kerry anderson made beautiful and unusual sound holes. no surprize her background was art and costume design.
she is a friend and advertized my books and cd's on her website for years. would love to see her back
Bleeding or Weeping Hearts are also found on many tomahawk blades, as well as Pennsylvania/Kentucky longrifles. As someone said there are as many folk tales about what that means as there are tomahawks and long rifles. A "bleeding heart" is, of course, someone who is considered too sentimental or liberal in dealing with social situations.
There is some indication that prior to the 14th century the heart as a geometric shape represented not the heart of sentimentality, but rather the shape of the Linden leaf, which was held by Germanic/Scandinavian mythology to be a source of magical power, or any number of other plant references. Only in the 15th century does the heart geometric shape begin to represent love, sentimentality, and other Christian ideals.
Bob, your dulcimers are indeed beautiful. I like that heart inlay in the end block. And I've always been in awe of the delicate work evidenced in nice rosette. How pretty!
bob,
Your dulcimer you are working on is beautiful. Since you mention ( Weeping Heart motifs ) in this site, I was wondering if you knew what the meaning could be for them.
Yes, this is a nice discussion & I am so glad it has started back up. I have several dulcimers with different sound holes but my latest is a San Carrell '84 'fiddleside' with the weeping heart, or crying heart. At the moment I have it tuned to DAAA & is a bit sadder than maybe DAdd would be. I understand Carrell returned to Fla to help his ill parents in '84 & maybe only made a few dulcimers after that, could the weeping Hearts be because he was leaving TN?
Hey, congrats Rob! Very cool.
Congratulations Rob! How does it feel to be famous? 
Its always so interesting to see the many creative designs and elements used for dulcimer sound-holes. There are some true beauties on display on this thread that sparked my design interests with the creativity and artistry of these unique elements.
I always have liked the traditional Heart and Weeping Heart motifs and used them on the few dulcimers I have made, including my recent March's Dulcimer. Also beautiful are the various Rosettes that are on many dulcimers. I have used them in my April and May Dulcimer (as well as soon completed June's Dulcimer), tinting some with a splash of color for a nice effect.
This is a wonderful discussion!!
This is a cool discussion topic in which I participated back when I was a newbie, could barely play a few tunes, and only had one dulcimer. Ah, those simple days of yore! I still have that first dulcimer, by the way.
My most recent purchase is a McCafferty dulcimer. The inlay on the fretboard centers on the fifth fret with a wolf silhouetted against a full moon. And then for position markers (on frets 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, 12) there are little stars positioned in such a way as to appear random but still mark the appropriate frets. The four soundholes are quarter moons, with one little star, as you see in this picture. My daughter insists that only one name is appropriate for this dulcimer: Luna. So be it.
John.... it was taken when we 1st started playing. The 5s and 10s of the madding crowd showed up a little later.
Dulcinina.... I think it's probably just because we're a funny looking bunch.
Ken... Oh the price of fame!
DT.... We'll always keep the common folk in our hearts and minds. 
Seriously, thank you for your kind comments.
dusty,
Thanks, I wrote a message to Pristine2's homepage. Will see if he answers, several older messages, I didn't see where he answered so not sure. Hope is is well.
I place a call to Clemmer's shop, Wood N Strings. They are busy right now but when they have a minute will call me back. I will post what I find out but I like your idea of symbolic meanings of the different sound holes from ( "tall tale tellers" at FOTMD!)
marg, here is Pristine2's homepage here at FOTMD. He clearly has not been active recently.
As you can see from the ED discussion, even the explanations for the hearts differ among different luthiers, and those explanations may indeed be particular to those individuals rather than representing some broad folk tradition. My uncle makes autoharps with a dog footprint as the soundhole. Why? Because the autoharp is man's best friend? Because music has left its imprint on his soul? No. Because he likes dogs. According to Ralph Lee Smith, Homer Ledford began making dulcimers with diamond-shaped soundholes for two reasons: to be different than other luthiers who were using hearts, and because they were easier to cut with a simple chisel. Practical, rather than symbolic reasons. But he received so many requests for hearts that he went back to making hearts instead (see Appalachian Dulcimer Traditions , 2nd edition, page 116).
It would be nice to find some interesting symbolic meaning to the trailing hearts, but it might be that we have to make something up. If that's the case, don't worry; we have enough "tall tale tellers" at FOTMD!
I had put Pristine2 in under member search & he didn't pop up. I remember he was a member awhile back.
Some post on hearts, & up-side down ones & what is a traditional sound hole, seems there should be some meaning to what design is chosen either by the builder or the person who is ordering one - especially if the design denotes something sad, like weeping or crying. If a 'cigar sometimes is just a cigar' I would rather think the design is just a combination of f-holes & hearts.
Sounds like you have been having high temp's out in CA, stay cool - summer is here
Cool! Now that your famous, don't forget us little people who knew back when . . .
marg, Pristine2 is a member here as well, though he is not as active as he used to be. You might consider contacting him to see if he has any information.
As an old psychology professor used to say, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I think those weeping hearts look really cool. Maybe that's all there is to it.
That's great! Enjoy the fame.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Gorilla Super Glue is what I had around the house, so that's what I used & clamp it.
The leather works just like if you were to wrap a piece of elec. tape around your thumb but the leather is more of a padding for the thumb with no stickiness.
Check out ken's post below, he gives a number of ideas you could try. I like my thumb to still be like a thumb so, I like the softness of leather vs. something hard in using my thumb to slide. I tried a thumb pick also, didn't like/didn't work
A sharp-looking group. But where are the madding crowds thronged around to listen?
Their loss, I guess.
Marge, what kind of glue are you using on the leather? Post a picture of your leather thumb slide if you can. I tried a thumb pick for a slide but wasn't satisfied. So far, my old finger works the best. dulcinina
Of all the activities mentioned, you're the ones who had the picture in the paper. Always good to be recognized and appreciated.
Old Time Music on the Front Page
The Morgantown paper must have had to fill up space Friday. They put us on the front page.
dusty,
I saw on a everythingdulcimer post 11/2008, pristine2 (when he came over) was going to pick up a carrell teardrop that has the same soundholes & stretched out head piece as my fiddleback. I wonder if he was able to get any info on it?
Interesting, I was just watching an old video he did on adjusting a bridge
dusty,
Both interesting discussions, I am surprise there isn't a book or something about the meanings of the different soundholes.
thanks
I can't answer your question, Marg, about the meaning behind the weeping or bleeding hearts. Someone asked that same question a few year ago on Everything Dulcimer and got no answer.
But I thought you might be interested in this discussion a few years back about the different sound holes on peoples' dulcimers. I joined that discussion when I only had one dulcimer. I think I'll have to post again since I now have several and several others have passed through my hands.
If we go back 30+ years, there wasn't as many sound hole designs as now - does anyone know
the meaning behind 'weeping hearts', 'trailing hearts' or 'crying hearts'?
When was this sound hold started & is it just the combination of traditional heart & traditional f-hole?
Some builders have a signature sound holes, has anyone done a study of who has or had what designs?
Is the photo attached (Sam Carrell, 1984) sound holes 'weeping hearts', 'trailing hearts' or just a combination of heart & f- hold?
Any ideas?
Love the idea of your stone pick, looks like a worry stone they had years ago. Rubbing it when you are not playing with it, should shine it up or smooth it out more. I also had picked up a stone I was hoping to use as a pick but it is just a little too thick.
I have lots of interesting noters I have either made or found around the house that work really well, only wish I could put them to good use.
I enjoy thinking of new ideas in making things work, keeping learning the dulcimer adventure exciting.
ken,
After playing around with different ways to fasten the leather for my thumb, I have ended up glueing it & that keeps it more an even thickness all around. I'm working on my 3rd attempt of this design & even with it not yet right, it is working fine. I can use my thumb to slide or cord or hit middle or bass strings without feeling like I am filing my nail off. Works a lot like the elec. tape I would use but more pading & not sticky.
Working great, thanks
Wow! Great advice here- thank you everyone. I can see why people need more than one dulcimer 
Great advice from everyone. Trevor mentions he will be fingerpicking, so yes, good to have equidistant strings! Id like to mention though that for Noter players, it can make more sense to remove the inner of the melody pair instead. That creates a bit of extra space to allow the tip of the Noter to avoid hitting the middle string as it slides up and down. In fact, when I have custom instruments made, I always ask for a bit of extra space between the melody string(s) and the middle string. I thought this was worth mentioning even though it does not apply in Trevors instance here. 
And, of course, if you try removing the outer string and don't like the feel of it, you can always put a new one back on and see how you like it with the inner string removed.
Patty's right on this, Trevor. You want to keep the three remaining three strings as equidistant as possible. On most dulcimers that will mean you remove the outer string.
Thank you, Patty. That makes sense.
Trevor
The outer string is usually the one most say to remove as the inner string is about the same distance to the middle as the bass is to the middle. I was told to do that by Rob. It worked for me although at first I had a tendency to hit the board.
I'm sure this has been discussed before but I can't find it so apologies for raising it again. My dulcimer has two melody strings. If I wish to remove one, e.g. for fingerpicking, which one should it be - the inner or outer string?
Many thanks
Trevor
ken,
(Think outside the box!)
I can do that, I have tried the thimble or plastic tubing before but don't like the stiffness since I also use my thumb for middle & bass strings but I do like the idea of leather. I can Wrap a strip of smooth thin leather around my thumb like the tape but it's not sticky, I just need to come up with the best way to fasten it. I tried it out this evening & it protects the thumb but leaves me able to cord or hit the middle or bass string. Works like my thumb but it's protected.
thanks so much
Marge -- try a large, deep thimble -- plastic or leather. Or a short section of thin plastic tubing I make archer's Thumb Rings out of wood (they are also made in horn and bone) for shooting a bow Asian style, and there are a wide variety of thumb rings which might be adaptable. Think of your thumb tip as a flattened cone from the tip to the first knuckle. Now look for thumb sized cones... Maybe bakery piping bag tips? A short piece of copper tubing? Think outside the box!
Well the thumb pick really didn't work for how I wanted, so till I get something like an acrylic nail I will stick with elec. tape.
hewalker,
Thank you, sounds like you have a great fellow to invent what you need if can't be found & welcome. Is the photo of your dulcimers, I just got another one & now thinking of how to reorganize them - not a bad problem ;-)
My husband designed and makes my picks-they rest comfortably as a standard pick but swivel out of the way to allow fingerpicking without any skipped beat!
When i used to play chord/melody style (about 100 years ago it seems, lol) I built up a really hard and durable callus on the side of my thumb right next to the nail. It protected everything, even the edge of my nail. Once in a while the outer layer would shed off naturally, but the layers under it quickly rebuilt to take its place.
It's funny how my left hand calluses evolve and change over time depending on what instrument I'm currently playing a lot, and in what style. Since i now play dulcimer type instruments with a noter, I don't get calluses from dulcimer playing. But I get banjo-playing calluses on the tips of my fingers, especially my left middle finger and my left index.
