@Gstringer The instrument is, surely, not "high end" yet it's a great little instrument. The wood itself is light in weight and the color is a stain. Plays well and has a nice timbre. Enjoy your Kern!
EDIT: Yes, Mr Kern's initials and last name are on the back of the headstock, written using some type of electric tool.
A video with the A.R. kern mountain dulcimer
Irene -- can you not click on the words Array mbira in Ballad Gal original post? It's a link...
The image in your Avatar is still the standard FOTMD dulcimer...
However, I went to your page, and the dulcimer is there. Not being able to zoom in and pick up tiny details, I'll say this:
The only time I've seen the forward bout of an hourglass that is longer and wider than the rear bout is when someone assembled a kit dulcimer "backwards". The rear bout is almost invariably wider if not both wider and longer (waist to end) than the forward bout.
The diamond scroll sound holes are nicely done. The antiqued finish also well done. Best guess though is that this is a kit instrument that was accidentally assembled backwards. As long as it plays easily and sounds good, that's what really matters.
On another note, how are things at the Titan Missile Museum? The first time I was down that way it was still active (but we could no have talked about it then).
bought a used dulcimer marked AR Kern on the back of the headstock. I’m using an image of it as my photo. Anyone have info about him/her?
hey hey, folks, I want to see a photo of this marimbulas. Curiosity....aloha, irene
I have a 17 key kalimba....quite enough for me, folks!
Yup -- Arry is the brand -- the maker company. I've made a couple of small kalimbas, but that 5 octave marimbula is really fabulous!
They are also called marimbulas, m'rimbulas, etc. No one seems to spell it the same way. The large ones that I have seen have had a lot less "keys" and were in the bass range. The smaller ones are usually called kalimbas and come in a variety of ranges. This is certainly an Olympic class version. And you are correct, I would hate to fall on it.
The low D is the D below middle C. The A is the A below middle C. The high Ds are the note above middle C. If you do no have access to a keyboard, you can call up these notes on your computer to hear how they sound. This should help get you in the neighborhood. Remember to keep the note sounding as you turn the tuning peg. If your Korg gives the octave of the note you are tuning to the notes are (low to high) D3, A3, D4.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
That's a remarkably pretty sound. I'm pretty sure "Array" is a brand and the instrument is called an mbira. They are sometimes called thumb pianos and usually only have about an octave range. I've never seen one that large before. Pretty cool.
I've never heard of an Array mbira before. Sounds pretty. Looks kind of scary though!
The notes are the letters A through G, then begin again with A. There are some sharps and flats along the way as well.
Depending upon which note you start with, the tuner will show D, then E, then F, then F#, then G, G# and A. Be sure to only turn the tuning peg when the string is vibrating.
Hope this helps.
I recently had an accident with my dulcimer and have had to restring it.
I have a Korg electronic tuner and have the two high D strings in tune. I think the middle A string is low as well as the Bass D string. I am very nervous in tightening these strings as I am afraid of breaking them as I have done before. What is the note progression approaching the Middle A string so I know I am getting close and have not gone too far. The same on the bass D string.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
@Phroederick Paper bags can be a cat favorite, too.
Those eyes through the slit in the box-- perfect! :)
If you're going to spend that much $$$ of a dulcimer, play it before you buy it!
Thanks everyone for your responses. I did the math and it would not save me much money. I just bought the McSpadden in my profile picture and will hold off for now. Dusty, the strings being farther apart and the floating bridge kind of made me rethink it. I want a dulcimer with a 1-1/2 fret down the road and am willing to wait. Again, thanks to Banjimer and Dusty Turtle.
If you've got the opportunity to purchase a Blue Lion at a good price, don't pass it up. Blue Lion is not currently accepting orders. When they do accept orders, the wait can be 6 months to a year or more due to the high demand for their instruments. Incidentally, their instruments have a full-bodied well-rounded sound, somewhat guitar like. Many dulcimer players love them as the quality is top-notch.
Hi @Silverstrings. I have an older Blue Lion I with a cherry body and cedar top. It does indeed have a big, warm sound. I doubt the walnut is much different. Here is an audio recording of my playing Rosin the Beau that shows off the big sound the instrument offers. If you scour my videos and audio clips I'm sure you could find other examples, too, but I didn't have good recording equipment on some of that older stuff.
My only complaint about Blue Lion dulcimers is that the strings are set so far apart from one another. That works great for fingerpicking, when you need your fingers to get in between the strings, but it is hard to flatpick fast with that setup. At one point I talked to Bob and Janita Baker about making me a custom nut and saddle to move the strings closer together, but I never did that. I use the instrument now mainly for fingerpicking and use one of my other dulcimers for flatpicking.
The I model does not have the fancy inlay of the II model, but I have never been able to hear any significant difference between the two. However, the Acoustic Jam model is a standard dulcimer built with the extra large body they use for the baritone, and that one supposedly has more volume.
If you do buy the dulcimer, or even if you ask for a sound sample, be aware that Blue Lion dulcimers have a floating bridge. When I first got mine (used from a noter/drone player) the bridge was not placed right and the intonation was off. It's an easy fix, but you have to be aware that if something sounds "off" it is not a design or build defect.
Does anybody have an opinion about the Blue Lion style 1 with Red Cedar and Walnut? I am wanting a big, warm sound. It also has a 1-1/2 fret that I will need in the future. There is a used one that I am really interested in purchasing. Thanks
Thanks to all for the response. Think it sounds like homeopathy and physical therapy is a good choice, so I’ll try that. Did talk to my orthopedic guy today and he, too, thinks the paraffin therapy to be a good choice. Again, thanks for the advice and your experiences. Now, if anyone knows where they do full body transplants...
If you find anyone doing those body transplants let me know. I've been looking for those for awhile now and having not much luck.
@fiddle, you can always feel free to start a violin thread in our "Adventures with Other Instruments forum, here:
https://fotmd.com/forums/forum/adventures-with-other-instruments
Welcome Lisa @fiddle! Well, we can certainly help you with dulcimer related things, but not many here play violin that I know of. Fiddle and dulcimer do go together well; many of the 20th century changes to the structure and playing styles of the dulcimer came about because folks wanted to play those fast Celtic fiddle tunes...
Hi My name is Lisa. I have played the dulcimer for about 10 years. on and off. I recently purchased a violin. 
Now the problem is trying to get the violin to sound right.. I played the violin in H.S. .... I am just frustrated at my progress. I did play the violin last night in my Dulcimer Group... I will have to learn some more songs...
A neighbor had this done a number of years ago due to his hands becoming quite dysfunctional. As I recall he once told me that the recovery was difficult and not much of a picnic. Perhaps his surgery was more involved than most, however he did end up having a number of proceedures including one where a bone from his big toe was used in one or both his thumbs.
I have a number of large Bansuri flutes that cause me great difficult for a similar reason. When I looked at alternative issues a master player told me that he had similar problems and found that soaking his hands in a parafin bath helped a great deal to keep the inflammation down to a minimum. Perhaps something like that would help.
I fully agree that surgery should be the last of the last possible considerations, and that you should try a variety of other healing modalities for quite some time before letting anyone cut you for any reason. I've seen acupressure, acupuncture, salves, exercises, and other things work "wonders" on things of similar nature.
Okay, I admit I have a love affair with making cigar box guitars and, especially, cigar box ukuleles. I make them and usually give them away to kids in the family or someone with an interest in learning music and not enough coin for a basic instrument. I’m including a picture of a recent uke. It’s my favorite so far, and is concert length.
