Chromatics are not good for blues. You can't bend notes on them. They are stiff and un emotional. In my youth when I was totally emersed in the blues, I got thru many a jam with a D, G, C, E, A. Into a long night of jaming it often did not matter what key I was in... Robert.
The knobs came today and they were an easy fix. I just put the same strings back on that came with it so, I will need to decide what will be the best ones for this dulcimer.
I want to thank all of you for all your help in getting this red stain dulcimer (Hondo, made in Korea for Sears - maybe late 70's/80's) up and running. I have it in DAA tuning and played a simple 'Amazing Grace' for you to hear the sound. I think it sounds like what I would think an old time dulcimers would sounded like.
I've been pricing various models, I can't afford a chromatic, I'm leaning towards a Lee Oskar or a Seydel. I just need to figure out what key. I like playing along with older Dylan songs, my favorite is "Like A Rolling Stone" which is in "C" I think, and "Mr. Tamborine Man" in "F". I like to play along with Blues songs like Elmore James, Muddy, BB King ( I was in the front row a few years ago, BB gave me a pick and shook my hand!!).
One problem with buying a harmonica is you can't try it out first.
Good points, Ken. I have no problem re-tuning the dulcimer, especially not when I'm playing drones. The tenor guitar, however, is a different beast and I fear I will make no decent progress until I pick one tuning and learn it well before branching out. Chords, you know. For me, it's much harder to switch tunings when fretting 3 or 4 strings at the same time. I never got any good with chord/melody on MD until I picked one tuning (DAd, yeah, boring) and stuck with it for a while. Now I need to pick a tuning for the ceegar box and buckle down.
Lisa -- the tuning you pick depends on the tune itself and how you are playing it. Learn to retune -- it's only the 3rd and 4th strings that change in your list.
How about 4-equidistant strings? Even more options that way.
I use DAdd, DAdc, DAdA, DAA#d (chromatic) and DGdd (which is really cool: a traditional G-Ionian with an extra low D at the bottom)
I just got a cigar-box tenor guitar. 4 strings tuned DGbe... or DGBd... or DGAd... or DAAd... or DF#Ad... or ... ? I can't decide, except I know I want an open tuning. Any suggestions?
Is ARRGH! a tuning? I'm pretty sure I've played that one a lot!
Yes, that's very nice Robert
I have my other dulcimer with a (suitcase strap) hooked on with a tie, no button. It had a lot of room to slip something around the end. So yes, I could do that but there isn't a lot of room on the red stain dulcimer, so checking into the different ways.
Thanks, all good to know
I use violin end pins as strap buttons. I think ebony wood looks more appropriate on a wood instrument. very easy to install, just drill a hole and glue it in... Robert...
Strumelia has an excellent video on her blog about how to attach a strap to the head of the dulcimer, if you don’t have a button, or don’t want to add a button.
http://dulcimer-noter-drone.blogspot.com/2010/02/video-tips-for-beginners-home-made.html
Was only thinking of one end. Soap, I had not thought of that. I didn't even think of drilling the hold, just putting the screw in. Will watch a vIdeo and tackle this project also.
Thanks again, everyone. When I am finish getting the red stain dulcimer together and post a video, know you all had a hand in helping me set it up.
Charles, looks like you know your picks. Here's the description for the rest of you FOTMD who may be interested, and don't already know:
WEGEN BG100 PICKBLUEGRASS, WHITE, 1.00mm - Set of four. A standard shaped flatpick with dual beveled-edge tip for right handed players. Has 9 holes in a diamond pattern for grip. Bluegrass players (and anyone else who craves a thick plectrum) - this pick is a must have! The ultimate in control!
+1 on Ken's suggestions. Sometimes you see the nut-end strap button installed through the side, but it is still drilled into the solid block at that end.
Don't over-think things. However, strap buttons do need to be installed into the ends of the dulcimer, not the sides. The ends have solid blocks of wood in them there so there's "no worries" about drilling a hole there. Drill a slightly undersized hole for the screw, soap the threads and install. Easy peasy.
Exactly what I myself did. I found that for a home key as it were, I most often found myself in the key of G (wife's singing voice and easy to group with violin and viola and such) gDG has proven to be so great for me to merg with singers and other instruments that that is what I have on my only one dulcimer right now. Ealier, single and loads of dulcimers I too had a few keys represented. The Baptist Hymnal loves flat keys so I would have an Eb, Bb, F, Ab, and C to name a few. It's so much easier to just remember one set of fingerings and don't even think of the relative key being played. Let your "key specific" dulcimer do the transpositions for you. Kevin.
This is where "self taught" might not be the best way to learn. Bad habbits and getting stuck in one area (tuning) vs others. I would always read in the first book on dulcimers I bought with my first ever dulcimer (I had buggered a cheap kit previous to this and had plunked out a tune or two, but all that did was wet my interest in getting a "Real" dulcimer) Book and instrument in hand I was off to dAD and was stuck there forever. I finally forced myself to learn DAA, bur that was about it. I'd read about detuning strings and moving things around and if you could stomach tab only, then that would be fine as you wouldn't need to know the notes, just the numbers and follow the tab map. I knew that standard notation was out of the question due to the diatonic nature of the instrument. So here I am and several dulcimers later and still play just in dAD, but am content with that (actually a fifth lower, but the same relationship with the strings in G gDG. No longer having two dulcimers or a courting or double neck dulcimer, I really am a one mode player and that's just fine with me. Kevin
I installed my strap buttons with a little help from "youtube". Its a lot easier and less scary than you think. After drilling the holes ( very carefully) role the screws in a dry bar of soap before attaching the buttons. No glue is necessary.
Do we need to worry about the wood before we install a strap button? If it's too thin how would it hold without pulling the screw out and messing up the end of the dulcimer? Should we put some glue also, would this help hold the screw in? Is this something any of us can do?
see as howI have been unable to attend any workshops this is something I have never thought about befor.
@debbie-hinz -- time for a little bit of "tough love" dulcimer style. Dulcimers do not stay in tune -- you need to learn to tune and retune easily and quickly. Dulcimer strings are gonna break whether you do anything wrong or not -- get used to it -- it's not the end of the universe! Strings are cheap -- under $5 a set BUy several and keep them with your instrument 'just in case'. If you play a couple hours a week you probably need to change strings every 4-6 months anyway.
I can see how the plastic, foldable cube with retractable handle would work for small gatherings, performances, etc. As you say, it will hold 2 instruments in form fit cases, plus a few more items. What I'm looking for, however, are suggestions for something 2 or 3 times that size for hauling the large, unweildy instruments (hammered dulcimers, folk harps, steel drums, etc.) and/or multiple dulcimers. I'm thinking here of events/workshops where you would need to transport over a long distance--and possibly in inclement weather--more instruments than what you can haul in a small crate with wheels. Hopefully, as well, it would be something you could push though crowded hallways and wouldn't stick out too far in front of you (which can creat traffic problems).
Debbie, if your strings broke going to DAA from DAd you're going the wrong way. You tune down (losen the strings) from DAd to DAA. To go to DAd from DAA you would tighten the melody string to get that d. BTW, that d is above what is termed the middle C. That's why you typcially see DAA because the A is below that C and you will see a lower case d in DAd to indicate that d is above the middle C.
Debbie, most workshops I've attended (also jams) tune to DAd. I would suggest you invest in a tuner. A clip on is nice especially when attending workshops or jams. With a tuner you'll be able to tune back and forth from DAA to DAd without any problems. Most tuners are inexpensive. There are a couple of threads on this site about tuners. Everyone has their favorite. You can also tune by ear but for me when I'm among a large group of players who are also retuning their instruments it gets a bit difficult to hear my own and that's why I have a clip on tuner. Just my 2 cents
Debbie, while it may be true that DAd is more preferred, it all depends on the festival. Some will state the tuning in the class description, but a phone call to the person in charge of the event should be able to answer your question, if you want (or need) to know before you arrive. I have been to a festival in the past few years where DAa was the preferred tuning of most of the attendees.
Another source of boxes (if you can't somebody to give you one) is Uline packaging, online http://www.uline.com/BL_406/Long-Boxes. You have to buy a bundle of 10, but the cost of the whole bundle is cheaper than taking your instruments to a a commercial shipper.
Just another option....
It looks like a Wegen BG100 or 120
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. 
