Wanted: info on my dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

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....

Hello! Anyone know about Mawhee?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

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

Wanted: info on my dulcimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

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”

2024 Folkroots dulcimer hand made by Folkcraft. $890.00.

FOR SALE:instruments/music items/CDs/Wanted to Buy...

Yet another reason to take up the Didgeridoo......Sure is pretty though!

Hello! Anyone know about Mawhee?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Welcome!

Hello! Anyone know about Mawhee?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

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."

Hello! Anyone know about Mawhee?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Here’s a link to my great grandpa Bill Graves telling a story about his grandpa Mawhee describing the dulcimer he made.

https://open.spotify.com/track/6puYCNvYzWdKHKPseNvZ17?si=82-ifo3SSpuwG0eL_dpDVQ&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A7xwCkNFcI0jMSSQydtalDw

Hello! Anyone know about Mawhee?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I’m thrilled to join this community and connect with others who share a love for the dulcimer. I’ve recently rekindled my passion for this beautiful instrument, which has deep roots in my family’s history. I’m especially hoping to someday find a Mawhee dulcimer, a unique version of the instrument that my great great grandfather, John Mawhee, carved and played in the mid-1800s. He learned the craft from Cherokee traditions and carried it with him as a Union soldier during the Civil War. To me, owning or even learning more about one of his dulcimers would be an incredible way to honor that legacy and share it with my family.

I grew up hearing the dulcimer played by my great grandfather Bill Graves, who called it the “walking cane dulcimer.” He recorded his music with the Missouri Historical Society, and now—24 years after his passing—it’s surreal to hear his songs on Spotify. (He would have been so tickled by that!) Back in the day, our whole family was buying his CDs and gathering around as he played with a turkey quill. His children joined in with singing and guitar, and those memories of music at family reunions—at Grandma’s house with all my cousins—are some of my fondest.

Unfortunately, I never learned to play when they encouraged me to, and that’s a big regret. But now, I feel inspired to dive in, learn the instrument, and maybe continue the family tradition. The dulcimer’s sound, to me, feels like a family reunion—it brings back so much joy and nostalgia.

I’m hoping this group can help me find my way as I learn to play and possibly locate a Mawhee dulcimer. Where should I start? I’m also eager to learn more about dulcimer music, history, and techniques. My favorite song is “Turkey in the Straw (ha ha ha)” and I’d love to someday be able to play it just like my great grandfather did.

Thank you for welcoming me into this community—I’m looking forward to learning from you all and sharing in this wonderful tradition!

updated by @searchin-for-a-walkin-cane: 01/05/25 06:52:45PM

What Are You Working On?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

That's wonderful, Anne. Glad you enjoyed it and a lovely time. Have a great 2025.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

2024 Folkroots dulcimer hand made by Folkcraft. $890.00.

FOR SALE:instruments/music items/CDs/Wanted to Buy...

It's beautiful! I think about things like this and that $980US is a great price, but then realise that that would be $1,577.68AUD, before shipping...

What Are You Working On?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Well, I worked on playing as ambient music...I haven't busked for a while, but  about 2 months ago I was busking at Aldi, and someone asked for my card. They asked if I'd be interested in playing for a Christmas gathering that they would be hosting. I confessed my lack of Christmas repertoire, and that I'd not done such thing before,but they said a couple of Chrissy pieces and just whatever else would be fine, and that they'd be in touch. Having heard this before, and not receiving any messages up until the weekend before Christmas, I was surprised to hear from them on the Saturday, apologising for the short notice, but saying they'd lost my card and only just found it, and wanting me for Monday night. Well, I went along, was made very welcome, had a lovely time and got paid as well. I guess busking can have extra benefits. Here's the lovely tree I was stationed beside.. I hope everyone had a lovely end of 2025 and happy, auspicious start to 2025.

updated by @anne-bowman: 01/05/25 12:37:28AM

What Are You Working On?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Very true, Dusty. I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Year.

FOTMD needs your support

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

My pleasure, Strumelia.  I wish I had thought to donate sooner.  I think it's a good thing you did to remind folks to help out.  As with many things in life, sometimes we need to be reminded .

FOTMD needs your support

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thank you, John, for helping out here.  I've become leery of internet scams and hacks and wanted to be sure it was legitimate.  Blessings to you for a happy, prosperous and healthy new year.

Maddie

FOTMD needs your support

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Maddie, thank you so much for donating to help keep us running.  Yes, that name is me. (I don't use my real name online when I can avoid it.)
Your donation was received!  
(and thanks John, for clarifying)

FOTMD needs your support

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Maddie, Lisa is her real name.  It's OK!

What Are You Working On?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Very well said, Dusty!

FOTMD needs your support

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi, Strumelia - I just tried to donate US$20 with PayPal and it was to be donated to a Lisa ____(??).  Then said there was a problem and try again.  Until I know who Lisa ____ is, I await your response.  Otherwise, happy to donate.  Thanks, Maddie in SW Western Australia.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FOMTD MEMBERS!

OFF TOPIC discussions

Happy New Year to all. And wishing for each of you a year of health and blessings beyond measure. And lots of beautiful dulcimer music.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FOMTD MEMBERS!

OFF TOPIC discussions

Happy New Year everyone!

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FOMTD MEMBERS!

OFF TOPIC discussions

And a Bonnie Annie to you as well, Strumelia!  Your old illustrations are wonderful!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FOMTD MEMBERS!

OFF TOPIC discussions

Thank you for the good wishes, Strumelia!  

I hope the coming year is filled with many pleasant surprises for us all!  

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL FOMTD MEMBERS!

OFF TOPIC discussions

   New Year's Eve, December 31 2024....

Here's hoping all members have a safe, healthy, and productive new year for 2025...full of personal joys like music and also the joy of kindnesses to others.

Happy New Year!!!!

 

updated by @strumelia: 12/31/24 04:37:46PM

instrument question- Stephens Lutherie/holy grail dulcimer?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

@patrick If you punch your VSL into a fret calculator for guitar, the third fret is the same as the 1.5 on dulcimer 

instrument question- Stephens Lutherie/holy grail dulcimer?

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Does anyone know of a fret calculator that gives the measurement for the 1.5 fret? 

Tuners

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Good point, Wally.
As a builder, I want my tuner to be as precise as possible to make sure that my instrument is as precise as possible. If the tuner is off, then the bridge will be off, and the frets will be off and the whole instrument will have a compounding error. 
If I were to place my bridge using a tuner that considers 9 cents sharp to be "in the green." and then also tuned my string 9 cents sharp, that could lead to terrible intonation near the end of the second octave.

I also think that our pitch perception is only as precise as the data we give it, so it's just good practice to get as close as I can, unless I have some reason not to.

Tuners

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Well said Wally, well said.

As to the old saying however.....

Actually........                        Rocket Propulsion Altitude/Ambient Pressure Adjustment • Can use variable frequency expansion ratio nozzles -extendable, two-step nozzles e.g., RL-10B-2 on Delta IV 2nd stage..............

Tuners

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Why are you worried about tuner precision? Electronic turners are great for many reasons, including letting folks "tune up" backstage to the same note, instead of devoting a minute or so of on-stage time, but in my opinion, a few cents difference doesn't really matter.

In the real world when you take your dulcimer out of its case and try a tune it may sound fine, but the happy person next to you sounds out-of-tune. You get out your tuning meter and find you are a bit off because your strings are at a different temperature than they were the last time you played. In the old days, you would have said to the leader "Play me a D," and tuned to that, the group being more important than you.

Tune your middle A string as precisely as possible (in the green) and then test the tuning when you finger at frets, 3, 7, and 10. On many, perhaps most, dulcimers you will find you are a few cents sharp, but when you play music it sounds fine.

If you put your finger on the string and check the tuning, you may even find that it makes a difference where and how you place your finger.

On large organs, pairs of pipes are tuned with one a few cents sharp to produce a voice called Celeste, or a few cents flat to produce a voice called Humana. Slight dissonances make music more interesting.

As the old saying goes, "This ain't rocket science."

Tuners

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I use the D'addario Nexxus 360.  The display is very clear and can be read in any lighting conditions unlike others that i have used in the past. As for comparative accuracy I don't know where it sits, but it's quite good enough for my use.

Tuners

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

In general, a phone app on a modern smartphone will typically be much more precise than a clip on tuner, as the microphone quality of smartphones is higher than that of clip on tuners. One big downside to using your phone is that it picks up all background noise as well. I use an app for android called soundcorset and it works perfectly for me. Another cool thing about soundcorset is that you can adjust the pitch standard to things other than A440, which can be fun to mess around with.

I have had a couple snarks, as well as some other clip on tuners and I think they work great.  Tuners that clip onto the headstock are really convenient because they don't pick up much ambient noise, plus theyre very portable and simple. My only problem is that I always end up losing them my favorite was a cheap violin tuner that showed which octave you are in and how many cents off you are. I wish I could say what brand it was, but I've misplaced it lol.

Like Dusty said, just about any tuner will do the job. I really like the convenience of using my phone, but it doesnt work as well if there's a lot of wind or background noise.

A while ago I compared several different tuners and found that the cheap generic ones that came for free with instruments I've bought are frequently off by a few cents. Even that really shouldn't matter though.



updated by @nate: 12/30/24 10:37:22PM

Tuners

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi John.  I think there are a few different issues with tuners.  One is the accuracy of the gizmo inside.  My guess is that all of the common tuners are more accurate than our ears are.  However, a second issue is how information is presented to you. One tuner, for example, might have 5 lights in between a C# and a D.  But another tuner might have 10 lights in between those tones.  So mathematically, the one with 10 lights will be able to display the tone twice as accurately.  That means what your Snark considers "in tune" might be twice the range of another tuner, making it less accurate functionally.

If you poke around the internet, you will generally be told that the most accurate tuners are the strobe tuners.  Second are those needle tuners (which is probably what your app is).  The best small strobe tuners are made by Peterson.  The original was the Peterson Strobo Clip, but that is pretty big. I actually have one for sale in the For Sale Forum .  Then Peterson came out with a smaller version, the Strobo Clip HD .  The smaller one is slightly less accurate but is much easier to read.  I also have one of those.

But I personally think the best tuner out there in terms of accuracy and display is TC Electronic's UniTune Clip On .  It is not as flexible as the Snark, but its display is much more accurate.  It's hard to describe why that's the case, but basically there are two sets of lights to follow. One is probably about as accurate as the Snark, but then there is another fine tuner set of lights to get you even closer.

For guitarists, TC Electronic also makes a PolyTune tuner that can assess all your strings at once. It's pretty wild. I have one of those on one of my guitars, but to be honest, I think the UniTune is all that anyone should need.

It's also worth mentioning that I use several of the D'Addario tuners, both the headstock tuners and the violin tuners , the latter of which can straddle the dulcimer fretboard. Both of those have a lower profile than the Snark, Peterson, and UniTune, but they are probably no more accurate than the Snark.  They're just small. You can probably see one next to the nut on most of the videos I've posted.

Tuners

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Tuners Hi kids, I hope everybody is doing well and had a good Christmas. I have a question about tuners and what your experience is with the one that you have, or the one that you can recommend. I have the Snark tuner, mainly because I don't know any better. It seems to work okay I guess.  But If I compare it to the one I downloaded on my phone the phone app says that I'm a little flat compared to the Snark. I have heard that the Peterson strobe Is a better unit what is your opinion out there. THANKS

2024 Folkroots dulcimer hand made by Folkcraft. $890.00.

FOR SALE:instruments/music items/CDs/Wanted to Buy...

What a beautiful dulcimer.  I love the contrast of the ebony fretboard overlay and the cedar top.

2024 Folkroots dulcimer hand made by Folkcraft. $890.00.

FOR SALE:instruments/music items/CDs/Wanted to Buy...

For sale a premium custom made 2024 Folkroots H series dulcimer, made in June 2024 in Indiana by Folkcraft, one of the most widely regarded dulcimer makers. Solid Hickory body, solid Western Red Cedar top, 25" VSL (25 inches scale),1&3/8" fretboard, Ebony fretboard, has 1.5, 6.5, 8.5 &13.5 frets, Galax performance back, scroll head, extra nut and bridge included for 4-string setup, Folkroots case. Strap included. Like new, no scratches, cracks or any kind of wear. Sounds beautiful with a full tone, loud clear and warm. This wonderful dulcimer, including all upgrades (ebony fretboard, additional frets, Galax bottom) costs over $1450 new. I am asking for $890.00, Folkroots soft case included. Local pick up in Oakland County, Michigan, or shipping to Continental United States with UPS for a flat fee of $50.00. Thanks!

updated by @gerardo1000: 12/30/24 12:02:48PM

Question for newbie on a new instrument

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

As others have said, the instrument looks very nice and was likely very well made.

To determine if the instrument is good for a beginner, I would like more information about the action and the VSL (vibrating string length).  If you plan to play in a noter/drone style, those issues may matter little. But if you play to play with your fingers, then the action or height of the strings is very important. And if you plan to play chords, then a shorter VSL will be easier (though anything in the 25"-28" range should be OK).  And as @Nate says, you will likely want to string it as a three course instrument rather than a four course instrument. It is hard to tell from the photo whether the notches exist in the nut and bridge to facilitate that.

It is hard to find a well-built dulcimer for less than $300, so the price seems fair for such a pretty instrument, but if you will be required to spend more on repairs and other modifications, it may not be worth it.

Question for newbie on a new instrument

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

The instrument has really cool decoration and definitely seems like a good deal at that price, though I'm not sure how much it would cost to repair the soundboard, per what Ken mentioned. For your question about if the instrument is well suited to a beginner, a four course equidistant setup can often be considered more difficult than a three course setup. Four string equidistant is not necessarily the easiest for a beginner, however if you are ambitious, it might be a fun challenge. Four string equidistant definitely works great for finger picking!

Question for newbie on a new instrument

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

Wow, beautifully made!  It’s worth doing what Ken has suggested and if intonation is good (which I am sure it is having been built by a good luthier), this should be a great investment.

Question for newbie on a new instrument

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

It is a beautiful mountain dulcimer!   With a bit of work from a luthier, it could be nicely set up to play.  

Question for newbie on a new instrument

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

That's a very nice looking dulcimer and appears to be well constructed which I would expect from a violin maker. A concern I have 's the cracked sound hole on the treble side, lower bout. It looks like it needs to be repaired. Wittner tuners can be put on this instrument. If the holes are too large, they can be plugged and re-drilled. If too small, they can be made larger. The dulcimer does not have a 6 1/2 fret which is popular with finger pickers, but one can be added. I think it would be a good instrument for any player with a little attention to things I mentioned. It might need an adjustment to the action and I have no idea if it is fretted for equal or just temperament. Something I would do if it were my instrument would be to get rid of the current string anchor and replace it with four screws or brass plated nails, one for each string. That will make replacing strings easier.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

One other question '78 Ascrizzi Duclimer

Instruments- discuss specific features, luthiers, instrument problems & questions

I'm sorry. Your photo is too large to see the dulcimer. I can't even read all of your post. Can you resize the photo and then repost it so we can help you with your question?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."