Hello everyone,
I came across this unique dulcimer that looks to be handmade in the 1970’s. Does anyone have any idea who the maker might be? Also what style is this dulcimer? It appears to have a European design. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you for your replies.
Kevin
We're happy you folks liked the video! As you likely noticed, we were not playing music from the 1920's (as was indicated in some of the information on-screen)-- having to do all through distance, there was misunderstanding.
How nice that you and Mark were asked to be part of the festivl. The music and settings were so very nice. Well done. Dulcinina
Absolutely loved the video Robin. Very nice!
Thank you, @dusty-turtle. The cemetery at which we played the lullaby is a place we have visited often, taking walks there the past many weeks. It's a good place to think. In the outdoors, it isn't as easy to keep in good tune as when indoors yet we really wanted to make the videos outside.
I'm mesmerized by your sensitive playing, Robin. So subtle and precise.
And I love how each tune was filmed in a different local spot. I'm really taken by the cemetery where you play the 155 Lullaby. What a peaceful spot.
Mark & I live in an area which has come to be known as Little Cities of Black Diamonds , a nickname coined by historian Ivan Tribe. This year, the LCBD council asked us to participate. So, we made several little videos and passed them along to be used however the moviemaker saw fit. In this link, you will find the movie which was put together from some of our little videos and other episodes which were featured during the week-long fest.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBTr1ZQH6IWuUqQno6iOxWA
looks great!
That's a great set up. laughing on your comment, "No, the dulcimore don't stay in front of the fireplace, just long enough to pose for the picture." happy playing....and quick to grab one and play some tunes. aloha, irene
Thought I'd share a photo of my new multi-place dulcimore stand. Designed by Dulcimore Dan. The padding on the bottom supports is strips of sheep skin glued on. And, No, the dulcimore don't stay in front of the fireplace, just long enough to pose for the picture.
ahhhhhhhhhhhh, come on.............where did you got this instrument of beauty? Surely it has a story. I've come back from my "girls trip" to California and went into quite a few thrift shops.....Chico, CA has the best Farmer's Market I've been to. yep, I was looking for some dulcimer, but found a alto wood recorder for $2.00 and looked it up on line and it's worth $300.00 so I did a good score there. Treasures everywhere right? So glad to be back home and enjoying this larger computer instead of my phone. aloha, irene
You have a nice instrument. Enjoy your dulcimer. I think it is a real treasure.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Tim is a truly amazing musician no matter what instrument or approach he takes!
Wow, that is beautiful! Where did you even find such a gem? It looks to be in great shape too. It must have spent most of its life sitting in a case/closet somewhere. Congratulations and enjoy.
As far as tuning, the others have great ideas. What's the VSL? I think I'd experiment with different tunings too and find the sweet spot for the instrument. More than likely, D tuning.
Hey @kevin63. I've been using an Android for years, and even though I just got an iPhone 11 for work, I really don't know how to use it.
What you need to do is re-size the image. If you try to send an image by text or email, the phone will automatically ask you if you want to resize. If you are not performing one of those actions, you can still resize a photo within the Photos app, according to these instructions .
I hope that works for you. I have to admit that I usually transfer photos to my laptop and play with them there where I have full editing capabilities, so I can't tell you exactly what you need to do.
Indeed, that's a fine looking instrument. It's amazing how rich the wood looks.
We tend to be snobs about wood and denigrate plywood, but I have one dulcimer with a plywood top and it has a real punch to it. My guess is that the combination of the larger boxes of the Capritaurus dulcimer and the ply will mean you have a pretty powerful instrument there.
If you are going to play with other people, you will want to tune to D, and since the dulcimer is a true diatonic (no 6+ fret), I agree with @john-gribble that DAA would be a good choice. However, if you are playing by yourself, see if you can find the sweet tone. Put your mouth near the sound hole and "hoo in the hole," meaning sing different pitches into the soundhole. It is possible one or two might resonate more profoundly than the others. If so, tune your bass string to that tone and the other two a fifth above it. That's where the dulcimer will sing the most powerfully.
At some point Howard became very meticulous about the dulcimers he produced and has records of every single one. This must indeed be a really early model before he developed that bookkeeping practice. You have a genuine historical artifact there.
What a nice looking instrument. I would tune it DAA low to high and play it in the traditional noter or finger dance style.
The Hearts of the Dulcimer film has quite a bit about the Ruggs brothers. Google for that website.
Hello everyone,
I recently purchased a beautiful early CapriTaurus dulcimer. See photos.
Howard Rugg the craftsman who made this dulcimer said he guesses its from 1969-71 when he just opened his shop in Felton, CA. He said it was made before guitar machine tuners. It is mahogany plywood body, solid wood fingerboard and tailpiece with violin tuners.
He said he and his brother designed this dulcimer and his brother made the jigs. Howard assembled, trimmed, sanded, and finished them. The crew would polish, string up and ship them. He also said the plywood sounds great! Also, that this dulcimer is a very early model.
Inside the sound hole you can see an ink stamp and not a paper label. It reads CapriTaurus Dulcimer made in Felton, California. It has round sound holes verses hearts.
Any thoughts or suggestions playing this type of dulcimer?
What are some different tunings that would sound nice?
Any other thoughts or knowledge about this dulcimer or CapriTaurus maker?
Thank you for your replies.
Kevin
Hello:
I’m trying to upload photos taken with my iPhone 10. I keep getting an error message that says my photos are too large, maximum is 2.0. I’m not sure how to reduce the size of my photos. Any suggestions using an iPhone to take photos.
Thank you for your reply.
Kevin
Friends, The Mountain Minor movie folks have released a soundtrack. I'm thinking about ordering a copy of both the movie and the soundtrack.
I just started working on the Irish jig "The Gander in the Pratie Hole." It's an interesting tune because the A part is in D major but the B part is in D mixolydian. So the first part has C# and the second part has C natural.
Exactly right. Those bits are designed to work in a multitude of situations.
Ken,
Thank you for the detailed description on setting the bridge/nut height.
There is a lot of excess material on the new bridge so it make take me some time to get it sanded down. I'm guessing that they make them so big as different instruments may have deeper bridge slots?
After you trim the nut/bridge to length and slot fit, you're ready for The Nickel & Dime Action Adjustment! You'll need: strings, a nickel, a dime, more of that sandpaper 60 grit and maybe 100 grit, and a hard-flat surface to sand on,
1. Put the Nut and bridge in place.
2. Put the strings on tight, but not tightened all the way to pitch tuned.
3. Set the Dime next to the 1st fret; notice how large the gap is on both sides.
4. Balance the Nickel on top of the 7th fret (not the 6+ fret) and notice the gap there as well.
5. Slack the strings enough to slide the Nut out of its slot.
6. Place some 60 grit sandpaper on your hard surface, grit up
7. Sand a dozen or 20 strokes off of the bottom of the Nut.
8. Slide the nut back into place and re-tighten the strings. Notice the gap.
9. Repeat Steps 5-8 until the strings are almost touching the surface of the dime.
Now it's time to work the Bridge end of things.
1. Slack the strings and slide the Bridge out of its slot.
2. Sand a dozen or 20 strokes off of the bottom of the Bridge.
3. Slide the bridge back in place and tighten the strings.
4. Balance the Nickel on top of the 7th fret and check the gap.
5. Rinse & repeat until the strings are just touching the nickel on top of the 7th fret
6. Now that the Bridge is lowered, you can go back, if you want, to the Nut
and lower the strings a tiny bit more using some 100 grit sandpaper, if you want,,,
This is not the absolute lowest Action height you can have, but it's a good place to start.
Parts from Folkcraft arrived today. After much sanding I got the bridge piece into the slot. The bridge is about 1/4 inch longer than the slot so I'll need to find a way to trim that part off. Next, someone previously mentioned setting the bridge height. I'm guessing that I'll want the strings set pretty close to the fret board so they don't have to be pressed to hard. I'm ready for your advice folks!
While I am pondering bridge height, should it be similar to the nut height? I test fit one string and it seems to be much higher at the bridge than the nut.
Mike
Dusty it makes me very happy to hear this wonderful news about your wife's new job. Yaaaaaaay!! 
That is great news! We've been tucked away working from home since March...with Waldo the Parrot and Sonja the Cockatiel. It is unclear if--or when--we will return to outside office lives. Fine with me...
Just by chance several weeks ago, before my friend sent me the link to this dulcimer sale, I had started gathering information on A.W. Jeffreys for my Today In Mountain Dulcimer History posts but never completed it. This got me jump started. In fact today I traded several emails with Jeffreys' daughter, Jan. I'm still tweaking this but this is what I have so far:
A.W. (Alois Waldo) Jeffreys, Jr. was born in 1923 in South Hill, Virginia to a tobacco farmer/auctioneer.
A.W. Jeffreys was a Naval pilot during WWII. In 1946 he was in the naval pilot's group that was the fore-runner to today's Blue Angels, then known as the Flight Exhibition Team.
After his Naval career he was a clinical psychologist. He was Chief Psychologist at Western State Hospital at Staunton, Virginia for 33 years.
According to his daughter Jeffreys became interested in dulcimers after observing local folk playing them in the mountains of Virginia where he lived. He made his first dulcimer in 1956.
About 1960 he started the Appalachian Dulcimer Company in Staunton, it was a family business. His wife ran the business side and she and the kids, Jay and Jan, helped A.W. with various aspects of the business and building dulcimers.
Jeffreys built both 3 string and 4 string instruments, but preferred 3 strings, in walnut, cherry or butternut with either heart or diamond shaped sound holes. With each dulcimer came an instruction book, which he wrote, a cloth bag, a hand cut pick, and an optional LP record made by his friend, Paul Clayton.
In the mid-1970s A.W. and his wife took over all the work when Jay and Jan left home. The business wound down sometime in the late 1980's. It is estimated that over 3000 dulcimers were made. Sometime in the 1980's Jeffreys donated much of his dulcimer collection to the Smithsonian Institute.
Jan told me her dad played the dulcimer very little as he was more of a vocalist. But the song she remembers the most was "Go tell Aunt Rhody".
A.W. Jeffreys died 29 January 1992.
A little bit of good news for us. My wife is getting a new job that will allow her to work entirely from home. Her current job only lets her work from home two days a week, and since I work from home and our daughter is doing high school virtually, my wife's job was the only exception to our otherwise tight, COVID-free lives. She requested on numerous occasions to work from home, citing the number of people in the building who had been infected and complaining that too many co-workers were not following proper protocols, but they only gave her two days. So she's leaving. And getting a promotion, too. Probably the happiest member of our family will be the dog, who will soon have the whole pack home every day, the way he thinks it ought to be.
