Forum Activity for @strumelia

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Greetings FOTMD friends!   

This is a gentle reminder about the cost of keeping this site up and running for over fifteen years now.

There have been very few donations during this past year.  I'm sure it's because folks were busy traveling during the Summer and Fall, or just rising prices of all things creating issues for everyone...    But I must continue paying server and hosting fees every month regardless, and the dwindling rate of donations is often not enough to pay the site bills.

Please read the below posts on various ways you can help, and thank you for finding it in your heart to help keep our site running.  

Looking fo a NH Pudge Pro

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

Good evening, sorry for the late reply. 

What is the asking price please? 

TiA

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Sorry for the bad link. Thanks for correcting it. I actually think the calculator at the UK address is far more interesting to play with. I just rechecked that link and it's still good.

Folkcraft dulcimer,1993, pristine condition, new soft case.

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

I am selling a beautiful dulcimer hand made in Connecticut by Folkcraft in 1993, in outstanding pristine condition (please see photos). Scale length is 27 inches. Total length of the instrument is 41 inches. Currently set for DAD tuning with brand new D'Addario 0.12 0.15 0.24 strings. A fourth 0.12 string can be added. The instrument sounds great and it is easy to play with no strings buzz. Folkcraft dulcimers currently retail for over $1,000.00. The instrument comes with a quality brand new T.K. O'Brien case (a value of $65.00) included for free. I am asking for $350.00. Local pick up in Oakland County, Michigan, or shipping to Continental United States with UPS for a flat fee of $35.00. Thanks.

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

The page is

STRING TENSION GUIDE FOR ACOUSTIC GUITAR
It includes equations and the weights and cross-sections for various GHS strings plus a number of tables.
"GHS has used the 25.5” scale length (typical for Fender) in the enclosed guide. Your individual instrument may vary."

This involves more work than I am willing to undertake. I'll stick with the usual "dulcimer strings."

http://www.ghsrep.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/2/5/22258814/2020-ghs-acoustic-guitar-tension.pdf

 

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Sloppy URL citation. This gives access to a relevant document

http://www.ghsrep.weebly.com/uploads/2/2/2/5/22258814/2020-ghs-acoustic-guitar-tension.pdf 

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Patty, something must be missing in the link you provided. I get a 404 error when I click on it. It looks like there might be unnecessary spaces and perhaps something left off the end.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

And here's the response from GHS strings to my questions about tension. I don't have time to read this now, but I hope someone finds it interesting!

http://www.ghsrep.weebly.com/ uploads/2/2/2/5/22258814/2020- ghs-acoustic-guitar-tension. pd

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Greetings! I also sent an email to Bing Futch, whose Patreon group I recently joined, and he responded by posting a link to a string tension calculator that he's used before-- https://chordgen.parmakis.co.uk/tensiontool.php .

He also posted a 15 minute video (to Patreon) about how he uses it and did the example of a 29" dulcimer at DAD. I'm attaching a screen shot of those settings. You start by clicking "show editor" and then all he did was set the tuning to DAD, the octave of each note, the type of string (steel with phosphor bronze winding) and then entered the string sizes he thought he wanted and clicked "calculate tensions". It produced some graphs, and in that case it showed the middle string as having a somewhat lower tension than the other two, so he clicked "equalize" and it changed one string value to bring them more into alignment. He also mentioned that tension in the 20-30lb range were safe and a bit on the light side (for slide, that is) and anything in the 50-60 range was risky as far as breaking. You can also set it for more strings, either single or double, so it's very accommodating to all kinds of string instruments and several kinds of strings. He said he's found it to be useful, and at the least it'll give me a place to start! I encourage you to check out the tool and play with it! I haven't yet, but I wanted to get this up on the forum ASAP.

A stolen Rolling Stones dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks for posting this video, Strumelia. I've seen it before, but never saw the original show as I was in college at the time. Back in the old days we didn't have access to TV in the dorm.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

A stolen Rolling Stones dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

This song popped into my head this morning for some reason. Brian Jones really hit it out of the park with this- terrific playing, syncopation, and vibratto, -and great bass accompaniment. I remember going out of my mind over this as a teenager..

updated by @strumelia: 10/27/24 09:47:08AM

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks all you guys for the tips & ideas. I put in an email to juststrings and even sent a note to Norris Bennett. Fingers crossed!

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi Ken, thanks for your response, that chart might be helpful. It occurred to me that there might be a chart of what gauge strings could be tuned to for different VSL lengths, but so far I haven't found any evidence of one. If I find one I'll report it.

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

I can't find the chart I had either in a computer file or a hard copy. It was something a string maker shared with me. Each manufacturer uses different cores for the various strings they make and none of them (at least that I've been able to find) publish the core sizes, but I'll keep looking. From what I've been able to find as suggestions 0.010 for the first string, 0.012 for the middle, and 0.018 for the bass. You can buy a plain steel bass string.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

updated by @ken-longfield: 10/26/24 02:07:59PM

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

That's what got me excited in the first place! I also just don't want to sell this dulcimer because it's really got a lovely sound, but I just can't handle the the wide frets, and my husband built me a 25" that is great for me. I've always love the sound of slide and I'd love to be able to use it in blues.

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks Ken, for the references and ideas. I will be playing through my 20A Fender most of the time. I will definitely check out Juststrings, I was wondering if anyone made wound versions of the higher strings, I do love the sound and feel of wound strings. Interesting idea about the plain bass too, never heard of that! The bridge & nut idea is interesting too. I figure a good chunk of my problem is that I just need to develop my wrist more, hence the question about bar vs. finger slides.

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi Wally, thanks a lot. I think a .012 was the first increase I tried, and it went snap-TWANG! in short order. I went back to an 11. I'm still low on the learning curve so I'd rather stick to DAD for now. Your middle string comment is interesting, thanks for sharing that.

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

For a 29" VSL you'd be pushing it to get the melody string above a 0.012. You can try a 0.014 or 0.013 but be prepared to it break. The same holds true for the middle string. The 0.024 wound string works because the core is thinner and the winding makes up the thickness. You could use wound strings for the melody and middle. Somewhere I have a chart of what the core of various wound strings are. I'll see if I can find it to make a better suggestion.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Bing Futch has a good 9-year old video - Dulcimerica 273 - "Sliding On The Resonator" - Mountain Dulcimer

His instrument is very much a "non-standard" one.

He suggests, among other things, that you may want increased string height and possibly no frets for slide playing.

Ken's suggestions about trying wound strings look good to me.

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

The onlty slide player I've ever seen was at Cullowee years ago when I was in the Traditional track. One of the teachers -- Norris Bennet --  was a member of the Ebony Hillbillies, the famous black NYC string band.  Slide dulcimer certainly is an interesting sound.  As Wally sez, you can try other gauges but there are scientific reasons why you can only go so thick or thin on string gauges for a particular VSL. 

Something you might want to try is using wound versions of the mid and melody strings, to 'fatten them up' closer to the diameter of the bass.  Juststrings.com sells Phosphor Bronze wound 12 and 14 gauge Acoustic Guitar strings for $4-$8 depending on brand (and string brand is irrelevant).   

Conversely, you can try using a plain steel bass string (we traditional dulcimer players do this all the time to help us get that 'high silvery' tradtional sound.

Also, the bass string notches in the nut & bridge could be filed just a very tiny bit deeper to bring the top of the bass string down just the tiniest bit. 

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

https://www.facebook.com/share/u23bZrSdgkbx3VH4/

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Good luck on your explorations. Please give us some reports since there is little information on slide playing available.

Most slide work seems to have been done with electric or resonator dulcimers, not traditional bodies. These give a much stronger sustain to the notes. Much of this is done with extended string sets, going beyond simple DAD tuning.

My playing is in DAA, and I have no plans to do DAD.

I would say that you will be pushing your luck if you try to make the melody string heavier than an .012 - there are good reasons why we don't find .014 melody strings in the "dulcimer" sets sold, although they might sound better for us DAA folks.

I like a low middle string, tuned below the bass D. I've used an .028 for that, if my memory is correct. That won't work well in DAD because you can't then move to the middle string to get the low A in a melody.

Larry Shore Dulcimer

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

It would have been a nice find anyway, but that label just adds such heartfelt meaning.  I'm sure the dulcimer expresses a father's love for his daughter with every strum.

Larry Shore Dulcimer

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

Yes - I agree... it remains a charming piece of work and was clearly made with love.

I guess it's unlikely I will ever know more!

I'll certainly take care of this one and think of them when I play it, whatever their story was! :-) 

Larry Shore Dulcimer

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

The fact that it is number 5 and made for his daughter makes me think that he was an amateur builder so there probably won't be much information on him.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Larry Shore Dulcimer

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

Thanks for looking, Ken... The label doesn't give much of a clue to the location, but see the file attached. The shop I purchased it from is located in Oneonta, NY, but I have no idea if Larry was local to that location.

String guages for slide dulcimer

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Greetings! I have a 29" Folkcraft that I want to learn to play slide on. Is there anyone here who does that? I'm just starting out (with the slide), and currently have .024, .014, and .012, and it's hard to keep the slide level and I'd like to beef up the middle and melody strings to get a heartier sound, but there appear to be limits to how big you can go and still get a normal DAD tuning. The .024 is fine but the other two feel floppy and don't sound that great. Any suggestions (besides buying lots of gauges to try!) would be greatly appreciated. I won't be using it for anything but slide, so it doesn't matter if it's hard to pick or bend. I just don't want it to snap when I try to tune it! If you do play slide, do you use a tube slide or a bar slide? Thanks!

Larry Shore Dulcimer

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

Sorry Rob, I haven't been able to find any information on Larry Shore as a dulcimer maker. Is there any information on a label inside the dulcimer that would at least give a location where it was made? That could help locate him. Maybe someone else will have better luck.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

updated by @ken-longfield: 10/24/24 11:19:11AM

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Hi Nate, It wasnt rocket science, I drew the parts out in inkscape and sent them to my laser cutter as SVGs. I paid for the butterfly motif STLs to make the sound holes. The parts for the strings, head, bridge etc. were printed on a 3d printer.

Larry Shore Dulcimer

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

I recently purchased this 6-string dulcimer. The label says it was made by Larry Shore in 1982. It's a nice piece of work! 

Has anyone here come across Larry or his work before? I would be fascinated to know anything more about him.

All the best

Rob

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Wow that is seriously cool. How did you manage to get such intricate cuts into the plywood? That must have taken a lot of work to make.

 

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Thanks for the interest and the advice Nate. The dulcimer is made from 3mm ply, hence the painting! I was only unsure about the soundboard as it was too big and clunky, the sound was fine and the sympathetic strings really make things ring out. I have laser cut a new sound board to fit flush as I have seen pictures of other dulcimers which do this. I will post a picture of it but havent fitted it or decorated it yet. I have a gurdy and a nyckelharpa that both benefit from having sympathetic strings so I thought I would try them on a dulcimer and I am peased with the result. Having it fully fretted make it easier to find those "difficult " notes and also to change key either using a capo or fingering the chords differently.  I attach some pictures to show the details, if anyone wants to try I can send the drawings and STL files of the 3d printed parts, i.e. the head, bridge, nut and mount for the sympathetic strings machine head.

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

Sorry to hear that, i have noticed that sometimes having a "false bottom/galax board" or a built in "possum board" can dampen my sound. After several experiments I think a very rigid and thin "false bottom" is best for tone and sustain. I also think that the inside face of the "false bottom" should be coated in something that is "sonically reflective." A hard layer of shellac, polyurethane, or anything else that is super rigid.

Id love to see more pictures, the instrument looks awesome 

Nate

updated by @nate: 10/22/24 06:32:51PM

Differences between two dulcimers

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

I am currently the custodian of two "cardboard dulcimers" which have been used in classes and as loaners for about 20 years. They still play well, although their cases are plastic bags. I used them two weeks ago to demonstrate the difference between C-G-G and D-A-A tuning on identical instruments.

I will emphasize that only the bodies are corrugated cardboard. The sticks are 1x2 lumber, and they have guitar fretwire frets, and regular tuners and strings.

A huge part of the true cost of making "a real dulcimer" is in the sanding-varnishing-sanding-varnishing of the wood body, and this has no effect on the sound.

Introduce Yourself!

General mountain dulcimer or music discussions

 

it is underneath the dulcimer (to stop it being muffled by the knees!). I am not happy with it so I am going to change that.

Differences between two dulcimers

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

 
It's often thick sheets of really stiff paperboard, but some are actual corrugated cardboard. Because the board is very stiff and lightweight, the instruments are shockingly loud and punchy, especially for their price. The box itself will not be durable if you're not careful, but the fingerboard will be good quality, and as Ken mentioned you can simply remove the fingerboard and glue it onto a different box later.
I've seen them in kits that you assemble yourself for as little as 45$, but for under 100, you can find some that look and sound pretty nice.