My friend gave me this pick awhile back. I really hated it, it’s thick, and doesn’t bend at all. Now that I’ve been practicing new techniques I’ve learned from this forum, I’m really starting to like it. Does it look familiar to anyone? It’s equally as thick as a quarter.
( my spare parts box.)
Thanks Ken, the trouble with being new to dulcimer besides not knowing much and stumbling with the notes or strums is we don't have any spare parts. I'm not sure I will get 30 years + as some of you but I will build as many years as I can, learn from all of you and begin to collect spare parts. I'm not sure yet I will need any washers, just that I noticed them in the photos of the Grover pegs on line. I hope to find out soon.
Marg, I was only trying to clarify something. The washers that John talks about go between the wood and the metal parts of the tuner. What I think you are referring to is a small washer that goes between the head of the screw and the top of the button. I think you might have a difficult time finding a washer that small. If you can't find any let me know. I might have some in my spare parts box.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Ken, I am only going by the photos I see on line, the pegs I have don't seem to have any tiny washers.
No worries, I'm just waiting for the replacement knobs to come and trying to learn as much as I can while I wait. All the info I have been getting on pins and knobs and the history of the red stain dulcimer is wonderful. My brain is being stretched with this as my fingers are in practice. I feel each discussion in the forums is a chapter in dulcimer history I am learning.
Thanks so much
Marg, are you talking about a small washer between the hole in the tuner's button and the screw? It would fit in the small indentation just under the head of the screw?
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
There are two flat fiber washers with each peg, which fit between the pegbox and the tuner halves. These are the friction parts, which will eventually wear out. No other material will work properly, as far as I know. The pegs work by squeezing the wood between the parts of the pegs.
(Hondo, made in Korea maybe from the late 70's)
Both (Grover Champion Ukelele pegs & Grover Sta-Tite pegs ) look like they have a little washer in it's parts. Photo of my pegs, I don't seem to have a washer, if it looks like I should have one when my knobs arrive, should I just go to a hardware store and get a rubber one that would fit? Not touching the two remaining pegs, when I went to tune the 3rd peg, that knob cracked. Age has played a number on the plastic buttons.
You guys have been great solving my puzzle. Just waiting now for the knobs to come to see if that will do it.
This simple 'fix' applies as well to this issue: http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/new-site-questions-how-do-i/14547/top-links-not-showing-well-on-mobile
-it's just a matter of flipping yiour device vertical or horizontal, or maybe resizing the content by 'pinching'/expanding.
Mobile devices can be a bit picky. 
All quills flake a little. The translucent, mostly hollow butt of the feather, not so much.
"Back in the day" a turkey shoot featured a real bird in a wooden crate with just his head sticking out of the top of the box!!
Looking at Elderly Instuments site , it says they are all nylon so I guessing they are the same hardness.
Yellow is light, red is medium, and blue is heavy in terms of thickness.
After spending an afternoon at office supply stores and the Post Office looking for a box --to no avail, I wandered into Golf Galaxy and asked by chance if they had any discarded boxes from a set of clubs or a club carrier. Voila! A sturdy, corrugated box with room enough for peanuts (the biodegradable kind!) around my bubble wrapped dulcimer. Guitar Center also said they would give me a box, but I would have to wait until their next shipment.
Those look like Grover Champion Ukelele pegs.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks for your shared stories Dusty, Robert ,Wout, Jennifer, Cheryl.
Heather, that is hilarious! I can so picture it because my Labradoodle likes to play the "squeaky" too!
Though this thread is "Pets and Dulcimers "....don't forget about our ever-popular "Show Us Your Pets!" thread: http://fotmd.com/forums/forum/off-topic-discussions/11944/show-us-your-pets 
Now that's a vieable pic, and not too shabby of a dog either!
BTW, while I do know a little about a lot of things, I’m not a FOTMD site moderator. I’m just a naturally helpful person. 
But please don’t hesitate to go to the “Ask the Moderators” area and, well, ask away anytime!
Click on the "Embed Local Media" icon in your msg., right next to Mr. Smilely. You will then see the dropdowns.
Okay, if we don't hear from you in 10 minutes, we are sending in the troops.
Got it!! This is Bear. He's an English Shepherd. Slightly neurotic, always 'ON ALERT'
D, when you upload a photo you can pick a different size from the dropdown. Play with it. If you don't like the size, or location of the photo. click on it in your message, and try again. 
So definitely not a pet, but PROOF that those rascally squirrels are stealing my tomatoes!
I have I think the mechanical friction pegs. I am hoping the knobs I have ordered will fit and that is all I need, the pegs seems to be good. If the knobs for some reason don't fit, I will be asking for help again. Fingers cross, still.
John covered it all!
But I will put a plug in for the Wittner geared pegs. They are pricey but well worth it I've found.
For me the look of a traditional friction peg with an 8.5:1 fine tuning gear ratio is wonderful! These are the only pegs I use--besides friction pegs.
The hole does have to be tapered, but once the pegs are in place they are good to go! A plus with these pegs is that they don't actually spin--the shaft inside the tubular housing does, so they can be used in softer wood with no wobbling out of the hole.
I use the violo pegs because the size is right for my dulcimers.
I played guitar for most of my life (not always very seriously) before discovering the dulcimer in my mid-40s. The diatonic fretboard was very hard to understand coming from a chromatic instrument (and I still find it maddening) in ways that it wouldn't if the dulcimer were your first instrument. But what did carry over and made me an intermediate player within an hour of holding a dulcimer was technique. My right hand was already very advanced, and even my left hand understood fully how to fret strings, how to employ slides and hammer-ons and pull-offs and that stuff. So a lot of the technique carries over between the two instruments. In terms of understanding the fretboard, well that's a different question.
If I get frustrated with the dulcimer (my main instrument now), I will take a break and play another one (guitar, ukulele, etc). Sometimes I'll play something on one of those instruments and try to find it on the dulcimer, thus reinvigorating my dulcimer playing, even if that lick or that song has to be altered to fit on the dulcimer.
John covered it well. Often when going from violin pegs to planetary pegs the holes need to be enlarged. That's happens going to Sta-Tites or Grover Champions, both of which are mechanical friction pegs.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I had the Sta Tite metal friction tuners on my McSpadden replaced with the planetary geared tuners. Those are the ones on the currednt McSpadden scroll head type dulcimers. Ken Longfield and Kevin Messinger did an excellent job of installing them. They had to ream the holes a bit at a time. If you are interested in changing tuners and the holes need to be bigger I suggest you contact a luthier to install them unless you have wood working experience. Jim Woods responded to an email I sent him in reference to changing out the tuners. He said it's real easy to split the wood and recommended NOT using a drill. I contacted Kevin and Ken. I'm glad I made that decision.
Ken, update on the peacock quills: They flake a little when used, leaving a kind of gorilla dandruff situation on the fret board. I'm guessing that is what you were referring to when you wrote that they are not particularly strong? Oh well, I'll have to go to the next local turkey shoot and git me some quills.
P.S. for those of you not familiar with a turkey shoot, real turkeys are not shot, just targets. At least in the NC where I live... 
I've played both guitar and dulcimer for over 40 years and can honestly say they are two different disciplines. Being a good guitar player will not make you a good dulcimer player. . Robert.
Charles, I just ordered some V picks, Bing Ultra, Bing Lite, and Tremolo Round. I've been using a yellow Herdim, but it's too soft for me. Which is harder, the red or blue Herim, do you know?
John, you covered the topic nicely! I'd like to add a brief mention about how using a false nut (small piece of wood or other hard material) under the drone strings makes re-tuning a lap dulcimer with zither pins fairly easy.
Thank You John, what a great history lesson on all the pegs.
Hello! Yes, there are several types of tuners out there, all of which serve to tighten a string to pitch. Some do it more effectively than others. The difference is in their price, style, materials used, and appearance.
You could use screw eyes as they used to put on Tennessee music boxes, or use so-called zither pins which have a fine thread that goes down into solid wood. These are more difficult to use than the others, and are not suited to constant re-tuning. Getting them to the exact spot you want is not easy! And zither pins require a separate key or wrench to adjust.
Violin pegs could be used, or Perfection pegs which are actually geared mechanical pegs made to look like wooden pegs. Both of these require fitting their tapers to reamed holes by a qualified luthier.
Planetary pegs, such as the ones made by Waverly, are large and expensive, but very smooth in operation.
Guitar machines range from the very cheap, open-geared type to smooth-working, sealed Grover or Gotoh types with beautiful finishes.
Friction pegs are made for banjos, but work well with dulcimers. They don't like the heavier-gauge strings, however, and have a hard time holding them up to pitch. The strength of grip is adjusted by means of a screw in the end of the knob.
You can usually replace one type of tuner with another, depending on how the holes in the pegbox are done. Holes that are too large can be plugged and redrilled, but it's a lot of work.
As far as my Number 1 choice goes, it depends on what dulcimer I'm working on. Historic reproductions get tuners that are appropriate to their style (usually handcarved wooden pegs). Modern dulcimers can be fitted with just about any of the types. If price (and space) were no object, I'd use the planetary tuners.
Gear tuners, pegs, friction tuners with the screw at the end of the knob - are there other types of tuners?
Is it hard to replace a tuner or can one type be replace with another type?
Do they all hold the tune or is one better than the other? Why is one chosen over an other - style, history, looks, work ability?
Are there pros and cons for each? What would your number 1 choice be?
I saw you had posted ' Needs a tuner to be replaced' were you able to get this fixed? I don't have a McSpadden but also have tuner problems or their knobs. I have ordered replacement knobs and are waiting for them to come and hope that will take care of things. Ken, Rob and many members are very helpful, when we ask our questions someone is always able to give im-put.
Enjoy your new adventures with the dulcimer
Second the Office Depot folding cart, though I got mine at Office Max (same company now). A lot of plastic, so I'm concerned about the long-term durability, but it has served me well so far. Carries two dulcimers in form-fit cases (not the big hardshells), plus my Microcube amp with its attendant cords/cables, and a ring binder. Pull it up on stage and unload, turn it around backside to the audience, collapse the extendable handle, hang my group's custom banner from the handle, place a light plywood board (which also fits in the cart) across the top, and it's a music stand! It has milk crate-style sides; I can even leave the amp inside and reach through to turn it on and adjust volume.
Yes, the idea of CATS transporting dulcimers is a great laugh, but one dog can do the work of a dozen cats. There are cloth bags that fit on either side of a dog. Of course my dog (a husky/malamute mix) would just run away with the instruments quicker than I could shout MUSH! Maybe somebody with a more obedient dog inclined towards being a service dog?
I use a V pick Bing Ultra Lite or a red Herdim with my index and middle fingers on one side and my thumb on the other with very little of the pick showing(1/4 inch of so). I've also used thicker picks (2.75 mm), felt picks, leather picks, Metal finger picks , plus any number of guitar picks . It's fun to experiment with creating new sounds! I agree with Ken Hulme, don't use a "death grip" hold it lightly so it sort of floats in your fingers. The V pick is naturaly sticky and Herdims have some texture so they don't slip.
First of all there are 3/4 and 1/2 sized guitars to be used by people with small hands, like children. Some have a rather good sound. Also there are four and three string guitars, but those are hard to find.
To compare the dulcimer and the guitar is easy, special for the left hand (if you are right handed). The dulcimer has five fingers available to stop three strings, where the guitar has only four to six strings. Special when playing chords the later can be painfull, even when you have large hands like me. Playing the barré grip Eb on the third position is a disaster, so never play the guitar in a big band with all those brass instruments or use the sixth position.
On the guitar the force of stopping the string is delivered by the thumb muscle (beware of the string action), where on the dulcimer the force is produced by the whole arm and your thigh or the table. You can check this feeling the muscles in your left arm when playing: on the dulcimer you can feel the triceps working, at least, I can :-)
Chord grips on the dulcimer are much more ergonomic to the hand, special when the tuning is DAA.
Dulcimer players are used to 'scordatura', retuning the strings to fit the song better on the instrument, where most guitar players stick to the standard of EADGBE. BTW anyone ever tried a noter&drone guitar: EAE BB and using a slide?
Other differences between the two instruments are the volume - to get more sound out of a dulcimer the kitchen table is used as an extra resonator - and the fact the player can use the guitar standing or walking, which is rather difficult for a dulcimer. For a serenade under the window of your lovers room beter bring your guitar. Although the dulcimer is cheaper and easier to build, those two last arguments made the guitar more successful in the beginning of the twentieth century, which also could result in a beter love life or a wet suit...
