Forum Activity for @dusty

I have to admit that I'm the opposite: I love changing strings.  New strings look, feel, and sound better than old ones.  On the dulcimer and guitar I use regularly, I change strings about every 3 months.  The other ones might go a year without new strings, but once I pick one up to play and realize how dull-sounding and stiff-feeling they are, I put new strings on right away.  Sometimes I have a little string-changing party and change strings on several instruments at once.

Make sure you have the right equipment: a string winder, a wire cutter, a capo, a tuner.  (If you have one of those scroll heads with the closed back, you might also need some needle-nose plyers.)  It takes 5 minutes to change 3 strings, and then for several months you get to enjoy the bright tone and soft feeling of the new strings.

Strings last longer if you keep your instruments in cases. If you hang them on the wall or on stands, as I tend to do, the oxidization process speeds up. 

Strumelia, I had to laugh at what you said about changing strings.  I absolutely HATE changing strings!  I don't know why find it so tedious to do, especially when one has so many instruments. So, like you, I do it only when it can't be avoided any longer - like when I can see the rust on the strings and they sound totally dead.  I think with guitars, because it takes so long before the strings settle down and stop going out of tune right away. Annoying!  Dulcimers hold tuning so much longer!

Maddie and NateBuilds Toys,

it’s taken years to find the strings that I like best and suits my playing, but when I did I shopped around and bought them five and ten sets at a time.  Strumelia, I also found trying to change the strings on a large number of instruments at once is overwhelming. So I do one or two instruments a week until they are all done.  Guitar strings wear way quicker than dulcimer strings due to the high tension.  For me that could take a year.  

Susie,

haha, yes, I have owned so many instruments in my lifetime but what fun it has been.  

I don't feel so bad about my "collection " any more.

That sounds like a dangerous thing, to have a family owned music store. But, oh so much fun!

My Keith Young is a great player too!  I also have five Ukuleles that are a lot of fun.  My banjos are a five string and a four string that I’ve strung up with nylgut strings.  I play it the most in Chicago tuning, just like a big ukulele.

For the past 25 years I have had two mtn dulcimers that are good players- my Keith Young maple teardrop, and my cherry Galax by Ben Seymour. I have a finicky old kit dulcimer someone gave me from their closet yrs ago, but I don't play that one. So I consider I have two mountain dulcimers.
But I also have two epinettes, a langspil, and a hummel, which are all dulcimer-like instruments. It feels pretty well rounded. My wallet has kept me in line a little over the years. I have 8 banjos last i counted. Each one is very different from the other, for example my gourd banjo.

@steve-c so cool.... but all I can say is  

@maddie-myers , one day years ago, i got it into my head to change the strings on seven of my banjos at once. 35 strings, took hours. I don't know why i did such a crazy thing, but i vowed Never Again.   I'm normally pretty cheap about strings and only change them once in a while, not 'regularly'. The only strings I actually notice that 'die' over time are wound strings. The great Margaret Barry once said that in hard times she stripped wire from window screens to string her banjo with.

I’ve always had too many dulcimers, it’s now a lifestyle! I’m living the dulcimer life.  Besides owning 35+ historical dulcimers, I own 3 Blue Lions, a McCafferty, John Stockard, Bella Dulcimer, 3 Folkcraft, Clemmer Banjammer, Keith Young, Ron Gibson, 2 Ron Ewings and a host of guitars, harps, grandpa’s Sax, psaltry, plus many more. It can’t be helped my father owned a music store when I was growing up.

Thanks, Dusty.  Yeah, I didn't expect it to sound great but I'll be traveling in the US and won't have access to my regular amps at home in Oz.  I'll be dying to try out my new baritone - as better than nothing

Maddie, you will not harm either your baritone dulcimer or your bass amp.  The sound would likely be OK but not great.  Remember that the low string on a standard guitar is lower than the low string on your baritone, so normal guitar amps can handle a baritone dulcimer with no problem.

Yeah, I'm a little out of control with dulcimers and a few other things with strings: I have a standard McSpadden, McCafferty, Keith Young, 5-string Homer Ledford, a Clemmer Banjammer, and a huge standard I made from a kit (I call it The Boat). It doesn't yet know if it's a boat, standard, baritone or a bass. I have a McCafferty baritone on order to collect next month in the States.  My other noisemakers are 3 banjos, 3 guitars, waaay too many harmonicas, a panflute, and an electric bass I'm giving to my grandson who wants to play in the school jazz band. I gave my Native American flute to my son who cast covetous glances at it.  Just a final thought:  How come nobody ever comments on how much money it costs to keep all these babies in fresh strings !?!  

Can I plug my baritone dulcimer into a bass amp with no ill effects and will the sound be ok?

Thanks, Maddie

Thanks everybody I think you're right I should just leave well enough alone if the instrument plays fine, I have no issues with the way it sounds at all, And it sounds really good. I think I'm just getting caught up in all this technical stuff, one of the drawbacks to YouTube I guess. Thanks Nate and Ken

I am not sure about the "one size" anecdote, but dramatically changing string size will dramatically change intonation. In the past, when I have already installed a fixed bridge, and it is only off by a couple cents, I will sometimes file a slot or two slightly deeper to adjust it. Not my favorite solution, but it shouldn't affect playability very much. For that reason, I recommend taking a tuner and fretting each note to see if the instrument is well intonated. If all the notes are in tune, I'd say leave it alone. If they're not, then it may be fair to assume that the strings are at different heights due to imprecision.
Nate

I've never heard that about not going up/down one string size once you set the action.    I suppose it's possible to adjust intonation by having the strings at different heights, but certainly is not a common technique.  Normally, folks who worry about intonation (not all of us by any stretch) adjust the angle at which the bridge sets to the strings -- usually the bass end of the bridge is something like 1/16" to 1/8" farther down the fretboard than the melody end  rather than exactly 90 degrees to the line of the strings.

Gotta remember that the dulcimer is still a folk instrument.  People keep trying to apply fancy orchestral instrument "tweaks" to an instrument never intended for such things.

Hey thanks Nate. It does have a fixed bridge. Is that why I have heard that one should only go up or down one size string size

once you sent the action?

I would recommend checking the frets with a tuner before making any alterations. It may be the case that the strings are set at different heights to accommodate their location on an installed bridge. There may be very small variations in the bridge that are actually adjustments made for intonation.
Nate

This new solid-poplar Tennessee music box is offered for sale.  This is a replica of heavy, primitive dulcimers produced just after the Civil War in south-central Tennessee.  David Schnaufer was crazy about these things and made a video of several old ones, and collaborated on an article about them and their history. You can read more and see a video on my website of a guy playing one with a violin bow!  knopfdulcimers.com

The list price for these is $375, but I'll sell it to you for $300 plus shipping.  How's that?

 TMB 8_24 A.JPG - 62KB

Thanks for getting back to me I was just curious.  About a year ago well not quite a year ago I bought a folk roots instrument from Folkcraft. My friend just loaned me his StewMac digital string gauge that he had and I decided to check the action on the instrument that I got from  folkcraft Just out of curiosity not knowing any difference whether it was right or wrong looks like the melody string was set at .028, The middle string was set at 0.31, And the base string was set at .016. Since they Folkcraft are professionals I was curious was that a correct setting or should they all be set at one uniformed distance. so I'm guessing they're setting was way off thanks for all the feedback. Guess I'll try the Nickel Dime trick 

In all my 50+ years of playing dulcimer, I've never seen anyone set the action at different heights from melody to bass.  I always set my action height as Nickel & Dime -- a nickel thickness above the fretboard at the first fret, and a dime thickness above the 7th fret.  

That would be preferable in my view.

Hi kids just a question about string action I noticed there was something about action in The Forum but I didn't see anything addressing my question of uninformative for lack of a better

Word.  Also I know that it's all a matter of personal taste. Some people like white wine, some people like red wine. Hopefully this makes some sense. Let us say hypothetically at the 1st fret you set the action of the bottom of the melody string at let's say .020 now. Should you also set the middle string and the bass string at .020  as well ? So the action is uniformed across all three strings at the first fret.

I am asked this question a lot because I've posted videos over the years using several different dulcimers, many of which I've parted with, usually to help defray the costs of a new instrument.  And I never like to answer because it involves admitting how many instruments I've accumulated.

4 standard dulcimers: McCafferty, Stephens Lutherie (w/nylon-strings), Modern Mountain Dulcimer, Blue Lion 1C

1 baritone dulcimer: Rick Probst (built as a standard, but I've strung it as a baritone for several years)

2 octave dulcimers: David Beede & Ron Ewing

1 "baritone dulcimette" by Ron Ewing

Don't get me started on my guitars, ukulele, mandolin, autoharp . . .

Thank you! I’ve been around for a few years, but I think this is the first time I have ever posted. I have had a few other dulcimers, but I  try to keep it at no more than three at a time. When I get a new one I will usually sell one of the others. 

Welcome to the forum!

Nice...."at the moment"? Sounds like plans to expand. 😉 

Your dulcimer display looks amazing!  And the nails don't look too noticeable at all.  I love your idea of showing the Story of the Dulcimer.  Super use of your dulcimers for a display instead of  hidden in cases.

That display looks beautiful!

Is it you getting married?- a big congratulations to you!!  

I think I saw that listing recently online a few days ago. It is a 4 stringed, flat headstock, black walnut sides and back with a redwood top (soundboard). The F should be an E for ebony which would be the fretboard wood. That sounds like a great combination. The owner should know what the model number means. Let me know if you decide to purchase. McSpadden makes great dulcimers. That model is a longer VSL which is 28.5.”

Hi all! I've found a listing for a McSpadden dulcimer near me, but I'm not sure what the model means. It's a McSpadden 4FHWR-F - 2009.

Can anyone assist?

I neglected to mention that the current (Summer 2024) issue of Dulcimer Players News has several pages (46-50 inclusive) on hammered dulcimers that I wrote -- most of it in 1969-70, but a little of it is new (and a little is not by me).  Kind of off-topic, but I haven't posted much here, recently, and I know many FOTMD members also read DPN.

I think Homer would be proud....And I didn't know congradtulations were in order too! Well done my good fellow!

In the interest of closure I'll post a photo of what I wanted to do, and ended up doing.  It isn't quite as secure or "finished" as I had hoped, but I had a deadline of Aug. 10th (getting married, in our "great room," or whatever the Arts & Crafts style calls a living room with an excessively high ceiling).  I ended up putting them on a blank wall over a sofa, rather than over one of the doorways.  If one happens to slip off before I have their mounts better secured, it will only fall about two feet, onto pillows.  The story I wanted to illustrate was the evolution of the German-American zitter (scheitholt, hummel) into the "hourglass" form of the mountain dulcimer.  And I illustrated it with good examples I've collected since 1963 when I bought my first one, new, from Homer Ledford.  I've called this fanned display of five instruments "Darwin's Dulcimers."

The unobtrusive mechanism I used for this display included a long nail set into the drywall, painted the same color as the wall; a clear vinyl loop made for attaching ID (such as a laminated business card) to the handle of a suitcase, or instrument case; and for the four instruments that lean inward at the bottom (to create the fan shape), a 3/16 inch dowel long enough to hold in the drywall, and to extend outward far enough to prevent the tail from returning to a vertical hanging position.

I was reasonably satisfied with the result, and several of the two dozen wedding guests were complimentary.  I think only one is a dulcimist, and one (besides me) a folklorist.  But many of the rest are musicians, and otherwise artistic folk.  It was anyway a friendly and forgiving bunch, and we had fun.  Party is over, the dulcimers live here and will stay up a while.

 Darwin's Dulcimers.jpeg - 303KB

I have two McSpaddens and one New Harmony Pudge Pro, at the moment. 

Just found this on that wonderful invention YouTube. a tapping techique on a dulcimer. Not really sure how to use it in a tune. but that what improvisation is for. Have fun Kids

It kinda makes sense to me that many of the 'traditional style' modern built dulcimers would fare better in bad weather, because they tend to be more slender and often made with slightly thicker wood and hardwood. As you get into instruments with larger soundboxes and thinner walls, i'd think the wood would be more affected by heat or dampness.  KenH- good point about the zither pin tuners.

@Nate , speaking of polyurethane... when i was attending early banjo/reenactment banjo gatherings, most of us played fretless 1800s-style repro banjos, with real calfskin heads that are very thin and large diameter. Those heads really reacted and stretched/sagged with the heat and humidity. One good trick we used beforehand was to lightly spray two coats of old fashioned Aquanet hair spray on both sides of the calfskin. That particular hairspray was very good at sealing out moisture- they didn't call it aqua-net for nothin'!  hahah  It made the thin calfskin much more stable in fluctuating weather conditions. 

I prefer hard woods for nuts and bridges -- the harder the better -- Lignum vitae, Snakewood, Ebony for exotics, Madrone, Osage Orange, Blue Beech, for American hardwoods.

My "adverse conditions" are usually heat, humidity and salt air.  My go-to instrument(s) are my traditional dulcemores with auto-harp tuning pegs rather than wooden pegs.