of the luthier/musician.  I have made instruments with no fret markers and a 4 equidistant chromatic dulcimer with both dulcimer and guitar fret markers so many more people could play!

I think you can find plans on the internet for the capo Ken Hulme describes. If you want to buy a capo you might try Folkcraft or Prussia Valley. I imagine the shipping costs depend upon where you are in Canada.

Here is a link to what one you can make yourself would look like: https://www.etsy.com/listing/161049441/dulcimer-capos?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=dulcimer+capo&ref=sr_gallery-1-7

Or you can order one from this seller or others.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Best or cheapest?  You can make a perfectly adequate capo from a couple dollars worth of materials from your local DIY store -- a 1/4-20 bolt, a wing nut, a short piece of rubber/plastic tubing, and a couple scraps of wood.  Or you can spend upwards of $30 plus shipping for a capo that looks sexy and also holds the strings down.

Lisa has it right.  Too many fret markers, like Matt apparently does, are no longer meaningful, merely decorative.  The  original intent of the fret marks is/was to indicate to the player significant points in the fret pattern, not just decorate the bare spaces between the frets. 

Well, when I first started, I put stickers with 1,2,3,4... on each fret, that helped.  Actually, I think fret markers help develop a pattern in a person's mind.  After playing for a couple years, I realized I didn't look down at the fret board anyway, so maybe everyone should have removable fret markers so when they become extraneous, you can remove them?

Which brings up the existential question... if one were to put a fret marker on every fret- what purpose would it serve?

Wow, I hope this group never dissects one of my instruments.  Not only do I put fret markers at 3-5-7-10-12, I also put a marker under the frets at 1+,6+,8+ and 13+.  Guess it all depends on what the builder prefers!!  Never noticed that the placement of fret markers influenced the sound of the instrument.  (-:

Any suggestions on the best place to get a capo? I'm in Canada, so shipping costs will be a factor.

Bob, what you need to do is make the dot really big, and engrave "Don't blame the builder" on it!

I had a customer ask for her build to have a position dot at the first fret.

Well, hope people in the future don't think that was my idea

True, Ken.  Those are the octaves of the 3 and the 5.

I, too, find it interesting that there is no 8+.  I understand not adding the half frets on smaller scale instruments, since the frets get so small, but on a full-size dulcimer most people want the second octave to mirror the first.  There is a 13+ fret, after all.

And 10 and 12, also. There is no octave for the 1 1/2 which would be 8 1/2.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Yes, that dulcimer has frets at 1+ and 6+.  But notice that the fret markers are still at 3, 5, and 7.

Here is a Mcspadden with I guess 1.5 6.5

 Screen Shot 2021-01-02 at 3.07.10 PM.png - 1.5MB

Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast - Episode 49 
Stay Home and Sing with the Dulcimer: with Aubrey Atwater

https://dulcimuse.com/podcast

Here’s another stay home and play dulcimer episode created during the COVID-19 pandemic. Aubrey Atwater shares tips on how to improve singing and singing with the dulcimer.

You can listen to all the  Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast  episodes directly on our website:  https://dulcimuse.com/podcast  or in most podcast apps.

Every episode has its own resource page with photos, videos, and song lists.

Here's the resource page for this episode: https://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/049.html

Thanks for listening!

Sounds real good ,  Bob

Soundin' good, Bob!

That's way nicer than most cigar box guitars I've seen and heard, Bob. Niiiice!

Really cool! Nice job on it.

Hey, go for a socket!  Merle Watson used a Craftsman.  :)

Robin, thanks!  I have tried one, but I'm not very good at it, plus the slide I have is a bit small.  I should get another one.  I might try a sparkplug socket. :-)

Bob, that critter sounds cool!  Have you tried using a bottleneck slide on it?  

I love my Blue Lion. After sitting in the back of the hall closet for over 20 years, it’s still in tune! The highest quality of any dulcimer I ever owned.

Finished building this cigar box guitar yesterday.  It was a fun project.  Kind of dulcimer-ish.

Someone on fb shared this writing from Ralph and it seems appropriate to include it here: 

https://bulletin.swarthmore.edu/bulletin-issue-archive/archive_p=1060.html?fbclid=IwAR3bzp1m1H6S6JynCk0dGCauS2hdYNdCzLPqsfOxzGAl78Y5OCNSA34WAew

Ralph Lee Smith has given the mountain dulcimer world so much!  Like Ken H, I would like to have met both Jean Ritchie and Ralph yet both have now joined the ancestors.  

Ralph contributed much to our understanding of dulcimers, where they came from, and how they evolved.  For anyone interested in solid scholarship his books are worth reading.  I met him once. He was a kind person who was generous in sharing his collection of instruments as well as his knowledge.

R.I.P. Ralph.   
My greatest regrets as a dulcimer person are that I never had the chance to meet and know Ralph and Jean Ritchie.

I feel fortunate to have met Ralph Lee Smith several times, most notably at Dulcimer U at Western Carolina University.  What a kind, knowledgeable man!  He was able to impart his knowledge about the mountain dulcimer in a way that communicated how pleased he was to answer your question or help you understand something better.  He was never arrogant about what he knew--or how much,  He just enjoyed sharing what he knew with others--and we were all richly blessed.  Rest in peace, dear man.

We all knew this day was coming, but we didn't know WHEN.  It's still very sad for us who knew Ralph, and sad for the dulcimer world at large.  He left a great quantity of scholarly work behind, which will instruct and entertain musicians and luthiers for many years.  Rest in peace, dear friend.

Thank you Ken. It's a deep loss for the dulcimer world. Ralph Lee Smith has given us all so much.

Sad news indeed. Ralph's knowledge of the evolution of the dulcimer far surpassed that of any else living or dead.  We will be forever in his debt for his publications on dulcimer history.

It is with a great deal of sadness that I share the news that Ralph Lee Smith died this morning, December 30, 2020, at his home in Virginia. He was 93 years old. I will share more when I have collected myself. R.I.P. Ralph.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

We're talking about fret markers, not fret placement.

Without using the apps, it should be possible to know where the frets go. Tune the first string to D, and work your way up until E is found, then mark that and continue.At least I would think you could use this method.

Sounds like he's not very experienced in dulcimers and diatonic instruments. He may be a good luthier at other intruments, but I don't think he understands how the concept of modal scales applies to mtn dulcimer fret patterns in particular. He's defensive because naturally no one who presents themselves as professional likes to have their lack of knowledge pointed out to them.   Still, you have done him a favor because future clients will have a hard time with his strangely placed fret markers as well, if he doesn't understand a diatonic scale with its half and whole steps and how they are used in tuning and playing. 

Update...

After thinking about his reason it made me realize that, if true, would have put the placement off by one in the OTHER direction starting with a marker at the 2nd fret.  Anyway, a couple of days later he messaged me (a little defensive this time) saying that he spent some more time researching markers and could find no consensus himself so everyone could be right.  He then said that he actually felt that he couldn't be wrong because he had followed the example set on the Folkcraft dulcimer site.  I knew right then what had happened because every time I open up the Folkcraft dulcimer all the dulcimer's they offer for sale include the 1 and 1/2 fret...LOL.  I messaged him back and pointed this out telling him to find the 7th fret (pointing out it is the last of the three thin ones in the center of the fret board or the double marked one) and count backwards and he will see that the dot on all Folkcraft instruments begin on the 3rd fret.  Soon he messaged back and thought he might just add the 1 and 1 1/2 fret on all his new units too.  

I have four Backyard Instruments. Three chromatic DAd tuned; one with regular strings; the other with nylon strings.  The third chromatic is tuned DAAA.The fourth is tuned DAd with 1.5: 6.5: 8.5 and 13.5 frets.  My favorite of these is whichever one is in my lap.

 I also have a Folkcraft chromatic cardboard dulcimer my son built for me.

 I have heard of cardboard Backyard Instruments lasting 30 years.

I don’t know of the availability of plans.

There are no plans for cardboard dulcimers.  There are only kits to put together or completed cardboard instruments.  The kits are under $100. 

You can easily make a trapezoid or box dulcimer body roughly 30" long by 5" to 8" wide by 2" deep using tape and Elmers glue. If you want anything fancier, I suggest you buy a cardboard kit.

A length of straight 1x2 pine or poplar or maple from one of the big box stores is your fretboard for only a couple dollars. 

A set of inexpensive tuners is under $20 and fretwire is under $7 from CBGitty or StewMac.

A set of strings under $8 usually from any music shop. 

The spacing for the frets you can get from WFret or the StewMac calculator or a couple other places for free.  

If you'd like any help in the construction process, join us here in the Groups area under Building Dulcimers, and we can easily talk you through a build...