George, that is a very nice find. If you can close the crack by squeezing the sides, a little CA glue in the crack and clamp across the body should do the trick.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Well, I lucked out and found a 1972 Edd Presnell. Overall decent hape, but on the back there is a crack, I was aware of it but had to have it anyway!
I've done some minor Dulcimer repairs and restoration, no Luthier, but was a custom Goldsmith for many years so have lot's of very fine, detail tools.
Looking for suggestions, method that is best to repair that, I am attaching pictures so you can see it,
Thanks in advance, Was surprised by this find, have seen 3 and 4 string Presnells, own a 3 string, but have never seen a 6 string before..
Thanks all. I did not realize sound and video clips were so easy to find. I had never even thought to look.
Are you smoking Sutliff Buttered Rum?
Are you smoking Sutliff Buttered Rum?
I love coffee & drink my fair share but not 3 cups at night but hope you enjoy yourself, sounds like a grand evening.
(Today we are getting all the screens )
How lovely, many enjoyable times to come.
I think we are in for maybe a lot of rain Saturday but I will step out on the patio no matter what for a few strums than continue back inside.
Richard, David Bennett has posted videos of himself playing his walnut Thomas replica on his page here ("Down in the Valley", "Holy Manna", "Send the Light") , and Robin Clark posted a couple with his poplar Thomas replica on his page, including "Coleman's March". Robin also did some soundtracks with it ("Fly Around My Pretty Little Miss", etc.)
I'm glad to get the update on your porch, Lisa. I was wondering about it. I contacted a couple people about coming over to play but no one can make it. So it will be only me. But I told my dulcimer group today (50 miles away from here) about playing on the porch on Saturday, so I expect some of them will.
During the eclipse I played You Are My Sunshine on the porch. Dulcinina (thinking of changing my handle to Dulcinerd)
Sandi, I just luuuuv that plan you made, especially the table and tea on the sidewalk to pull folks in. 
Lisa, you're going to have a great Saturday out there with your instrument(s)!
I was hoping to get a line-up by time on my porch, but I haven't. I'm just putting out a call to anyone who might come now. We live in the city and plan to put a table out on the sidewalk with some sweet tea and cups, a homemade sign, and an extra chair or two. Our porch is smallish, but we are excited for whatever happens! ~even if it's just us~
You'll be all set for porch-playing, Strumelia!
Today we are getting all the screens and the two screen doors installed on our brand new wonderful back porch!
I've been waiting over 15 years for this back kitchen porch to become a reality instead of just a wishful daydream. 
There are several examples of both in the video and audio pages.
Anyone have a sound clip playing a Dulcimore Dan or John Knopf traditional instrument?
gaelicgirl
Never too late, I hope you continue to enjoy strumming. Good luck with your new dulcimer, the adventure begins
If it were me, I'd cut BIG holes in the sides that will be joined together, and then glue them up; That way the sound can travel from end to end of the body very easily
If I glue several cigar boxes together, do I need to create an opening between them for the sound to move around or just put a hole in the top of them?
The VSL on this is 28 1/2 inches, 2 inch wide fretboard, 3 inch deep body, 12 1/2 wide lower bout, 44 inches overall length.
I have attached a couple pictures of it next to my Edd Presnell 3 string for perspective.
One of my larger ones, but I have several Carl Gotzmer/June Apple dulcimers that are also bigger, The "Cellomer" being 46 inches overall, VSL of 29 inches.
George, can you tell us the scale length of this dulcimer?
Yes, I like the "functional" art aspect too. I am now up to 32, all very playable, a lot with history behind them, all kept in tune, humidified, and played on a rotating basis.
I like different, but need to be playable.
Thanks!!
Well, WOW! I think it sounds great, and I loved listening to you play! I especially liked the last part, but I enjoyed all of it--
I did not think he meant the Blevins. I have 3 (vintage) dulcimers where the fret board goes out past the end and two of them produce cringe-inducing sounds, so I concur with him! Both made by makers with the history of making many instruments, so a person would think they would know better. In all three cases the dulcimers had something else unusual that attracted me--a carved head stock, for instance. Hence I gave myself that mental note about not getting distracted in the future unless I strictly want wall art (which I don't! I like functional art!)!
I agree with Ken about Dulcimers where the fret board extends past the body, I have only one and pretty much never play it.
I don't think he was referring to this Blevin as the Fret board does not extend past.
I have posted a short sound clip so you can hear it, the play is sloppy but not meant to impress. Just wanted whom ever to be able to hear what it sounds like. I may make a more serious attempt later.
By the way, I have it tuned right now to C-G-C
Now I just have to remember that and not get distracted by other pretty details!
FWIW, in 40 years of dulcimers I've seldom seen a good dulcimer where the fretboard extended beyond the body, regardless of how many instruments the builder has made
Thank you so much for your prompt reply, George! Just what I wanted to hear!
And, Ken, I'm just twice shy now because I used that "Well, this is number 217, so the builder must have known by then what he was doing!" logic on a fairly recent purchase online, only to discover that the instrument was well put together but is completely unplayable. But as I write this I am realizing that the instrument I'm talking about does have a fret board that extends off the end, so perhaps warping has robbed it of any good intonation. . . .
Back to the Blevins --I could only find an obituary with a fleeting mention of being a dulcimer maker and one comment on Everything Dulcimer (aside from Dan's comment below). I'd love it if you could post a link if you've found more info. Thanks to you both!
It seems to tune up just fine, I have played it up and down the frets and all sound fine, don't seem to be out of placement to me. I am no expert however, But I know a couple others I have that I can tell as I work up the fret board that start sounding "off".
If you aren't familiar with this Blevin model, It is a very large dulcimer compared to most, which I have always liked.
Bottom line I have no complaints.
I'll see if I open up some time and try to make a sound clip so you can hear it.
linda2 -- a little research shows that Milford Blevins was quite a prolific regional instrument maker from Tennessee who passed away in early 2016. Given the number of instruments he built over the years, I would assume that his instruments were fretted correctly. Mr Blevins was certainly no "one-off" builder who had little Idea of what he was doing!
Cool words when the Eclipse of the Sun tomorrow across the USA. Do Galax leaves have a shape of ellipse? "a closed plane curve generated by a point moving in such a way that the sums of it distances from two fixed points is a constant: a plane section of a right circular cone that is a closed curve".... It's sooooooooo interesting how things are named and where. I love the history of it all. I'll have to read up more on the Galax Dulcimers and their history. aloha, irene
I have a Bob Fletcher dulcimer, which he claims is a copy of the Audrey Hash original , he worked with her and her father for a while. There was a feature article about Bob in the DPN some years ago. The instrument I have (circa 1984) was originally fretted in 'an old style !' but has subsequently been refretted to equal temperament, not by me I would add, and has 'bead' fine tuners. Of course I had to make a couple just to see if they worked....... they did !
JohnH
My first dulcimer was built for me by Lucky Diamond in Silver Springs, MD. on March 10, 1976. I was first exposed to the dulcimer by Kevin Roth in 1975 at a tiny music fest in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where he was performing. I was really taken by the sound and his skill, but I was nervous about talking to him about the dulcimer, since I knew nothing about the instrument. He was nice enough to chat and suggest Diamond Dulcimers. So I called Diamond and I think he sent me some info, but I ended up ordering their 6-string, which I think they referred to as a church dulcimer, since it's loud. It has wooden tuning pegs. I drove to Silver Spring in my old Fiat Spider and it was a house in a residential section. I was expecting a music shop. Anyway, I recall next to nothing about the actual transaction, but it felt like I was there for 5 minutes and was back on the road to Pa. I recall trying to strum it while driving, but it was too large, so I placed in the floor of the passenger seat and leaned it vertically and would occasionally strum the strings on the way home. I was soooo excited. I played it for about 2 years, while working a 40-hour week and attending college. It was my stress relief, with my only instructional materials being what came with the dulcimer and my copy of "In Search of...". My younger brother was trying to be funny and do his Jimmy Page imitation with the dulcimer and snapped the headstock. I was heartbroken. Anyway, I carried the pieces of my dulcimer around for over 35 years until I joined FOTMD and decided see if anyone could help me repair it. First, I did try a local music shop that did repairs, they told me my dulcimer was junk and could not be repaired, and would happily sell me a McSpadden. That made me angry, like someone making fun of your kid. It went downhill from there with me having no intention of leaving my dulcimer with him, even if he could repair it. After some discussion on the builders page, I met Ken Longfield who is relatively local and willing to take a look at my "kid", I mean dulcimer. Ken is fantastic, he repaired my dulcimer and the broken heart from 35+ years ago. I'm so grateful. Anyway, that's my first dulcimer story.
stewart -- the Galax dulcimer is a "special case" of dulcimers designed and built in Virginia. Most of the VA dulcimers were elliptical or slightly teardrop in shape, but did not have the very deep sides and double back of the Galax regional instrument.
The museum instrument dated about 1800 is elliptical, about 1" deep, and perhaps 5-6" wide.
Galax dulcimers are elliptical, tend to be about 3" deep, almost invariably have the signature double back, and are noticeably wider -- 7-8" or thereabouts
That's an interesting story. I met Audrey's father, Albert Hash, when I interviewed for a position at their church. I never met Audrey. Her father made some really nice fiddles. My guess is that "Scottish" is a model name. It would be interesting to know how she arrived at that name. The Hashes, being of German descent (I think), probably would not have identified the dulcimer as a "Scottish" instrument.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
When we say "a dulcimer is tuned to G (or D or C)" what we are most commonly referring to is not the key of the song being played (as Dusty so well explains), but the fact that unlike a chromatic instrument like a guitar, we tune the whole (mostly) diatonic dulcimer to a particular keynote. The keynote of the dulcimer is, under most circumstances and with most tunings, the note that the bass string is tuned to.
The Ginger instruments are designed and built to be pitched up higher -- G rather than D or C. Think of it as a soprano rather than an alto or tenor voice. That's not to say you can't put appropriate strings on it and play in C or B. However, the tiny volume of the body means that the instrument won't resonate as good as possible when tuned down that low.
Interesting. Especially the folklore of the "Scottish" instrument which we know is not accurate -- the British Isles never had a dulcimer-relative instruments until the early 20th century. Virginia is certainly one of earliest dulcimer-producing areas -- there is a dulcimer in a museum there reliably dated to 1800.
Blevin.m4a - 3.8MB
