On utube look for Gavin Atkin. He's a button accordion player who plays this tune and many others slow. Very easy to learn from his videos..
I discovered my recorded version has a c part that was not part of the original tune. It was added by some Canadian fiddlers, taken from the tune Money Musk... neat huh... Robert...
Actually an HD-4 was spruce and rosewood and should have a pretty good sound. I'd think it would be well worth repairs.
Well, I found a 3rd setting of Reel de Gaspe. Here they are.
I didn't even know my current MD had a name but I looked inside and it is Hondo HD-4 made in Korea and has a date of 1981 on the label. A quick Google confirms it was an inexpensive instrument one step up from a cardboard starter dulcimer and one of the first mass imports of foreign instruments.
The tuners are the type with the screw in the end and I already tighten them and it helped some but they still don't hold long. Seems to have a value of about $25-50.
Changed out my strings today, notice one of the pegs may belong to another hole then the one it's in. It didn't fit in it's hole all the way but works as is. I wasn't ready to take more than one string off at a time, because of the floating bridge. Maybe one day I will swap the bass string peg for the 1st string peg. While the pegs were out, I cleaned them some, and rubbed a pencil on them and a little peg dope.
Tuned up and ready to go. Thanks everyone.
I built my own banjimer. It's fine to play, and not a particular bother to others. If it does bother someone, just play softer. :) You may end up not wanting to play it like a regular MD, there's something about them that leads you to expand your horizons. You don't have to get a 'custom' MD, most all makers have standard models you can choose from.
As far as your current MD, a piece of credit card under the nut [1st] will probably help and let it be more or less playable. Ken gave the fix/trouble shooting on them. It being that old does not necessarily mean it's cheap or poorly made, especially if built by a recognized early builder.
According to thesession.org ( https://thesession.org/tunes/3767) there are 2 different tunes called by this name. I hope to have both of them tabbed tonight or tomorrow. When I do I'll post them both on here, so you can tell me which one is the one you want.
Jim, it seems to me that there are several things to consider here. The repairs to your current dulcimer should not be very expensive. Making a new nut and/or bridge is not difficult. Are the tuners wood, mechanical/metal friction, or planetary? If they have little screws through the button, they can be tightened. You did not mention who made your dulcimer. Knowing this, would aid us in figuring out if it is worth fixing up. It is important to play an instrument with the sound you like. It will make you want to play it more. There are many good luthiers out there who would be happy to make you a custom instrument.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Ban Jammer has a banjo like sound I like. Full custom is probably a lot more money. I would just go with a slightly better quality MD rather than custom, till I was good enough to justify the cost. Ban Jammer is just an idea that I was hoping to discuss to either talk me into or out of the idea.
My current MD has tuners that keep drifting and the nut groves are to deep and that is causing some string buzz. Not sure what it would cost to fix these items (not a instrument repair person). I would end up with a cheap with MD with some upgrades.
Jim...
Any Ban Jammer owners on the forum? I really like the sound of them from online videos and I'm thinking about buying one. Since after years of procrastinating I'm actually starting to try to learn to play again. I have already discovered how cheaply made the Mt. Dulcimer I have had for 30+ years is and before putting money into some upgrades on it, maybe I should just replace it with a better instrument.
Any thoughts? Would I be a distraction in a class of regular Mt. Dulcimers?
Jim...
Thanks for the pictures, Tom. I'm glad to hear you're happy with the pickup. My Myers pickup does not have the soundhole mic; it just works off vibrations from the wood, I guess.
I updated the post. Pics should be there now.
Yes the pick up is Great...just not how to attach it lol....Your photos didn't work though?? but thanks for trying to help. I think I'm going to try what Dusty Suggested!!
thanks!
Maria
This is Fantastic info!
I'm headed to staples!!! thanks so much Dusty!
Maria
I love my Myers pickup. The suction cup didn't work for me either. I don't have a flat space that is big enough, and it doesn't stick all that well anyway. Also, had to work around my soundholes-are-knotholes design.
After several false starts, I settled on removable velcro. I like the decal idea, though, and will try the command strips. The removable velcro itself doesn't come off, but the two parts don't stick to each other very well. The cord to the amp can pull the pickup off.
Sheryl, TKS for your pics. I am currently building new stands (from reclaimed pallets) one for me (dulcimer) and one for my wife (autoharp). Needless to say Sharon already has a plan for the covers. GREAT project for a snowy day
Vicki, Marc is a member here on FOTMD. Go to his page, hit Follow and send him a short message. I'm sure that Marc willl respond quickly unless he is on the road performing.
Thanks to all of you for your help. Marc Mathieu had crossed my mind but I don't know how to contact him. I see a lot of references to him on-line and, of course, u-tubes..........but I don't think he has a website.
Angela -- rather than going to The Dark Side, with a guitar teacher, you should be able to find a Hummel (or is it Homle) teacher there in Holland. The Humle (or is it Hommel) is the Dutch equivalent of the mountain dulcimer -- a fretted zither -- usually played on the table top. Same tunings as the dulcimer, perhaps more drone strings, but played the same. The Dutch instrument is not chorded but rather played either noter & drone or fingerdanced.
Maria,
First, how to remove the suction cup. Yes, you have to unscrew the two little screws to open up the box. Once you get the screws off, carefully open the box, keeping in mind that wires connect the two sides and you don't want to dislodge them. Once it's open you will see that the suction cup screws into a small hex nut. At first I thought that nut was part of the plastic casing, but it is not. I used needle-nosed pliers to start turning the nut, but once it started I was able to unscrew the suction cup by hand. Once you get them detached, put the nut back onto the end of the suction cup post for safekeeping.
Second, no, I did not use the adhesive squares that came with the pickup. I plan to follow Ken H's advice and never leave the pickup attached for too long, so I will need far more than two of whatever I end up using. I experimented with things called removable mounting squares and restickable mounting dots but found the command poster strips got the most volume. I am probably going to try again with even thinner two-sided tape.
Third, when I strum fast, my fingers touch the top of my dulcimer. On my Ewing dulcimette, the cedar top has a clear grain, and my fingers cross that grain, leaving tiny but sometimes noticeable scratches. So I cut a piece of a clear window decal sheet to fit the part of the soundboard where my hand might touch. It is transparent and not always visible, but it offers some little bit of protection. You can see it on this video if you look closely. Look at the the top of the dulcimer near where my hand is strumming and you'll see that part of the dulcimer is shinier than the rest. That is the decal sheet. Yes, you can get it at Staples; in fact that's where I got mine. It is called "Staples repositionable clear window decals" and is intended for you to print pictures and then stick them on windows or mirrors. You can find it in the specialty paper section of the store. You could conceivable just use a square under your microphone, I supposed, and then take it off when you take off the mic. In fact, when you take the adhesive strip off it will pull the decal sheet off with it. I have left the decal sheet on my dulcimer for several months at a time. There is no real adhesive on it, but it can get a little sticky and require some clean-up with a damp sponge. If you never leave it on for more than a week or two you won't even have to do that. I would suggest that anyone concerned with damaging their instrument with puddy or tape should use a small piece of this plastic stuff to protect the surface of their instrument.
Dusty,
I'm really interested in the stuff you are talking about (the plastic) what is it called? We have a "Staples" near me. would they sell it? and are you using the little squares that Greg myers Provides with the pick up or did you buy the command strips?
I actually have found the recorded sound to be quite good. I used it on the last 3 soundcloud videos I did if you want to check it out!
Thanks for the info and also I'm still also trying to figure out how to get the suction cup off. Do you have to unscrew the two screws on the bottom like you would to change the battery? and is there anything inside you actually had to unscrew. I'm sorry I'm just not following as I have opened the back when I first got it to make sure the battery was intact but haven't tried removing the suction cup.
Thanks again
Maria
I was watching a Bing demo and he mention jamkazam https://www.jamkazam.com/ not sure what it's like but sounded like maybe you could get with a dulcimer group for jams over the internet.
Also, Bing has many lessons on video called Dulcimerica , he just did his 300 - all free and you can learn on your time. Here is one on fingerpicking and off to the right you will see many others to choose from. Check them out and have fun:
Stephen Seifert has some free ones and like many others they do offer lessons on line, so you could learn but not with a guitar teacher, or with both
robin,
I have been practicing tuning higher then gently pulling the strings. I do find that easier to getting the string in tune then trying to turn the peg just a slight bit. I can't seem to do slight turn with the pegs - I go to far in one direction than back in the other. But, if I am tuning up I can get close, a bit over and stretch the string to lower it almost just so.
I have not change the strings out yet, I need to get a few extra ones, so for now just practicing. I like the idea of winding the string toward the peg head side and looking at the way the strings are now, they look something like that. I notice the 1st string goes to the second peg & the 2nd string is going to the first peg. They look straight this way, not crossing over each other and wonder if this is ok, I may want to restring them like this.
Someone in my group has an even smaller dulcimer and he has his tuned up, not sure what key but almost has a mandolin sound. At the moment the groundhog is tuned to DAd and I like this sound, I like more mellow sounding dulcimers and Warren May's dulcimers usually have a nice mellow sound.
Thanks for your thoughts, learning as I go. Much to learn but in the past few days this post like so many has been excellent.
By the by, I like the groundhog very much. The action is the best of all my dulcimers, each of the others I needed to adjust the height some. The interesting part of a smaller dulcimer is, I can fret some of the cords I never could reach with my other dulcimers. I'm happy with my baby KY. dulcimer after just visiting my newest baby KY. grandson, it's truly a treasure - or will be after I master the pegs and floating bridge ;)
Skip, I did finally get the suction cup off. What confused me was simply the instructions to open up the mic and unscrew it, but inside there is no screw head. I thought it was screwed directly into the mic box, but eventually realized there was a small hex nut there. Once I loosened the hex nut, the suction cup unscrewed with no problem.
I used one of those command strips and it seems to be working pretty well. I think it is in between the thin double-sided tape and the foam. I'll certainly experiment with other methods of adhering the mic to the dulcimer. Maybe we can continue this thread and report our different results.
I have another suggestion that others might follow, especially if you are afraid of putting tape or puddy directly onto your dulcimer. The top of my Ewing baritone dulcimette is very pretty red cedar, but my over-aggressive strumming sometimes hits the top, so to protect the wood I put on a small piece of plastic. It is cut from repositionable, transparent window decal sheets, which you can find in the specialty paper section of any office supply store. There is no adhesive actually involved, but it works as a simple pick-guard. Right now I have the Myers pickup attached to that rather than directly to wood. I haven't really experimented enough to know if it affects the tone, but it is very thin, so any effect would be minimal, I think.
It would also be nice to do a side-by-side comparison of the Schatten Dualie and the Myers pickups. I like the fact that the Myers has a volume control knob, but the real issue is the sound. Someday I'll buy a Dualie and do the comparison. But if someone beats me to it . . .
Thanks Rob!! I appreciate and enjoyed your information. I will look into that Rodico there is some other stuff I saw for sale on Elderly instruments; Ever hear of this;
http://www.elderly.com/schertler-putty-for-dyn-series-pickups.htm
Marg, it looks like Rodico in a round tin to me. I think it's made in Switzerland, too. If you try it, take a small amount, roll it into a very thin strip and when you're done, you put it back with the rest of it. It lasts "forever."
Ken, you're right the thinner tape is the best to use. I cut it into thin strips so it attaches only to the edges of the pickup. I also take it off when not in use.
DT: I removed the cup just like the instructions given. The only slight problem was moving the innards enough to get to the screw. I'm still working on finding a good way to mount it on my MD's.
Here's a couple of thoughts:
Try and get the string windings going from the middle of the peg towards the thicker peg head side. That way the peg is pulled into the peg holes taper rather than outward.
I tune up a fraction higher than the pitch I want (just a few cents) then gently pull the string to lower the pitch a shade.
The bass string is the hardest to fine tune, so set this first and then tune the other strings to it.
Regarding your short scale groundhog - it may well sound better and be easier to tune with lighter strings tuned up to G (G,d,d) rather than heavier strings tuned down to D (D,A,A)
I made this recording of Gaspe Reel a few years ago in Dadd although I play it today mostly in Daa. I learned mine from listening to fiddle players and is a bit different than the Bill Spence version your thinking of. Although challenging at first its a simple tune and fun to play... Robert...
There are two kinds of double-sided tape -- the one that's like ordinary tanslucent Scotch tape, and the one that is thicker foam with sticky sides. I've used both to hold pick -ups on my dulcimers, and I seem to get a better response using the thin tape. I suspect the foam absorbs some of the vibrations where the thin stuff doesn't.
The "trick" is not to leave the tape/pick-up on the dulcimer for more than a day/evening/session. If you do, it can 'mark' the finish (my OpenMic dulcimer has an oil finish). I don't believe any tape or command strip would be powerful enough to 'break' wood.
dan,
thanks, doing lots of reading and lots come up - just checking
I just picked up (yuk) one of the Myers Pickups, too. The suction cup works on my guitar and my ukulele, which have a shiny, laquer finishes, but not on the two dulcimers I bought if for. Mine came with a couple of squares of double-sided tape and I also bought a few other similar products, but the problem I have is getting the suction cup off. It is screwed in and I can't seem to unscrew it for the life of me. The seller told me to unscrew the two screws that hold the box together and unscrew the suction cup from the inside, but that doesn't seem to work either. I am at a total loss about how to get the suction cup off.
It would be a useful experiment for someone with a few pieces of spare tonewood to test the variety of products that one might use to adhere a pickup temporarily to the wood and see which ones work best. Considering the pickup will be attached to 1/4" instrument cable, it has to be pretty strong, but we don't want anything that will permanently mark an instrument's finish.
http://www.everythingdulcimer.com/discuss/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=27309
Check this out. Best I can do 'fer ya.
Thanks Rob!! I appreciate and enjoyed your information. I will look into that Rodico there is some other stuff I saw for sale on Elderly instruments; Ever hear of this;
http://www.elderly.com/schertler-putty-for-dyn-series-pickups.htm
Thanks Rob!! I appreciate and enjoyed your information. I will look into that Rodico there is some other stuff I saw for sale on Elderly instruments; Ever hear of this;
Don't know anything about that pickup, Maria; I use a Schatten Dualie. When I got it, it came with double sided tape. Still have some; still works. Now it comes with some tacky "stick 'em." They sent me some and it does work good. What I've wanted to try is "Rodico One Touch." I used to work on watches and clocks. That stuff would not mar a porcelain dial on a watch from the 1700's and would hold the gears in place for tricky setting of plates. (Now that probably meant nothing to any of y'all, but trust me, it's cool.) No residue; good and sticky; doesn't take much to work well, doesn't lose it's stickiness. Oh yeah, did you try moistening the suction cup? Seems like I used a suction cup pickup back in the day on a classical guitar. If I remember right, if you push it sideways as you mount it, it forces more of the air out and it stays on longer. I would put it about an inch or two closer to the soundhole of the guitar then as I put it on, I'd also push it back toward the bridge as I was pushing down on the cup. It would quit moving and be pretty close to the right spot most of the time LOL
BTW.........forgot to mention that tab is for Hammered dulcimer.. .but you might be able to tune to DAD and drop the tab number back one and have it put you in the ball park..........so if it says hammer 6, play 5 etc.
http://www.lssds.com/music.shtml
I think there is tab for one version listed on this site.............check it out.................
reel de gaspe.pdf - 76KB
