Forum Activity for @robin-thompson

Soul-stirring version of Bright Morning Star -- it's nice to sing along, too: 

https://youtu.be/ch-t8UaGMPA?si=LsXdobcdxqOk2bh3

Like Nate said, geee is not a dulcimer tuning. The dulcimer you have was meant to be tuned DAAA, but that doesn't mean it has to be tuned in that way. You can use any of the usual dulcimer tunings if you have the proper strings.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Capewavedancer, on another note, it looks to me like you have happened upon an incredible Bob Mize dulcimer!  The top looks like wormy chestnut, which is rare and wonderful.  Get some new strings on it, and ENJOY!  Congratulations!

Thank for your suggestions. I'll give the new strings a go and see how they sound. Is Geee tuning somehting that anyone plays now?

Olddog75, I saw your second post after I posted my reply. The 0.10 strings should be good for the d strings. For the A string you probably want something more around a 0.013 or 0.014. The bass string may be a little too heavy, but try it. A 0.020 or 0.022 might be better.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Olddog75 has provided good information.  A good source of strings is juststrings.com . You can make up your own sets. If you find that you don't like playing with equidistant strings you can add notches in the nut and bridge to play with a double melody string. The original tuning from the photo is melody string E, first drone E, second drone E, and the bass string G. If you are tuning to ddAD, the melody string will be d, first drone d, second drone A, and the bass string D. If you find the McSpadden set too loose or too tight you can calculate the ideal strings for your dulcimer using the Strother's string calculator but bear in mind that it tends to be a little "light" with it's suggestions. You can probably go up a gauge or two. http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html

I hope this helps you. Let us know how the new strings work.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@olddog75, thank you. Your explanation re: the strings makes sense! My VSL is 26 1/2". Will those gauges in the McSpadden set be OK with the shorter VSL?

I'm relatively new to dulcimers also, I got my first one in the spring of '23.  I'll put my two cents in and tell you some basic info, I'm sure you'll get more posts from more experienced player soon. 

From viewing the photo of the pamphlet, I think that what the maker is telling you is that if you go to s music store to buy ball end guitar strings you should buy 3 high E strings and a G and that is what he originally strung the dulcimer with. He's providing this info so you can get the right thickness of strings for the instrument. I use light gauge strings on my guitars and the high E is .12 and the G is .24. You won't have to do that, though, since you bought a set of dulcimer strings. 

the VSL (Vibrating String Length: the distance form the bridge( toward the bottom of the dulcimer) to the nut (at the top of the neck) is a factor in determining the "best" exact gauge for the dulcimer, though there's plenty of leeway in that regard. The McSpadden  DAdd string set you got is for a VSL of 28 1/2".  If the VSL of your instrument is near that length, they should be good enough.  You wouldn't tune the strings to Geee or Egee, you'd tune them to DAdd. There are many more tunings possible as you will discover, I hope this helps you a little... 

I am brand new to the world of dulcimer and was fortunate to find this beauty at a local estate sale. It has not been played in a long time, but I was able to tune it up somewhat. New strings are on the way! I will have many questions, but my first is re: tuning. It currently has a wound bass string and 3 bare wire strings. The information card states "3 E or 1st, 1 G or 3rd." It has 4 equidistant strings. I have ordered some strings from McSpadden: 

Tuning Key of D Ball End

The wound string in this set has a flat ribbon winding so it has no ridges. 1st-2nd: .010 Plain Steel Ball End; 3rd: .014 Plain Steel Ball End; 4th: .023 Phosphor Bronze Flat Wound Ball End.

Will these strings work on this instrument? What would the string pattern be for the original tuning? EGee? Geee? Can these be tuned DAdd to be able to play with other instruments?

Thank you for sharing your expertise. A new adventure awaits!

 PXL_20240922_132923322.MP.jpg - 316KB

Looks to be in great shape! Nice find!

Nice find. Enjoy playing it.

The condition is so good for an almost fifty-year-old instrument!  Happy strumming! 

Hope some of you find this an interesting story...

I picked this Dulcimer up for £75 (about $100) in Hobgoblin which is a folk music store in London the other day...

They told me the previous owner had purchased it in 1977 at a craft fair and then put it in a cupboard unplayed for almost 50 years until just recently when they took it to the shop to sell.

It was built by Bill Lucy and Roy Woolgrove in the UK in the mid-70s and I guess the strings had been on it since then!! So… it got some new ones today from Newtone Strings (also UK made!). It actually now sounds pretty good - have tried it in both DAA and DAD and it holds a tune well and more importantly seems to be well in-tune! :-)

Thanks to Geoff of the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club for some background info on Lucy and Woolgrove.

Have any of you also come across these makers?

 IMG_7682.jpeg - 270KB

What a nice find, Jim. It's fun to be reacquainted with things you've enjoyed in the past but forgot about. Have fun with harps. I'm not familiar with Sonny Boy Williamson but I'm going to look him up.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I used to have some cassettes of Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee that I just loved listening to.  

In high school, my brother Bob and I shared a room in my parent's basement. We had this picture on the wall for a few years.  It's a photo of one of our musical heroes, Sonny Boy Williamson II whose real name was Rice Miller.

I just found an old cigar box with some slides, capos picks and some harps that I haven't used in ages, but since the reeds all work, I may just give 'em another go.

12-hole harp from Grandpa Charlie

14 hole C harp

10 hole Echo Super Vamper


About 45 years ago, Charlie, my ex-father-in-law gave me one of his 12-hole diatonics.  It's a Marine Band Special in C.  It's very similar to my 10 hole diatonics, except that it has a full lower octave.
When I was in high school, I was a fan of Sonny Boy Williamson II (Rice Miller), who played low pitched harps, so I bought a 14 hole Marine Band in C.  Amazingly, it still works.
I was hitch-hiking in Scotland in the late sixties when my "A" Marine Band crapped out. I went to a music store and asked for a Marine Band in A.  The clerk had no idea what a Marine Band was, so I showed him one of mine.  He said, "Oh, you mean an Echo Super Vamper ."  He showed me an Echo Super Vamper and, except for the top cover plate, it was a Marine Band .  It still works just fine.

Strumelia:Going a bit stir crazy waiting for Spring...
Some of the ones I have now have thrived and grown for years, while others eventually went to the Big Greenhouse in the Sky.
It seems many folks have now discovered or rediscovered the joys of caring for indoor houseplants.
Lately I've been repotting and pruning a couple of my older plants, and purchasing a few new ones as well. It's rewarding and peaceful to take care of some living green things..
Tell us about your favorite houseplants. Add photos if you like too! 

I relate to this! It’s been such a tough year with the pandemic, and the cold weather just adds to the stir craziness. I’ve always kept a few indoor plants, mainly cacti and succulents, mostly because my cats tend to ignore them (thankfully!). Some have been with me for years and are thriving, while others... well, they didn’t make it.

Recently, I’ve found a lot of peace in repotting and pruning my older plants and even treating myself to a couple of new ones. It’s been such a calming activity, especially with everything going on. Something about tending to these little green lives is so rewarding.

Would love to hear about your favourite houseplants! Feel free to share photos too!

Thanks Butch looks like a good resource (Dulcimer players news) I just downloaded the article. OR did I uploaded It, never could figure if I'm downloading or uploading SMILE

I wrote an article about this for DPN a while ago. You can re-read it here. https://archive.org/details/dpn-2007-033-04/page/4/mode/2up

the first half is about mics, the second half is about pickups. The information is still relevant and accurate. Except to say that in the last few years, people have been making better, and more realistic-sounding magnetic pickups. Folkcraft, especially, is doing some stellar stuff these days.

Sorry you had to deal with that, Nate.  It's a shame that some people are just so filled with hate that it blinds them to how outrageous they are acting.  You'll notice that YouTube removed the "dislike" button.  It just served no socially useful purpose.  

I would think anyone watching your videos would be able to appreciate the simple joy in homemade music and experimentation that permeates your building and playing dulcimers.  I can't imagine anyone being upset at that.  But it's obvious this person did not actually watch your videos, instead assuming you were this other guy, who probably also did nothing other than beat them at a poker game or something.

There is a way to report abusive comments on YouTube. Since this person is harassing you by posting in all your videos and clearly thinks you are someone else, you might consider it.

What a terrible thing to have to deal with Nate. At least you know the hate was misdirected, but I can't imagine the sickly feeling when you read the first one. You are handling it well. It is good to be among friends here where you can receive sympathy and support. We've got your back.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well Nate that was long ago, (like 50 years ago)........things were different back then.............just keep on and it will quit sooner or later.

WOW, that's all really terrible to hear. Really glad to hear that you persevered and kept a good spirit. Internet trolls definitely pale in comparison to the kind of real hate that exists out there. If weird comments that have nothing to do with me are the worst it gets, I think I'm getting off pretty lucky as far as internet hate goes.

@robert-schuler I'm glad you found time for playing Kesh Jig on the porch!  

Hope you all had a good porch picking. Although I spent most of the day  corn picking I did find time for a tune on my porch. Each year I  choose a tune to mark the day, this year it's Kesh Jig. It's a very simple tune that's fun to play...Robert 

I got to know the Traums from SingOut magazine. I just dug out 1972 volume 21 no3. If you have that issue there is a great interview of the Traum bros...Robert 

That's the way to prove your point, brother!  Sounds like an old Andy Griffith Show episode, don't it?

Well Nate there's plenty of cracked folk out there and their not just on the internet, though that internet thing does give them a forum to remove all doubt if anyone seems to be questioning their ability to think.  Over the years, folk have hexed me, the Klan vandalized my stuff, tried to through a log through a picture window when I settled some refugee's from Vietnam, slashed my tires. Some witchy types put a couple of spells on me and scratched all sorts of nutty stuff on the church walls, and once tried to fill my driveway with nails.  Point is, don't give up doing what your doing 'cause sooner later they'll find someone else to try to drive crazy.

Frankly, I think what you do is amazing and often times makes my day.......besides your giving that other Nate a break.

I was an invited to  a Baptist Church in my younger day in NC.  One Sunday evening a big controversy broke when a visiting Seminary student played a guitar and a delegation of Deacons had a pure fit, yelling about no Stringed instruments and all that sort of thing.  Well,being a Methodist at the time and finishing up at the Seminary at Wake Forest I got dragged into that hoopla. 

Since they had a Piano up and the platform near a couple of double doors I told those characters they might be right and told them to follow me and waltzed them over to those double doors and told them to hold 'em open and proceeded to push that Piano towards those doors.  Since that would entail Grandma's piano having to survive a 4 ft drop they commenced to yelling stop, what was I doing etc.  I told them Piano's had strings and if they were right it had to go since their point was that stringed instruments were of the Devil  a Piano sure had a bunch of them.  The mess simmered down after that...........on the way out I couldn't help but sort of innocently asked what David's harp used to make music since I was a bit perplexed by the whole situation.  

The Piano stayed and I never did get an answer..........

I'm not much of a historian.

But here in my area a lot of Churches didn't allow music of any kind until the late 80s, early 90s. With the exception of Church of God, Pentecostal Churches and Holiness Churches, the only churches that allowed music had a piano and that's it.

To this day the Primitive Baptist and Old Regular Baptist still don't allow music. 

However, some of the best musicians in the area went to most of the churches that didn't allow music.

For instance: well known bluegrass player and singer named Ralph Stanley was of the Primitive Baptist denomination that doesn't allow music in church.

I personally wouldn't put much stock in the notion that the early dulcimore was played in church very much. Or any instrument for that matter if we're speaking the 1800s in rural Appalachia.

They must be a total weirdo.

More than anything, I find it really funny that someone clicked on a bunch of my videos, and after seeing me a dozen times, still thought I was Nate Pultorak, the middle aged, white, bearded hammered dulcimer player. I guess they were so angry they didn't even glance at the videos?

Agreed, Strumelia! When I see someone that angry and vitriolic I have a lot of pity for them. I'm sorry to hear that someone was that vile to you. Luckily for me this person is just unwell and most of their comments made absolutely no sense, so it doesn't affect me that much. He was saying such extremely specific things that I had to google it to find out who he thought I was.

Thank you for your kind words Robin. I honestly have never received a mean comment on a video, so I was very shocked to see that someone had gone through my videos to leave a mean comment on each one, and I was totally blown away when I realized that this person is very specifically angry at some other dulcimer player named Nate.  

Wow. That's pretty pathetic to leave multiple nasty messages on your videos. It feels icky, but sometimes we just have to say "I'd sure hate to have to BE that person!". I had a nasty online stalker once do that on my YT videos too, and on my blogs. I had to shut down my comment features for a year. I think they must have just shriveled up and blown away by now, it happened quite a few years ago.
I'm glad you have lots of good and positive friends here Nate!

Oh, my lands, Nate!  Like you, I hope the guy finds some peace.  It's hard to imagine anyone seeing anything but goodness on your YT videos of your mountain dulcimer builds.