Forum Activity for @sam

I think the only one I ever named was an all cherry build I did for a friend in CT. 'Lady Barbara'. 

Here you are Dusty. During the time that Lynn McSpadden owned the company some of the dulcimers were made from solid wood. These were the higher priced models. From my converstations with Lynn, the reason he gave for using plywood for back and sides was to insure a consistent quality of sound and construction as the plywood would be more stable than solid wood. This also accounted for there being only two types of wood offered; cherry and walnut. When Jim Woods acquired McSpadden all solid wood became the standard. I do not know the reason for this, but it may be due to discontinued production of the plywood used to make the dulcimers. I understand that the David Schnauffer model was discontinued because McSpadden could no longer get the cherry plywood that David specified for his signature model. Maybe this is more than you wanted to know. Now back to our regularly scheduled discussion.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I guess I spend too much time in the fantasy world, My walnut redwood is called Lady Morgana with her rich dark and delicate voice, and the cherry is Guinevere, she is bright and strong.

Nice names Barbra, and yep you need another MD for sure.

Pretty Cool Sheryl, I like that idea.

Mine is named Birdie. And she has her name tattooed on her neck. 

I think Stephen made the important points, eli.  McSpaddens are consistently good instruments and hold their value well.

At some point in the past--perhaps Ken could tell us when--they stopped using plywood for the backs and started making all solid wood dulcimers.

They also sell kits, and I would not suggest buying one made from a kit unless you could hold it and play it first.  Just ask what the label inside the dulcimer says; it will indicate if it were made in the shop or was a kit that someone bought and made for themselves.

What about a tear drop?

Lots of folks name their dulcimers.  I never named any of my guitars or mandolins, but most of my dulcimers have names. The first one I ever bought has rosebud soundholes and I named her Rosita.  Later I obtained a baritone teardrop with rose soundholes and named that one Tia Rosa.  I got my Blue Lion from FOTMD member Jeannie in Paradise and named it Queenie, partly in honor of Jeannie and partly because my daughter insisted that since female lions do the hunting they should be considered the queens of the jungle.  I have another named Lucinda and my daughter named her octave dulcimer with dolphin soundholes Splash.  But oddly, the the dulcimer I play most often is just my dulcimer.  No name.  

And I mean no offense, but dulcimers have such beautiful curves, they have to have female names.  I guess Lexie and I just don't agree on that.  Maybe a Tennessee music box could be called Fred or Barney, but an hourglass has to be female, especially if its voice is as alluring as the sirens' song.

My models have names, but no I don't give names to any one in particular.

Barbra, What are your names for you dulcimers?

Yes, I name my dulcimers, my first is "Ho-Hum", my favorites and new this year is "Lil' ButterNut", made by Robert Schuler modaled after A. J. Jefferies.

And the one I just purchased not long ago is, "Thommy", made by  Kevin Messanger copied after Edward Thomas. I play N & D style and my 2 new ones are very sweet to play and have that old time silvery sound....Love It!

Probably the one thing you should know about McSpadden instruments is that they are high quality instruments that hold up well. The usual cautions about used instruments certainly apply. You want to make sure that there is no damage or bad repairs. Check to make sure the frets are smooth and level. If you can not see the instrument in person, make sure you can return it if not satisfied. McSpadden dulcimers hold up very well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I don't think you are the only one, but I don't name my instruments.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Your not alone.  My favorites get names, like my J.E. Thomas reproduction (you can view it on my page) is named "Alice" for my paternal grandmother.

I've played old ones, I have two newer ones (DAD and AEA).  Jim Woods is a great owner - I prefer the new all solid ones to the older ones with a plywood back.  The acoustic spectrum they produce (I have a PhD in acoustics and have measured many of them) is remarkably consistent over time.  Just make sure that you are getting a McSpadden built one - there are kit built ones as well - some are as good as the shop built ones - most aren't.  The best way to tell the difference is by the label.  You can find a good account of the company here .

I would look for the normal things applying to any used item, unusual wear and damage, primarily. The company did change hands some years ago but that was ownership only as far as I'm concerned, same employees, etc. There have been some changes over the years just like in any other business, but I don't think it affected their instruments to any significant degree. I've had 2 of them, still have 1, but make my own now.

Here it is from archive.com

https://archive.org/details/DonRichardson-ArkansasTraveler1916

My Blue Lion rosewood hour glass. Beautiful sound and action. 

     Thanks monica, i tried it out tonight and it is really a great chair for playing. I can't imagin what the chair was really made for since it is so low but it is great for my prupose. My dulcibon is a large instrument, especially with the case so it's on the other side of the room to fetch when i need. Other than that, yes i think I'm good for awhile on my set up.

     If ever you are down i the Houston area, stop by and try it out ;-)

You might be able to embed an mp3 into a post here...in the texbox, click on the video-y looking icon on the right (right before the smiley icon) and explore that.

I understand Lisa, I'm so sorry ,I was trying to share that recording from my "archives" and I wasn't sure how.

Hi Charles, you can link to that recording here in a discussion if it resides someplace else online, but you can't upload the recording to your member audio clips- because all audio/video clips uploaded to the music and video site sections have to feature yourself playing or performing...see the site rules.  Had to remove the recording.  Very sorry! 

That's a great chair Marg, Your set up looks very nice.

WOW, monica - not quite what I have.

    I did find a chair today that is the best one for playing I have seen at any of the stores. Low, wide (to hole a few grandkids) no arms but a back. Problem was, how to make it fit in my space, design wise. But than some of my dulcimers are hanging on an art easel, so shouldn't be too hard to fit a new design. The price was so good, I got it. Turns out it is a design they used in one of the Maxtrix's scenes. So now, I have a great chair for playing and a conversation piece. The rest of the room may still need some rearranging but I think this will work. 

    Thanks

I've used a cord of ebony adding custom tips to custom rifle forends. It comes in consistancy from gummed eraser to cat can't scratch it. Thanks on the tip for pen blanks. That would be an excellent source and would take a minimal amount of shaping.

Ken that's  a great idea.  Will try that out this weekend!!

2)  Your profile page "EVENTS TAB" and "CALENDAR TAB" are designed to show events that YOU created, and their dates.

Thus, since Leo is the person who created that Harvest event, if you go to HIS profile page and click on his Events Tab and his Calendar Tab, you WILL see the Harvest event listed there in both places:  http://fotmd.com/leo-kretzner/event

In general, our profile pages will show things that we ourselves have created .  That's also why most members here will not have anything showing in their Groups TAB on their profile page- because they have not created any groups/don't 'own' any groups.  To see the groups you are a member of , you hover over your top navbar NAME link, where the drop down menu shows things like your Private messages inbox, Logout, groups you are following (a member of), and your account settings.

If you ever create an event such as a festival or gathering, it will then appear in your profile page Events Tab and on your own events' Calendar.

I know it's all different from what you are used to, but once you get familiar with the 'concepts' of how this site works, such things begin to make more sense.  At least, that's what happened to me!  Stuff that used to make me go "Huh??" now make make me go "Oh yeah, of course!"

I do apologise to everyone for the significant learning curve for our new home here- there was only so much that I was able to recreate to mimic or function in the very same way as folks are used to from our old site.   I'm pretty certain that over time, most of these things will become less puzzling.

P.S. Tumbleweed, if you are attending that event, then YES i would definitely click as well to "Follow" it- that way you'll get notified if others post in or update that event.

I'm sorry for the confusion concerning how the "attending/calendar' features function.

Tumbleweed, this is one of those things that I need to explain carefully, so please bear with me...

1)  When you clicked the "attending" button, you DID successfully subscribe to be shown as someone who will be attending that event. You are shown in the event's list of attendees, here:

Try looking on pinterest for music room ideas/decor. I found this ...

My girl Shylo tried to play my dulcimer.  I set it on the floor for a minute and she pawed at the strings.  After my heart rate slowed down. I told her she did a good job.  Didn't want to hurt her feelings.

I tried yesterday and again just now.  It isn't working.  I want to attend the 21st Annual Harvest Festival in Costa Mesa, CA in October.  I clicked the " Attending " but and the screen blinks but that is all it does.  I checked my calendar but nothing showing.      Do I have to be a follower first?

Your spaces sound just like me - all good but how will I fit one more anything or someone coming over to play also?

Thanks for sharing, love all this

Is that akin to getting 'noterised'?

JohnH

I was going to show you a picture of the interior of my sailboat, but I was afraid you all would get claustrophobic!

I usually sit on the edge of the sofa facing opposite this corner. Clearly there is limited space, hopefully this well serve to deter me from buying more Dulcimers.

Doesn't work worth a darn on my Ebony, Lignum Vitae or Snakewood noters     But then they're naturally 'compressed'.

If you don't have a bench vice as Sam suggests, agood source for very HARD wood for noters is the listings for Pen Blanks on Ebay.  The blanks are about 3/4" square and 5" long.  It's a good way to get small bits of some really exotic and beautiful woods without paying a fortune for a whole plank.

Looks like Wiskers wants to know where the carpet covering is on her new cat tree. 

Thanks for the information, Sam!  I may need to try this on a noter or two whose wood isn't very hard.  

Woods come in a wide variety of hardness. If your preference is for harder wood and your favorite noter isn't quite there, you may be able to improve its density at the tip by compressing it. This requires some practice or you may crush the wood instead of compressing it. I use a small shop vice and only squeeze about one half inch of the tip of my noters. I tighten the vise on them gently and try to never over tighten. I make my own noters so it's not a great loss if I go too far. This will work on round noters, but then you may have trouble turning it so that the compressed portion addresses the string(s) of your dulcimer. Done properly, you can even see the results. The wood will look shiny where you've compression hardened it. This practice will not only give a little more 'ring' to the sound of your strings, it will lessen wear just a little. The wood won't groove as badly as quickly if it is harder. Try this on some scrap. It may be something you like.

Again, I would caution you NOT to do this on your favorite wooden noter for your first attempt. Try this several times on scrap or old discarded noters to develop a 'feel' for it. 

 001 compressed noter1 - 800.jpg - 134KB

Just found a New/Old Hammnerd Dulcimer and my cat wiskers wants lessons!!!!