Forum Activity for @charles-thomas

Thanks everyone! I can see it now! Albert Hoffman!

Neat photo of the trio, Charles! I agree with Robin...it looks to me like Albert (?) Hoffman.

I agree with the Hoffman part. Could be Albert.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings sweet song."

I took a look-- looks like Albert Hoffman to me.  

You've got a great photo, Charles-- a treasure! 

Thanks, Ken! I couldn't make out the first part, but it looked like on the second part a capital S and maybe a T or L and then Affman. It's not a name I recognize from my family, but the mandolin player looks like my brother.

Like John said, i would advise them to let them acclimate to room temperature before opening if they are coming out of a UPS, FedEx, or post office truck. I picked up a ukulele I ordered at the post office this morning and opened it right away when I got home. I reasoned that it had been in the heated post office for about 4 1/2 hours and I carried it to my parked truck (about 30 seconds in the cold) which was warm and drove home (about two minutes) pulled in to the garage. I then walked to the house (about 30 seconds) and then went inside. I placed the box on the table, heated a cup of coffee in the microwave and then opened the package. No problem.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

That's a good looking group of fellows. I couldn't make out writing, so I'll take your word for it. Thanks for sharing this unique find.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

This old photo hangs on my "studio" wall. I found it in an old shoe box of family photos. It looks like it was taken in the 1930's, by a pro ( it's mounted on cardstock with decorative borders ). They look like a bluegrass trio with a fiddle, mandolin and guitar. The only other information is written in pencil on the back. I can't quite make out what it says..."Staffman" maybe? I think it's a cool photo and it inspires me.

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Matt, I mention the following to my customers who buy one of my dulcimers in the wintertime:

I tell them to bring the box into their house, but NOT TO OPEN IT for an hour or so!  I know it's agony to be so close to enjoying a new instrument, but it will be worth it.  There is a real danger of thermal shock occurring if a cold wooden instrument is suddenly subjected to warm temperatures.  I don't know of any breakages so far, but I've experienced the heartbreak of seeing the fine lacquer finish of a Warren May poplar dulcimer CRAZE in front of my eyes when I took it out of its cold box too soon.  It looked like the surface of old china, with fine cracks all over it.   It's difficult to repair the finish.

Two people were kind enough to purchase instruments from my Etsy site during the recent cold snap.  I messaged them that I would hold on shipping until the cold broke as I was concerned that the instruments may become brittle and break in the cold.

This was as much fear as knowledge.

Does anyone have experience with having instruments break during shipping due to cold weather?

Thanks, I did contact him and he wrote back, and shared an interview that had been published. 

@Victorsings, I think I remember reading somewhere that Larry Barringer turned his luthier business over to Terry McCafferty, who is currently making excellent dulcimers out of Houston. You might consider contacting Terry.

Wow, thanks Don! Glad you liked this episode!

I just joined this group. I am a multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter living in Bend, Oregon. I just bought a Larry Barringer dulcimer made in 3/92 for $100 from a local thrift store. It's in beautiful shape and has a flower carved scroll. From what I have been able to gather from searching online, he was a well-known dulcimer luthier based in Texas.

I'm just interested in learning more about him, who he was, his instruments, etc...

Thanks!

Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast - Episode 40
The Orchestral Dulcimer

http://dulcimuse.com/podcast

In this episode we feature Oregon-based composer and conductor Mark Steighner, who has written two concertos for the mountain dulcimer. We’re also featuring Stephen Seifert, who performed both of Mark’s concertos as the dulcimer soloist.

Hearts of the Dulcimer Podcast can be found on most podcast apps.
Here's the link to Hearts of the Dulcimer on iTunes:  http://bit.ly/hotdpodcast

Don't use a podcast app or iTunes? You can listen to all the podcast episodes directly on our website:  http://dulcimuse.com/podcast

We also have a resource page for every episode, where you can find photos, videos, and song lists. Here's the resource page for this episode:  http://dulcimuse.com/podcast/resource/040.html

Hi Barbara. I used a viola case for my baritone dulcimette by Ron Ewing. It is about the same length as a Ginger.  You can see a picture here .  I just cut away the part of the case that holds up the neck.  I didn't do a particularly good job, but the case works really well.  It's small enough to easily fit in the overhead compartment of airplanes and the hardshell case offers peace of mind.

I suggest taking your Ginger into a music store, not a Guitar Center but a store that deals with a variety of instruments such as those that serve school orchestras.  The will have lots of types of cases to check out.

There are also gun cases with customizable foam that could be form fitted around your dulcimer, but TSA would definitely notice those!

I have been playing a McSpadden Ginger for five years, and I love it. It fits my small hands perfectly and has a wonderful sound. When I need to fly with it, a necessity when I go to a festival or event in the "Lower 48,"(I live in Alaska) I am very nervous about guarding it in the overhead bins. I would really like to find a rigid case for it.  I called McSpadden hoping that they would know of a hard-sided case that would fit, but they did not.  I would prefer finding a case that was obviously for a musical instrument in order to avoid endless explanations with the airlines and TSA.  I am also not eager to use a homemade wooden case that would be unwieldy to carry through airports. Somewhere I read that a standard viola case would fit a short-scale mountain dulcimer if the padding inside were modified to a dulcimer shape.  Has anyone else tried this?

If Ken's method does not work, though I suspect it will work very well............I have used mineral spirits dabbed on and allowed to dry on grease stained antiques and other woodworkers have warmed grease spots with a hair dryer and allowed fullers earth also warmed to sit on the spot overnight and absorb the oil residue.

You might try ironing out any remaining cheesiness...  put down a soft cloth or even a double layer of paper towel.  Place it over the spot and iron on medium heat.  that should make any grease rise into the cloth or paper towel.  After that, then tung oil should be the perfect finish.  I finish almost all my instruments with tung oil; I like the satin finish you get after about 4 coats.

Hi, Ken. The spot is about 1/4” in diameter. It’s grease from melted cheese. I sanded most of it out. I plan on using tung oil to finish.

Um... that will actually become rancid. I would suggest not.

How big is the speck? 

What kind of 'kitchen grease" (bacon fat, vegetable oil, butter or margarine, etc)? 

How do you intend to finish the fretboard when you're done -- varnish, tung oil, urethane, boiled linseed oil, etc??

I have a question for you builders. I’m building a dulcimer on my kitchen table and a speck of grease splashed onto my fret board. Is there any way to get a greasy spot off of walnut?

Check out my dulcimers, Light o’ the Moon Dulcimers, at www.dulcimersbymolly.com. I build custom designed dulcimers.

Hi Strumelia and thanks for your comments.

The label has the serial number 81480.  Initially I thought this was rather high, even if you include the hammered dulcimers that Jim Fyhrie made, then wondered if it was the date in US format (not quite the same way round here in the UK).  I managed to track down an email for Jim, now in Arkansas, who kindly responded and confirmed that it was the date for 14th August 1980.

I know my chances of adding to its story are incredibly slim but then again no harm in being optimistic.

What a nice job you did in cleaning and stringing that, Judith!  Looks like it'd be a perfect baritone dulcimer (30"vsl!)

A handsome dulcimer!

I find it interesting that no year date was put on the label.  How did you know it was made in 1980?

I realise that this a long shot but I wondered if anyone had met my latest dulcimer purchase in its 38 year journey from Laguna, California to a charity ship in Keynsham near Bristol , UK.

I took a chance on what seemed to be a somewhat neglected instrument, as it was for a good cause and it would give me a chance to practice my dulcimer maintenance - applying Dr Duck's Ax Wax and Howards Feed 'n Wax and Citrus Oil (as seen in recommendations here on FOTMD) and restringing as a baritone according to Strothers' string guide (thanks to FOTMD contributors again).

After all this, it has turned out to be a rather lovely instrument:

·         mahogany with spruce soundboard

·         30" VSL

·         now set up as four equidistant strings (double melody optional)

·         no 6+ fret

·         IMHO nicely resonant and a joy to play

I know that this one was made by Jim Fyhrie for 'EC Snowden' in August 1980 and it would be lovely to know if anyone here can add any steps to the story of its journey.

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With much patience and care  --  far more than I have.

For what I want to do, staples look to be a good option, if only a little time consuming at first. Thanks for the quick responses! i was at Ron Ewing's house once, and he had a dulcimer with frets under only the melody string, but it was standard fret wire all the way to the edge. Any idea how he might have done that?

Dan's video is "da bomb".  Yes, we use tiny drill bits and sometimes tiny hand drills, but they are readily available and inexpensive.  You have to pre-drill the holes for the staple legs, then bend the staples, and finally tap them into place.  It is simple, but a somewhat lost art, and does take a little practice to get it perfect.

My hummel is fretted similarly:

The purpose is to do normal diatonic playing, while still allowing to be able to reach over and fret an accidental note on the next string over at any time.

Staples are what a lot of the old timers used.  So do some of the new timers.

Historically, there have been some dulcimers, played with the noter-drone style, which had frets under only the melody string. Many other instruments have such partial frets which do not extend across the whole fret board. My question is, how are these installed? I thought I had read somewhere that it should be simple, but I can't find a simple explanation of how to do it. Online I have found some people saying that you can use really small drill bits or dremel bits, but there should be an easier way, if only because luthiers have been making partial frets for hundreds of years. Any input is appreciated. 

Grant

Nice looking cats Strumelia. Thanks for sharing.

Should we start a GOFundMe page for an air mattress for you & Brian?

Brian and I generally get pushed off the edges and have to sleep on the cold hard floor.