Forum Activity for @joseph-besse

Check out the EverythingDulcimer.com website and also Dogwood Dulcimer in Pensacola.

joebesse@aol.com

I had a lot of fun, too, Gail--just wish I had been able to jam more!  Nina Zanetti posted a lot of great photos of this event on facebook, I believe.  I really love getting to know these instructors better!

I attended the Dulcimer Celebration week at John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC last week.  We had wonderful instructors for the week - Ann Lough, Nina Zanetti, Bonnie Carol and Rob Brereton.  It was great fun and I feel that I truly learned a lot.  We had instruction in the mornings and got together as a large group (both mountain and hammered dulcimers) in the afternoon and worked on some pieces with multiple parts.    We performed some of these on Friday morning.  We had jams in the evenings that were a lot of fun.  JCC is in such a beautiful mountain setting and the food is wonderful.  I hope I am able to attend this again next year!

Hope that it made it to a good home. Thanks once again for all of the advice. I might have bid on it and taken it to a local luthier, but I fought back the impulse. Trying to keep my DAD in check.

There were eleven bids. It sold for 114.50 plus 25 for shipping.

That crack looks simple to repair.  Bob;s right, the rear two tuners need to be swapped as they are on backwards.  I don't think there was another Nut.  I think the builder used the edge of the tuning head as the nominal nut.  If I had a hundred bucks I's ure bid on it.  That's a good price for what appears to be a very nicely built dulcimer.

It looks like a relatively simple repair to me. Certainly worth it if the price stays low, although at the moment it is just under $100 with the shipping.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for the advice, Rob. I think that I will pass on it, as I'm fairly lazy and non-handy and it sounds like a bit more work than I'm willing to do. It's sure pretty though... The wood looks gorgeous and the duck head is so nicely carved.

I've got 3 playable dulcimers, plus one that my Dad made from a kit for me when i was 12--its wall art. I was up to 5 last year, but sold 2 at a festival. My Ron Gibson is my main go-to dulcimer and the David Lynch student model is my back-up for emergencies. The third dulcimer is a little travel one that I only use when I, well, travel. My DAD has abated quite a bit, but is still lurking in the background. I expect that I'll pick up another one eventually. Or two...

Colleen, the crack in the photo looks like it might be reapairable to me.  I would try to flow a small amount of super glue into the crack and then clamp it closed for a few minutes.  On thing about a crack like this is that you may end up needing to sand and refinish the area around it, or you may find you need to refinish the whole top after you fix it.

Also, take a close look at the tuning machines.  The two closest to the nut are on backwards, which might make it a little difficult to keep in tune.  The tuners are designed so that the string tension will pull the shaft tight against the worm gear on vertical post.  In this case the tension pulls the round gear away from the worm gear which could loosen the tuner.  This is also easily repairable.  You can probably flip-flop the tuners from one side to the other.

If the price stays low, it might be worth a try.

I like the 'village' idea, all having their own personallity. 

I mean nut, not bridge.

Here is the link. I notice that it also doesnt have a bridge... 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEAUTIFUL-BIRDS-EYE-MAPLE-DULCIMER-CARVED-BIRD-HEAD-/281753750919?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4199d50d87

Thanks for the recomondation of the D'Addario NS Mini Universal Tuner Jan. I just ordered one from Sweet Water for 14.99 free shipping. It will be so convienent to clip it on my dulci.

I will let you all know what I think of it when I get it.

Strumelia, Thank you!!! That's a great idea. I'll be looking for green branches. They are plentiful around here especially with all the rain we've had. I will check out ebay for horse hair. Thanks again!!!

Can you post the link to the offering?  We can tell you more if we can see the damage.  Is it an open crack, or just a split?  Open cracks would need filling with a sawdust/glue mixture; a split can be flexed open to put glue on the edges then released so the edges touch while the glue dries).   How big is the nearby soundhole (for accessing the underside of the fretboard).

Generally simple splits can be readily fixed with Titebond glue (accept no substitute!) and some painter's tape.  An open crack will need filling, which isn't hard either.

A psaltery bow yes, would be ideal!   It's more more nimble and light than even a short violin bow.  The bow hair should be laid out in a small round 'rope' shape rather than a violin bow flat wide 'tape' shape...which I found gets caught on the zither pins too often when jumping quickly between the pins, as in bowed psatery playing.

In a pinch, for a rustic 'disposable' bow-   you can even take an arched bent green branch between 1/4"-3/8" thick, cut deep notches at both ends, and set a hank of bow hair in it.  Tie a knot at one end of the hair hank and lay it into one notch.  Comb the hair straight without handling it in the middle (no finger grease!)...pull it to a good tension and lay it in the other notch by tying another knot at that end.  Once you have it nicely set and tensioned to your liking, you can put a dot of glue on each knot to keep it in place well.  Rosin it up very well to start with, then lightly thereafter.

You can buy black stallion horsehair hanks already measured and knotted at one end on Ebay, not that expensive.  You can use a whole hank for a rustic bow, or half a hank if you want a thinner hair 'rope'.   Some folks make a slight twist in the hair 'rope' when setting the hair in.  I found that works well when making twisted horsehair strings, and personally I like non-twisted hair for bows.

I've found that such rustic 'bent stick/hank of hair' bows work surprisingly well and are kind of fun for psalteries, rebecs, jouhikkos, etc.  If you use an underhand grip to bow (as with a jouhikko/tagelharpa) you can leave the hair more slack because you tension the hair while playing, with your bow grip hand.

It's a longways crack that goes from the edge of the dulcimer, slightly angled down.  It ends about 3/4 of an inch away from one of the top soundholes.

Where is the crack situated ?  (in relation to the soundholes, for instance)

JohnH

Hi, I'm looking at an instrument on ebay that has a small, 3 inch crack in the upper soundboard. Is this the sort of thing that should be a dealbreaker for a non-luthier, non-handy sort of person?  The dulcimer is priced cheaply, but is quite pretty and has a unique headstock.  I have other dulcimers, so this wouldn't be my main instrument.  I wouldn't normally consider purchasing on ebay, but this one is tempting me.. Is this something that can be fixed?  Would it affect the sound?

Here is a link to Clifford's obituary for anyone insterested: http://www.austinandbarnesfuneralhome.com/obituary.php?name=1483

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

At McSpadden I bought a couple of books, picks and noters, no dulcimer, but I had just built my first dulcimer.

Jimmy, I was there in either 73 or 74.  We saw a show; Jimmie Driftwood was one I remember, and Aunt Ollie Gilbert and some old man who did the buck and wing all through the 2nd half.  At the center the next what sticks out is the old men there working, volunteers, or hanging out, and getting them talking about my Grandfather.  

Ken, we stopped at McSpadden, too.  Didn't get a dulcimer but do remember the records I bought there: Old Time Mt Guitar and Leake County Revellers.  Hope to be back up there really soon.

As Rob Lackey said, some folks collect dulcimers because of their history, who made them, what materials were used, the artistic quality, and the variety of tones, etc.  Also, our tastes in a "go to" instrument (the one(s) we use all they time) changes over time...  Some are more suited for using in a large jam than others.  Some are great for recording purposes.  Some have the easy playability that we need in an instructional setting.  Some we want to travel with and some we want to be able to let other folks use and enjoy.  So some of us lterally have a "village" of dulcimers!

I know what you mean about those smaller airplanes.  When I fly across the country, the first leg of my trip is from KY to Dallas.  On one side of the plane there are NO overhead bins, and on the other side there are very small overhead bins that will not even accommodate my very small "under the seat" carry on!  This is a major airline (American Airlines), but even with major airlines, you do occasionally encounter these smaller planes being used.  I have not tried taking any of my dulcimers on a plane since I know this is the kind of aircraft that will be used for the first part of the trip.  I know they're supposed to allow it inside the cabin "if it fits", but even on a larger plane, I doubt they'd remove someone's roller bag to accommodate your musical instrument!  I have, however, talked about "flying with instruments" to a number of guys flying out of Dallas with instruments (usually large guitar cases).  They all pretty much say, "We just walk on with it, look the flight attendant in the eye and stow it wherever it fits.  We've never been told to gate check them!"  I think that has a lot to do with attitude, as much as anything....

I have used a Korg tuner in the past and own a bunch of Snarks and a couple "Snarkheads", as well....but my new favorite is a D'Addario NS Mini UNIVERSAL tuner.  It clips on like a Snark, but the parts that pivot are designed differently and are much more user friendly and sturdy, in my opinion!  And since the display will flip if you turn it upside down, you can even have your tuner clipped under your peghead and  no one but you will see it.  Nice bright display in a small package, too!

I agree with Bob.  One of my Snarks broke there and I still use that one most.  It carries well in a pocket, ready for use when needed.

One thing to try with your broken Snark is to set it in the sound hole.  It should work just fine.

Sheryl, what you do with the suction cup pickup is to plug it into the input slot on your electronic tuner, then put the suction cup part on the instrument.  I first learned about the suction cup pick years on the autoharp discussion list, and how it easily helped pick up the lower F, G and C strings on the autoharp, which some tuners would not pick up that well at all.  I did recently get a Snark tuner, but I use it mostly on my guitars, and my McSpadden dulcimer because it has a flat head as opposed to a scroll type head.

 I have several Snarks but I don't use them heavily. Snarks are prone to breaking at the pivot point which is the weakest place. Although they cost a little more, my favorite clip on tuner is the Intellitouch PT-10. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PT10C I use it on my dulcimers, banjos, and guitars.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I love my Snark. I rotate it frequently from the dulci to the Uke. I worry about this, because a lot of people have written about the Snark’s “neck” breaking. But I only paid 12 dollars (free shipping) for it from Sweetwater, so I shouldn’t worry too much. I think I will buy another and dedicate it to tuning the Uke, and maybe a third as a backup. 

If you Google Sweetwater, you may see a bad rep regarding customer service. Old news! They will practically come to your house to make sure your order is all it was meant to be. So I think you could get pretty customer service from Sweetwater at this point, because they seem to be trying to repair their image. 

James, That tuner pickup from Sweetwater looks interesting. I often see guitar amplifiers at the flea market, would this combo work?

Robert, I didn't know you make psalteries. I may be contacting you soon. 

Thanks Ken! I'm going to head to the music store to see if they have short violin bows. They may have tuning wrenches too but I may opt to order a psaltery bow and tuning wrench online from a psaltery builder. 

I recommend a regular tuner like a Korg, plus a plug in suction cup like this  http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/TunerPickup  They stick onto the instrument to pick up the string sound even in a noisy room.

Those little round pitch pipe tuners work for me. Never need batteries, almost impossible to break. As Ken said, tune from the dulcimer. First use pipe to get your low D and tune from that string.... BTW. I tune my 46 string hammered dulcimer that way... Robert.

A psaltery bow would be just right. Here is a pic of one of my black walnut bows... Robert

My recommendation for a clip-on tuner?  Don't bother.  As you say, they keep breaking.  Besides, you don't need to retune every song anyway, so why bother.  Tune the dulcimer.  Put the tuner away.  Play.

I will never be an accomplished player on ANYONE'S dulcimer so, I'll keep whitt'ling out one now and then till I'm happy with one of my own. It would be difficult to limit myself to one. I don't think I could. 

I have one from 'Qwik Tune'. It doesn't clip to anything, it simply lays on the instrument. I've checked it with a couple of my Snark clip ons. It is as accurate ... but ... if you need/want one that clips on, this isn't it. Can you possible relocate the Snark? Maybe to a strap button or other place on the instrument?