I feel like an idiot. I realize now that that gap at the bottom is supposed to be there. The entire fret board is raised up and is attached to the body in four places. I’ve attached a photo of the side view near the tail. That gap is supposed to be there. I don’t think it would do to move those pins to the bottom piece of the tail.
@ken-longfield
I’m afraid you may be right. I tried to gently press the fretboard down and there were a lot of creaking noises. Plus, when I look at the fretboard from the bottom at eye level I can see that it curves upward at the bottom slightly. I don’t know if either of these things necessarily means that it is warped.
The crucial thing is whether the fretboard's upper surface curves up. There should be a very slight concave 'dish' to reduce string's buzzing against frets.
I’m afraid you may be right. I tried to gently press the fretboard down and there were a lot of creaking noises. Plus, when I look at the fretboard from the bottom at eye level I can see that it curves upward at the bottom slightly. I don’t know if either of these things necessarily means that it is warped.
@Nate, yes that is the general idea. But those thin pins would themselves be under severe bending tension. I would recommend 1/8" brass rod rather than the brads. And mount them with only about 1/8" showing above the surface at about -15° from horizontal, so the strings tend to seat at the pins' base rather than at their ends.
If one wants to accommodate both loop end and ball-end strings, one end of the brass rods can be turned (or filed) down to a diameter to fit inside the strings' ball-end. That is the arrangement for my Standard Series dulcimers.
Has anyone else considered that the peg head may have been broken, smoothed a little bit and refinished? Also, did you check to see if the fret board is straight and level? The force of six strings tuned to pitch could have warped it. Just a couple of thoughts from looking at the photos.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
The more I look at it the more I wonder if the dulcimer was intended to be hung on a rod. The headstock almost resembles a clothes hanger hook. I doubt well ever know, but I do like the idea of the builder having rows of their creations across a wall.
@ken-hulme I cant help but wonder what the intention was, since I'd Imagine it took some effort to do. Then again, maybe the piece of wood that became the headstock was originally cut for something else, and the maker repurposed it. Ive done that with furniture pieces a couple times with some strange looks.
@dwain-wilder Am I understanding you correctly that you are saying the string pins should be mounted to the tailpiece like in this drawing, so to not apply upward force to the break?
thanks,
Nate
Interesting notes from Ken, Strumelia and Nate. Definitely a legacy dulcimer, worth some work.
A further improvement at the tailblock would be to move the string pins down, below the break. Where they are now, the string tension tends to re-open the break rather than reinforce the repair.
AFAIK, that tuning head shape is unique to this dulcimer. A one-off design by the builder, probably. In those days a strap would often be tied at the head end, with a loop over the tail button for "quick release".
I find the headstock really interesting. The shape of the cutout seems very specific, as if it was for a purpose. I cant imagine it would be much good for hanging the dulcimer as the notch seems really shallow. Maybe it was for hanging one specifically on a shaker peg or something like that? Also, I see a knob at the bottom for a strap, but none at the top. Anyone have any ideas? Is that type of cutout on other dulcimers as well?
I agree with Ken and Dwain that this looks to be more likely from the 1960s or early 70s. Definitely not from the 1940s.
It's a cool dulcimer!- and seems like it'd be worth restoring.
Also, I wanted to add that the odd shape head makes a great “handle” for carrying the dulcimer-its kind of a neat design feature.
Wow! Thanks for the rapid response! I’m not sure whether I have the skills required for these repairs so I might try to find a luthier in my area. I don’t have a huge investment in this so I don’t mind spending more to have a working instrument.
I’ve attached photos of the head and pegs from the top.
Dwain has given you good advice on fixing the 'cut-away' tail which, if I remember correctly, was a Howie Mitchell design concept from the 60s Revival era.
That, those tuners, plus the 6+ and 13+ fret layout makes me think that this is a 1960s dulcimer, or at least influenced by Howie Mitchell's book called The Mountain Dulcimer: How To Make It and Play It, after a fashion. The instrument with its under curled tuning head certainly in an interesting build -- probably a one-off which would explain no builder's label.
You might begin by applying a clamp to the tailpiece and drawing it down to where it almost touches the bottom of the tailblock. The easing a folded length of 100g sandpaper and clamping just enough to enable the paper to be drawn back and forth, getting some clean wood. Then you can relax the clamp, brush in some glue and re-clamp to fully join the break.
That break was likely caused by the design feature of a cut-away top along the sides of the last few inches of the fretboard, intended to increase the volume perhaps.
Further fasten that break by drilling a tapered hole for a screw long enough to engage about an inch of the bottom half of the tailblock break. Tapered screw drills can be purchased at good hardware stores. Your photos don't show any sense of the actual size of things, but a #8x1-1/2" screw might be about right.
Interesting design, otherwise! Especially the peghead. A top view of that pegbox might disclose another place where some preventive re-design would help, as it looks like the slot for the interior of the pegbox might extend right to the end of the peghead, in the view you supply!
I can’t resist a homeless dulcimer regardless of condition. As you can see this one’s a little rough. The nut is broken and the neck is lifted off the body down at the bottom. I bought it because the price was right and I could hang it on the wall if I couldn’t get it restored to usable condition. The tag on it said it was from the 1940’s. I’ve not been able to find a photo another with this style head so I can’t verify its age. I’ve looked high and low for some kind of label or makers mark but no luck. I’m hoping someone here will have some insight. Thanks for your kind attention.
I suppose this is a reintroduction... I registered some time ago, but haven't participated much on the forum.
I'm an Irish traditional music guy, I play whistle and Irish flute. I have wanted a dulcimer for years, but moving around and having children kind of got in the way of all that.
However, I am happy to report I have finally gotten my very own Mountain Dulcimer. I bought a cardboard kit from Folkcraft, not long ago (which I still need to put together), and not long after that I saw an ad on Facebook marketplace for a like new McSpadden.
The seller was nearby, so I jumped on it immediately. Although it was manufactured in 1996, it is like new. It still had tags attached to the base string. Of course, since Murphy is never lurking far away, I almost immediately broke the base string. So, I bought new strings and thanks to YouTube re-strung it (as a three string) and got it tuned up. Thanks to my venerable Korg CA-10 tuner that I've had for years.
Anyway, I now look forward to participating more because I know nothing about things with strings, 🤪 but am keen to learn everything about this beautiful instrument.
I recall going to several different dulcimer festivals at a time when George was the ONLY staff teacher there who included noter style playing in his workshops, among maybe 20 mtn dulcimer teachers. I do remember how like-able George was during his presentations. His teaching style was always fun and accessible.
One of those special moments -- a few years back, the folks at the Mount Dora Festival here in Florida, called and asked me to substitute teach a Noter & Drone for Beginners class, when George was taken suddenly ill and hospitalized.
Thanks for that sharing that article Strumelia. It captures the essence of George and his relationship with the mountain dulcimer and dulcimer people. His festival, August Dulcimer Daze, was popular and attended by many folks. He was a teacher at many other festivals. And he was a great promoter of folk music in general.
He will be missed.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Been awhile ,but I missed fotmd I have not yet started any dulcimers but have made another Cigarbox guitar,this one tuned DAD ,I don’t have a huge lot of songs but am learning,and through forces far greater than me,came into possession of a Mandolin needing restoring and so have been directed down another stringed path,I don’t control these things I just go where I’m pushed I guess. My daughter also indicated she was interested in mandolins when I get it finished! I do enjoy the info contained,here and thanks,I will do a dulcimer eventually.
I read that George Haggerty has passed away. He encouraged and inspired so many hundreds of new dulcimer players over the decades.
Anyone want to share their experiences with George?
Here is a nice little article I came across.
Strawberry season started early this year. We were picking from late April until a week ago. Cool dry weather made some of the best berries ever. Next year's plants arrive in three weeks.
Asparagus picking ended two weeks ago, now I'm letting the ferns grow for next year. Hope to be picking tomatoes from the greenhouse by late June.
I hope everybody has a great garden. Life is good...Robert
I've been looking for the tab for this beautiful song. Anyone know where I can find it?
You might want to ask Sarah Kate, she is pretty knowledgeable about that sort of thing.
I've been looking for the tab for this beautiful song. Anyone know where I can find it?
It's so nice when the garden starts producing, isn't it? We have three different tomato plants all fruiting right now. The cherry tomatoes (sweet 100s) look like they'll be ripening first.
We had some friends over for lunch, and to accompany the grilled salmon, I made one of our summer staple salads: black rice with green onions, strawberries, and walnuts, tossed lightly with a lemon vinaigrette made with fresh-squeezed Meyer's lemons from our backyard tree.
The rice provides the substance, the strawberries some sweetness, the onions and lemon some zest, and the walnuts some crunch. It's an interesting combination that is super easy to make. No recipe required.
Molly, since the song is under copyright, you probably won't find free tab online anywhere. Maybe someone published tab in a book somewhere, but none that I know of.
That version of the song is in the key of D, so I would suggest just playing along until you figure it out. You can get the entire melody out of DAA or out of DAd if you have a 6+ fret.
Anybody know where I could find the tablature for Cool Water, by The Sons of the Pioneers?
Have been getting nice fresh leaf lettuce from our veggie garden for the past 3 weeks, and giving some to my good friends.
Today I cut the first big leaves of Swiss chard and stir fried it to eat with leftover stuffed shells. It was yummy! I'm glad i planted some scallions this year, since they will come in handy for stir frying as well. I'm on a stir fry kick this year! 
My tomato plants are about 10" high and are making flowers already.
Molly, I charge anywhere from $15 to $25 a fret. Replacing a fret involves pulling the old fret and putting in a new one. If you damage the fret board in pulling the old fret you need to repair it before installing the new one. Then you need to dress the fret. It can take an hour or more to do one fret. Adding new fret requires calculating where they should be placed, cutting the slots, installing the frets, leveling, and dressing. Customers should be aware that problems in doing these operations may arise and additional charges may be incurred. Since I do not do this for a living I keep my prices low, but I the pros around here charge around $50 an hour plus materials. I don't charge for the fret material as long as I have the proper size. If I have to order fretwire, well that's a separate negotiation.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Hi, Everybody.
I have a repair job of replacing two frets, adding two frets, and adjusting the action. I just don’t know how much to charge for the repairs. Any suggestions for what I should charge for the work?
Hi Vicki. Yes, my New Harmony dulcimer is wonderful but I've decided to sell it because the base of my thumbs have eroded with age & arthritis in my fingers have pretty much ended my dulcimer days....stretching left hand to chord has gotten hard. I bought it 10/26/21 but its never left my home or been played by anyone but myself so is in immaculate condition. It's not a baritone but when I told Rick I only liked soft, deep, mellow tones, he selected the walnut/butternut combo so I could get that sound. I've attached a zip file with the info just in case it might be of interest to you. My original cost was $920 custom made. Classical beauty was an issue so it has black Hipshot tuners that look super & I had staff notes for sound holes done..........if they are good enough for a Stradavarious violin, they were good enough for me plus I wanted understated elegance so Rick gave me that.
I have more pictures in a zip folder that is too large to send via FOTMD though. I have the original shipping box Rick used. I'd never part with this instrument ever if my thumb issue didn't restrict my chording. Let me know if you are interested or need other info. I do have 100% of the original docs plus I bought a nice guitar humidifier to keep in the case. I'm thinking $850 is a fair price as it's as good as new. Barb
Hi Vicki
You might try contacting Joe Collins at jcdulcimer.com and he can help you with your order
He may even have one in his stock since he is a dealer
Good luck
Ron
Are you all still loving your NH dulcimers? Do you have any suggestions/reviews as I seriously consider to order a baritone? Or… does anyone have one for sale? Must have a pickup. It would be wonderful if I don’t have to wait 12 weeks for a new one so thought I’d check around first! Happy strummin’ from me here in beautiful northern Vermont… 😊
Sarah Kate has a new record dropping on the internet soon! There will be a limited number of cd's available, too. I'm looking forward to getting a cd. 
It's always fun to think about how to spend other people's money. 
Keeping such things alive is simple. All you have to do is find a individual willing to pledge say $30,000 a year to under-right operating losses. That would keep the Editor from having to do so from personal resources.
For that you could hire a young person to do so, and maybe find a solution to bringing new folks into our fold.
For better or worse, people under 35 seem expect to be paid as Executive Directors of things us "over 70s" did as volunteers.
Well, I just read all the comments. Various thoughts:
I've been surprised that people have 'folded' on it quite so quickly, all the well-expressed difficulties notwithstanding.
I totally understand the need for some big change, and also that Ashley herself isn't interested in transforming it to an online forum - but having DPN continue at least in a digital form seems like a bare minimum we should all hope for!!
A predominant mood of the comments seemed to be 'so sad - for very well said reasons - but oh well'. So a major shout-out to Ken Hulme's very substantive comments of two months ago, starting "I'm pretty sure she explored every avenue"!! Constructive, forward-looking ideas, thank you! Recommended re-reading.
By the way, don't we say we hope more young people will get into traditional music? And aren't virtually all Millennials (and younger) exclusively consuming culture on digital devices ?? If DPN can't even maintain a decent digital presence then it really is dead, maybe extinct. 'He not busy being born is busy dying.' (the Zimmerman boy)
That said, there is also the "actual pages sitting on the coffee table to look through" appeal, Dusty spoke of. Maybe that will be a generational appeal, we'll see, but perhaps an annual print edition? As a 'limited edition' donor-level thing?
Another potential model to follow, in addition to Ken H's ideas, would be that of FolkWorks , which went from greater-LA print to quasi-national online publication. https://folkworks.org/
Obviously having FotMD and whatever others helps lessen the loss of the DPN, but really, how close to the amount of impact that DPN has had does any current, single dulcimer web site have?? (And sorry but some of us still prefer a root canal to catbk.) FotMD obviously serves a huge purpose, and seems at a good, sustainable equilibrium. It obviously can't become a 'new dpn' by virtue of the fretted focus; if anything, I wonder if there is a hammered equivalent out there, as seems oughta be. Maybe a question underlying any form of ongoing Dulcimer Players News is whether the two instruments' players are at all really interested in the other type?
I suppose having Quarantunes somehow get involved is wishful thinking (??), but they've sure shown talent for organizing etc ! And there'd be some karmic aspect to it. Ashley said her main income loss was from festivals going under and losing ads, primarily due to Covid, but also, arguably, from online competition. Are there NO live festivals that will resume? Maybe that's the sad truth, I don't know. I sure had a much better time with a bunch of live folks in Texas last week than I've ever had at a computer festival. Okay, so far. And not that they don't serve a lot of people, it's just... different.](et viva la diff!)
It's always seemed to me doing something like DPN requires a few people, aka a group. Obviously now they can all be remote. Personally, I'd be happy to be AN editor/writer, but not The editor/writer.
Also btw, of course there are those who haven't heard of DPN, and we can Monday quarterback if they did enough outreach. But context please: I can tell you from recent travels there are plenty of active players who haven't heard of the International Appalachian Dulcimer Day or FotMD itself, either!! WE'RE ALL IN A VERY SMALL NITCH TOGETHER!
One could actually imagine an aspect of a digi-DPN to be short reports about/best of FotMD, Fb, et al!
Here's a true story: My friend Howie Bursen, wonderful musician in CT, worked for rich people all his life indulging their 'hobby project' - being the vintner who actually set up and ran 'their' wineries. Isn't there a rich lady or guy somewhere who wants to 'do' a niche music digital 'magazine' as a hobby?? Could Cyndi Lauper be interested as underwriter and honorary publisher? I see millions of dollars of RVs and music equipment at music festivals. Qtunes has shown monetization is possible.
Disclaimer: I'm instinctively disorganized, including schedules and budgets, but I can write and proofread. I can be AN editor but not The Editor (in chief). Needs someone with a business head obviously.
So I guess we'll see what develops, but count me in! It's truly too good a thing to let die.
Leo
I set up my 4 string dulcimers so that the inner-most of the two melody strings is equidistant with the middle and bass, and the outermost has the same distance to the edge of the fretboard as the bass string. On a 1.5" fretboard this is usually
7/32" | 1/16" | 1/2" | 1/2" | 7/32" with the lines representing strings.
For what it's worth, removing the outer string can put you further from the ends of the fretboard, but removing the inner string can give your thumbtip slightly more space on the melody without touching the middle string. It really doesn't matter much, unless youre like me and not very precise while playing.
