Lawrence, I haven't seen this type of Hughes dulcimer before.
Most Hughes dulcimers I've seen are what I 'd consider low-grade instruments made of lauan (Philippine mahogany) plywood, and simply built.
From the photo, I'd say that you have a medium-quality dulcimer, however I can't play it or examine it from here.
It looks like a step or two up from their usual range of dulcimers.
I also like the Zoom - I've used a H2n for the past couple of years to record tunes for our club website . With just under 800 mp3's now online, it's made life a lot easier, since I can record anywhere without having to worry about the noise of having the computer on, etc. I've never worried about video, however. I don't really think anyone wants to see me!
You are correct Kristi. I have quite a few places bookmarked for researching tunes, people, instruments, etc. It is worthwhile having a place where all of these are available saving people time in searching for them.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Good idea for a forum, Ken. Thanks!
In another discussion Robert Schuler pointed me to the Snips and Clips website of penny whistle tunes. Lots of those tunes work on the dulcimer, of course, too.
This is a place to post general folk music resources for folks interested in more than just the mountain dulcimer. The first one I share came from a post over at Banjo Hangout. It is a site called Folk Music Worldwide: http://folkmusicworldwide.com . This is posting of radio interviews with people primarily from the great folk scare of the 1950s and 60s. There is some interesting conversation here. Have fun listening.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I'd didn't know Judy, but that was a fitting tribute.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
What a beautiful tribute, praying for her family.
For those of you who have been to the McSpadden Dulcimer Shop in Mountain View, Arkansas you probably met Judy. After a battle with cancer she passed yesterday (7 Feb).
James, my understanding is that the tenor guitar is tuned to fifths, usually CGDA or GDAE. AndGDAE is exactly how a mandolin is tuned, though an octave higher than a tenor guitar). So you might seek out mandolin tab for tunes. Even if you tune CGDA, you could still use that tab; you will simply be in a different key. But chord charts and tab for the mandolin are certainly more popular on the internet, so you might look for that stuff instead of limiting yourself to lessons on tenor guitar.
Thanks Stephen. I ultimately did get an Ibanez tenor guitar from Sweetwater, and printed out a sheet of basic chord shapes I found on the internet. I'll be looking for some tenor banjo books on Barnes and Noble later on. I did post a picture of my Ibanez on my profile page a few minutes ago if interested in seeing it.
I was looking around for any recent things on tenor guitar - I found this Youtube lesson - it's a good introduction. The playing is not always legato - but the information is good. It should get you started.
Not many resources out there - but tenor banjo and manual are tuned the same (CGDA) you can find chords for them. Mel Bay has some tenor banjo resources. You can find some Youtube video of Wayland Holyfield playing the tenor guitar. I'd played a mandolin and fiddle which I'd viewed as an upside down guitar - when I got a manual, I just transposed. You can actually tune it as DGBE and treat it as baritone ukulele - I currently have my mandola tuned as a tiple - I could play in mandola/tenor guitar tuning but I didn't find it useful to sing with. It depends on your voice though - clearly Wayland Holyfield has made great use of a tenor guitar accompanying his singing,
Your best bet for finding things online is to look for tenor banjo material - there is a lot of it - including methods - some of them are on the internet archive. Good luck and have fun!
I'd been playing guitar since I was 16 years old, and decided since I will turn 40 in March (ugh), to add another guitar to the arsenal, an acoustic tenor guitar. I saw a modest priced Ibanez that I am looking at, which should fit the bill nicely.
I was wondering if anyone on here owns a tenor guitar, can point me in the direction of some resources etc. so I can halfway have a clue when the time comes when I get a tenor guitar.
That's really nice work Mandy. You made a beautiful instrument which I am sure you will enjoy forever. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I just saw this. It's a beauty for sure
Full of wonderful mistakes 
I already broke a string, LOL. Too much messing around tuning. I decided to go with DAA on this one. I found some DAD tab for this and didn't like the way it sounded so I winged it.
Great Mandy, we will be watching for it.
Enjoy strumming your sweet dulci.
Mandy said:
Next few days or so hopefully. I'm working on a song I want to play on it now and once I feel it's pretty good I'll post it.
Next few days or so hopefully. I'm working on a song I want to play on it now and once I feel it's pretty good I'll post it.
Mandy, looks like you've done really well. Can't wait to hear it.
You did good Gal !
JohnH
I'm going to be playing this forever and I'm so thankful that I was able to build it.
Great when that happens and such a beauty too.
I've got a beat up old mongrel that I've had for 40 years, wouldn't swap it for the world.
Mandy what a beautiful dulcimer you built. What a great experience to be able to do it in the class.
Really amazing process and will love to hear your dulci sing
Thanks y'all. I love it. Now I just have to figure out what I want to play on the vid. Hmmmm.
Wow, that's great, Mandy. The dulcimer looks great, and I really like seeing all the pictures of the process. Good job! I look forward to hearing it, too!
I did blush a little, seeing a naked dulcimer.
That is such an awesome looking instrument! And to make it yourself in that class must have given you a complete sense of satisfaction. I can not wait for you to make a video playing it so I can hear this beauty.
WOW that's amazing Well done - what a great experience leading to such a wonderful outcome
OK, I'll take it. I love the almost elliptical shape. Very sexy indeed!
Hey Everyone, been awhile. I just finished a class at the John C. Campbell Folk School and made this beauty.
Here are the woods I got to choose from. - 
I chose sassafras for the top, butternut for the sides and back, and walnut for the headstock backstrip and fretboard and tailpiece. Here they are with a few cuts - and you can also see the sassafras piece i used under the headstock here also
Here's the walnut fretboard piece I chose, I chose the sapwood on purpose because of it's uniqueness and beauty (in my eyes anyway)
Here are some assembling pics - don't mind the center strip, it's just a spacer and will come out later. notice my banjo case sitting there too, LOL, had to jam some!
Here's the lining strips being glued in to give more gluing surface - you can also see the back piece there with the center strip of walnut.
My beautiful back - as I was looking at the butternut we had I noticed the grain and purposely cut it so that the grain would match the curve of the instrument. With walnut strip.
Here's the front closeup of head and fretboard, I cut the little curve at the top of the head to just give it a little uniqueness also. The fretboard and head are from the same piece of wood. I loved all the color in the fretboard.
Closeup of body - dogwood flower cutout with wood-burning. I would not recommend trying to wood-burn on a wood as soft and grainy as sassafras (lesson learned, but I think it still looks good) more of the fretboard color - there is sawdust everywhere still (LOL).
Finished front -
Overall it turned out beautifully I think. The fretboard is nice and flat and I love it. The instructor for the class was Mark Edelman. He has a shop in Gatlinburg, TN. and is a fine player also. Great instructor and fun week. Hard work too.
Got it home and yanked out my Folkcraft hourglass dulcimer. Side by side I like mine much better (no favoritism or anything, LOL). Seriously though my fretboard is a touch wider and that allowed me to still have plenty of room for the string spacing without ever worrying about pulling a string off the side of the fretboard while playing (which does happen on my Folkcraft). A big surprise to me was that this one is louder than my Folkcraft also. Quite a bit louder. Not sure if shape has anything to do with that. Mine is also a much warmer (less tin-ny) sound.
I'm going to be playing this forever and I'm so thankful that I was able to build it. Thanks to a mentor of mine whom I must give a huge thank you to here - Aubrey Atwater - without your kindness I never would have been able to take this class. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I would recommend Mark's class to anyone and everyone who has the desire to build their own dulcimer (there are a LOT of tools involved). Mark has been building dulcimers and playing for 40 years. He's not much of an internet guy, but if you are ever in Gatlinburg, TN be sure to visit Smoky Mountain Dulcimers and tell him I sent ya.
I'll get a video of me playing this beauty up soon.
Mandy
