Talk about the long & the short of it.... oh and the big dulcimer and little dulcimer make a nice contrast, too. LOL Sorry, Kevin, if I were taller than you then I might be picking on you. Looks great; sure y'all had a lot to talk about.
Thanks Peter, it is amazing how big that dulcimer is. 8' long.
John Knopf was in the area ,on vacation and, decided to make a stop to visit. It was great to get to meet him and chat about dulcimer making. He said he is going to Berrea, Hindman, and the museum of Appalachia before heading back to Detroit. Thanks to John for bringing Uncle Eddie along. Wow ain't it huge. I just had to get the picture of my little guy next to his.
Thanks Diane and Ken. Most know I am not really a player,but, a builder, I will try to get a player to try it out so we can see it's potential .
Sounds good Kevin. Looks good as well.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks Patty , it might be a bit too full I have to work on the recording to see if matering it will help to improve the sound. I doesn't seem to be so overpowering while playing it.
Wow! That sure has a full sound with those drones. It's pretty too!!!
I have finished my Kratz Zither ,and decided I would try and record a sound sample. It is tuned DAAAAD and it rings really well. I am not sure the recording does it justice, but, I'm still trying. 
OldJoe%20Clark%20%28New%29.mp3
Dalton, here is a video clip of me playing my Cabin Creek. I was experimenting with a goose quill so pardon the sour notes, lol, http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/video/quill-experiment
Dalton, I own one. It's the first dulcimer I bought. I've never had any trouble with it. Walter Messick is a really nice guy and spent some time with me on the phone. He even played the one I purchased over the phone for me to hear. I know it's not the same as in person but it has a good sound. It had a good sound when I played it the first day I received it and still does. Rob, one of the members here, has played it and thought it a good dulcimer.
Ain't gonna happen, I never get the last word in, even when I talk to myself! I would probably want a pickup in it so I can plug it in at gigs and actually be heard. I forgot that yesterday. Tomorrow I'll see what else I forgot.
Patty, both of mine were kits, and I was green as last weeks pine sprout. There is a great deal of satisfaction in playing an instrument you built yourself. But it gets hard to keep a lid on it. I keep thinking of building more, and that path leads to trouble. Just ask the comptroller of this corporation, Mrs. Wanda.
Still, you might look into kits. You need a certain amount of tools, but not the big powered shop equipment, mostly hand tools and clamps. It's fun, at least I enjoyed it. But if you use sassafras wood, you gain weight. Stick to some other wood, and avoid the weight gain. My sassafras dulcimer is 21 years old, and I still haven't lost that extra weight!
LOL! That would work just fine!
Helen Seiler said:
OOOOh a dream dulcimer. Something that sounds great and has lots ofinlay workwith a log cabin in the mountains theme. Yum. Hey JK, I could call it BIG CABIN.
I often have inner conversations with myself about what instruments I 'need' vs. what instruments I 'want'....because the two are sometimes the same, but not always.
If I bought instruments based only on owning my 'dream instrument' I would have many wonderful instruments that might not get played much. There is undeniable pleasure in owning such things, but neither do I want to feel like I'm buying only for the sake of owning something special. And I dont really want a house full of instruments that aren't played much. I certainly can't say that about my dulcimers. 
I find i have had to consciously discipline myself against impulse buys, because I could easily get in over my head. In the past I bought a few instruments just because they were tempting, but I later sold those that I didn't play much. Like when trying to lose weight...it always seems far easier to accumulate than to shed. lol!
I really try to consider any purchase in practical terms now- will this instrument allow me to play in some way that my other instruments are limited by? Scale length is the first thing that comes to mind- for playing in various keys. Other practical factors might include: fretless/fretted, steel/nylon strings, volume/punch/tone for solo/outdoor/group playing, arched bridge for bowing, number of strings and/or frets, travel weight/size, ...stuff like that.
Awww shucks - I've been rumbled
Like most folks my dream dulcimer is whichever one I have in my hand at the time. I have a good (and growing ) collection of instruments many copies of old designs or old originals. Each has its own special characture and I love them all 
I have a few more old original designs I'm still chasing- not because they are individually my dream dulcimer but because they have the distinct timbre I want to add to my quiver of instruments. And as John Tose says above, there is something VERY special about handling and playing old dulcimers
So perhaps, for me, it is not about my 'dream dulcimer' but my 'job specific' dulcimer. I'd just got back from an open mic' last night when I posted about the Fishman Aura Spectrum with the sound modelling from all my favourite dulcimers loaded on to it and a loop pedal plus effects box. I'm the sound guy for the open mic'in the bar of ourlocal cinema each month. The film finished earlier than usual and no musicians had turnedup (typical ) but a small audience had rolled in early. For the first time at the event I hada dulcimer with me because I hoped Ella may be along later and I thought I'dask if she fancied singing The Blackest Crow (we didthe songlate on in the evening and it went down great ). So I grabbed my dulcimer and just played a few tunes while waiting for the first act to show up. The instrument I had with me was my cherry McSpadden and I just used a directional condensor mic' to amplify it through the p/a. The dulcimer sounded sweet but I would have liked a few other timbre options after a couple of tunes. It was then that I thought how useful a 'plug and play' dulcimer would be for small venue performances and coffee house work. Something the size of an A W Jeffries would be ideal ( shallow withthat beautiful WV hourglass shape), I'd want a 26" scale with a good p/u system built in to it, no 6+ and Perfection pegs, action and fret intonation set for noter drone playing. I actually wouldn't want too much voice in terms of acoustic volume (the Jeffries size/sound would be perfect) - just a nicely balanced natural sound that the p/u system would work well with - a semi-acoustic dulcimer if you like. The p/u would probably be an LR Baggs as I don't want handling noise.
I think that, with a loop pedal, effects pedaland some modelling software I could have a compact little system for small venue gigs that would give me great timbre variety possibilities from tune to tune - plus I could overlay harmonies live. Now this may have Ed Thomas turning in his grave - and nothing will be the same as playingtraditional instruments acoustically live (my absolutepassion ) - but pragmatically I could do with a halfway house so I can play noter drone style for a full set from one instrument to a non-dulcimer audience - and also jump in to back up other musicians whoes acoustic guitar etc are plugged in to the p/a. All in noter drone style of course (is there another way to play?).
So I'm not talking about my dream dulcimer here more my 'job specific compromise dulcimer' - simply a pragmatic musician's tool for a specific task. Anyway, I may be commisioning a new dulcimer soon I really need to get out and play some solo gigs next year!
I've got to go with what Rick says here, though for me it wouldn't even have to be playable. Can't beat actually owning a piece of history.
Anything else - well if you know what you want, you either already own it, you can make it yourself, or you can pay someone else to knock it up. Don't be surprised though if it turns out to be a disapointment!
I like what Kevin said--I'd love to be sniffing around an auction and find a 19th-century, playable Prichard or Thomas or even a handmade, for-the-purpose,Tennessee music box from around the mid-to-Eastern parts of Tennessee. I'd string it up, move to the edge of the Smokies, and play each day in one of the many old cabins/churches.
Doggone it Paul, Your last sentence there should be the last one in this discussion. Maybe.
I hope that it isn't, though.
The only thing I know for sure is it would have a shorter scale, not over 25.5", maybe even less, to ease the long stretches for my arthritic wrist. It would have geared tuners, I change tunings to get a different scale, not to fight with friction pegs. Other than that, I won't know it till I hear it. The luthiers I have in mind would set it up to play well, and do impeccable work. The sound would be the deciding factor. When "THE sound" hits your ears, and you know you can't walk away without it, that's when you know you found it.
Im with Ken, I pretty much build what I want, but, I would love to someday find an Original Prichard. And I must say I would love to someday build a dream dulcimer from someones ideas of what they want. Thats why I build them so others can enjoy them.
My dream dulcimer is the next one I make or the one after that or the one after . . .
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Okay--I've got many dream dulcimers & this is my newest one--love the wormy chestnut and of course the old man carved head--I really do like the little carved heads on dulcimers
It's interesting how this thread has turned. Instead of talking about what you want, y'all are talking about what you have (except for Rob, and I will say that I asked him privately to kick the thread off). I'm not sure if that's the cause or a symptom of dulcimer players tending to be nice, generally happy people. In my book, that's a Good Thing, all around.
I definitely covet the BL and the Presnell.
Please, continue down whichever avenue you prefer, or both.
Mike, I have the dulcimers I love. I will say one thing. If I had a dream dulcimer or maybe I should say a dulcimer I would love to have is one that I can make. I would love to learn how to make one. To play a dulcimer that I made myself would be a dream come true. If I'm not able to make one I suppose I would love to have a teardrop. I don't have one of those.
I suspect some here might have opinions about that involving Ed Thomas rolling over in his grave...
Can't say that felt he earth trembling here, but I think I did just hear a hearty chuckle from the general direction of Big Doubles. :D
Robin Clark said:
Well, you are going to be shocked at this one - but here is my dream dulcimer
To go with the Aura Spectrum DII'd want a trip to the Fishman studio with a full range of original old dulcimers (Thomas, Prichard, Presnell, Tignor, Glen, Ledford, Ambergy, Mawhee, Melton etc etc) to get them all recorded and added to Aura image gallery. Then I'd have a dulcimer built for noter drone playing with a well banalced but acoustically quiet sound and a Fishman p/u. And that dulcimer with the Aura and the Bose L1p/a would be my stage set-up:
I'd have a loop pedal and general acoustic effects box (reverb, echo, chorus etc).
I don't think I would see any change from $5000 for my custom dulcimer and stage rig - and that's before adding the cost of sampling the old dulcimers in a good studio to get them loaded on to the Aura Spectrum - so perhaps it will have to stay a dream
Well, you are going to be shocked at this one - but here is my dream dulcimer
To go with the Aura Spectrum DII'd want a trip to the Fishman studio with a full range of original old dulcimers (Thomas, Prichard, Presnell, Tignor, Glen, Ledford, Ambergy, Mawhee, Melton etc etc) to get them all recorded and added to Aura image gallery. Then I'd have a dulcimer built for noter drone playing with a well banalced but acoustically quiet sound and a Fishman p/u. And that dulcimer with the Aura and the Bose L1p/a would be my stage set-up:
I'd have a loop pedal and general acoustic effects box (reverb, echo, chorus etc).
I don't think I would see any change from $5000 for my custom dulcimer and stage rig - and that's before adding the cost of sampling the old dulcimers in a good studio to get them loaded on to the Aura Spectrum - so perhaps it will have to stay a dream
Stephanie, I love the look of that Presnell, but I'd rather hear it .
And she sounds as good as she looks.
My other favorite, an Edd Presnell.
Dusty Turtle said:
Yum. Blue Lion. Yum. Inlay. Yum. Rosewood. Yum.
Stephanie Stuckwisch said:
I bought my dream dulcimer a few years ago - Blue lion rosewood hourglass w /custom inlay.
I'm with Dusty! That thing's absolutely beautiful!
Yum. Blue Lion. Yum. Inlay. Yum. Rosewood. Yum.
Stephanie Stuckwisch said:
I bought my dream dulcimer a few years ago - Blue lion rosewood hourglass w /custom inlay.
I bought my dream dulcimer a few years ago - Blue lion rosewood hourglass w /custom inlay.
Errrr....sure, that's it :D
Just one of those questions that pop into your head, usually when you should be sleeping.
Why do you ask, Mike? Are you going to surprise me with a Christmas present this year?
I casually asked the question in chat here, then decided that it would be a good topic for the general forum.
If you could have your "dream dulcimer", what would it be? Describe as fully as you wish. Body Style, woods, finish, fret pattern, headstock, tuners...the more specific, the better.
An 'Indulgence' of dulcimers ?
JohnH
Hi All
ah... how about Onetoomany...
I just havea singleplain three string dulcimer with wooden tuning pegs.. not much of a collection!
Cheers Ken
