I have said for many years that I can be having a bad day, and a little time with one of my dulcimers just makes it better!
A meditation of dulcimers? A therapy of dulcimers? 
I've got a new dulcimer in the house, whee! My latest acquirement is a David Honea (picture posted in this album ).
That said, it looks like the luthier's dulcimer website is no more, and the Wayback Machine version is sadly lacking in photos. There are a few of his dulcimers listed used on eBay right now, and I found a little discussion of him in past threads here, but I'd love to see (or hear about) even more of his work, because I'm curious like that.
So if anybody else has pictures or stories or thoughts on David Honea dulcimers, feel free to share, and thanks in advance! 
It's that time of year when the flowers and veggies are all getting overgrown and ragged looking. Time to start pulling things out, pruning, tidying up a little area here and there as the plants become exhausted by it all. I've learned the hard way to not procrastinate too much on end-of-year garden cleanup.
Happily we're still getting some real nice tomatoes. Not lots of them, but just enough to enjoy the bacon/tomato/mayo sandwiches we love to make this time of year. 
Can't remember that I've ever had the opportunity. Maybe once, years ago, in a multi-instrument jam. Not exactly a common folk instrument around these parts. I've been to a number of statewide folk meet-ups here in Florida and can't remember seeing or hearing any sort of squeeze-box.
Do you guys like to play along with a concertina?
I forgot to mention, you can find those built in pre-amps with tuners online for anywhere from 15-300$ depending on the quality. You'd have to cut a hole in the side of your merlin to install the display into, and youd have to cut a slot into your bridge under your saddle for the pickup to sit in. Nothing too complicated to do yourself, and definitely something you could get done by a pro if you wanted to. Just make sure you get a preamp small enough to fit in your instrument, perhaps a ukulele preamp.
I have built a dulcimer with a fishman preamp that I recycled from an acoustic guitar. It had an UST or basically a pickup under the bridge and had a built in metronome, tuner, and tone controls.
Personally I am not a big fan of how amplification changes the tone so much, however I'm also not a big fan of the hollow, plunking tone that strumsticks often have. I have tried one of those little piezos, and preferred that, because the original tone was mostly preserved. In my opinion, many strumsticks players are also guitar players who want a more gutsy, guitar like tone, and install pickups to achieve that.
When it comes to tuners built into amps, maybe this is just me, but I find their displays to be very unintuitive to use to tune. I have a headstock tuner but I mostly use an app on my phone. A modern smartphone has a very high quality microphone, typically better quality than you'll ever need for tuning, and also typically better than an actual tuner, plus the display is much bigger and has more details. The clip on can be handy in a group setting or anywhere noisy.
Nate
I must have a good one, then. *shrug* Still, its a roots instrument usually played in an environment (traditionally) where everyone would tune by ear to relative so, historically its not that far off. LOL
No thanks. Seen too many of those with unplayable fret spacings. Seagull makes good guitars, but...
https://seagullguitars.com/product/m4-spruce-eq/
A Merlin in spruce- with an ONBOARD TUNER and Preamp? They make one in Mahogany, also. I know, it costs more than just clipping on a tuner but think- if Seagull didn't think people would buy it they wouldn't make it. This means that enough people, somewhere, said to them "hey, what if you......" meaning there is interest enough in it for them to invest tens of thousands of dollars or whatever to actually come up with one!
For a 'roots' instrument, that's pretty damn cool.
Looking to buy a dulcimer made by Tab Ward, N.T. Ward, or Ricky Lee Ward. Prefer traditional wooden pegs, diatonic fretting, heart-shaped soundholes, 3 strings, etc. Drop me an e-mail if you have one to sell in good, playable condition.
gregory52gunner@gmail.com
I'm an uncurable punster (just ask my wife) but when I play my dulcimer I don't fret about it.
As a dulcimer player I always have an appetite for something new. My latest is called: "Ala-Mode" !
Thanks! Found him. I'll send him a message later today with the photos and serial number of my dulcimer. As it turns out, he is only about 35 miles from my home in Natural Bridge. Maybe I will be able to visit him.
I have a small collection of electric and acoustic guitars as well as cigar box guitars and violin (some of which I built myself). I also build all my own vacuum tube guitar amplifiers.
I have a BSEE from Virginia Tech earned when vacuum tubes were still part of the curriculum. I retired 4 years ago from my job as a Satellite Communications Systems Engineer contractor with the CIA. I worked in the Intelligence Community for 40+ years. My wife and I retired to Natural Bridge Virginia in 2019.
You can send him a message here. He is jcalkin. Do a search under members for him and then click on send a message.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks for the responses.
I found his Facebook page before posting here. However, I don't do Facebook so that is little help to me.
Does he have an email address?
Is there any way to send him a private message through this website or this forum itself?
Bill Haegele
I see John commenting and showing his builds on the FB page Let's Make Dulcimers (an Psalteries and Mandolins, etc.). He's actually a member here, but not a big contributor. I've not played one of his but it's obvious he has very high level skills as a builder, and his designs are r4ally nice. I'm sure you'll really appreciate your purchase.
I'd go to FB and contact him there. He has a personal Page and a Dulcimer Page as well, I believe...
John Calkin, former President of the American Guild of Luthiers.........100's of articles by him available online. He is on facebook too.
https://www.facebook.com/john.calkin.92
That is going to be an outstanding for you....since JC's retirement from H&D (Huss and Dalton guitars in Staunton, Va.) John tells of building 4,000 instruments. BTW, H&D Guitars are mucho bucks and top of the line.........like 4-5 grand used and way upwards of that new.
I just purchased a John Calkin Dulcimer from a local shop here in Lexington, Virginia. I have been trying to find information about Calkin and the Dulcimer I purchased but his website is dead and I can't find any contact information other that he is located in Greenville, Virginia. I live in Natural Bridge, Virginia. The label inside the Dulcimer has Calkin's name, Greenville, Virginia, and a serial number.
Photos of the Dulcimer in question are attached. TIA
Bill Haegele
What poetic lyrics. And what a nice reminder of the purity of Garfunkel's voice.
Thanks Ken... I fixed Rob's link. :)
The link Rob posted didn't work for me. It is missing the "l" at the end. This one works: https://www.orpingtonfolkclub.org.uk/Interviews_&_Articles/Interviews/001.html
Good article and interview.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
https://www.orpingtonfolkclub.org.uk/Interviews_&_Articles/Interviews/001.html
Here’s an interesting article about the most famous player of Frank Bond dulcimers. If you haven’t listened to him, you should!
One of my favorite S&G tunes as well.
Well, young lady, that was a popular song in of the college coffeehouses I frequented back in those days. Thanks for bringing it to my attention again. The folks who sang it did not do it as well as Art and Paul, but it was lovely nevertheless.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
One of my favorite songs of my youth- April Come She Will. From Simon & Garfunkel's Sounds of Silence Album, 1966. I loved the song then when I was 12, but it's even more meaningful to me now that I'm older.
Written by Paul Simon, usually sung by Art Garfunkel.
Lyrics:
Truly a timeless song.
Here is Art Garfunkel singing it in 1966:
I know I'm bringing up an old thread, but - oh well. I play guitar, clawhammer banjo and am now learning dulcimer. When I learn a mountain instrument, such as clawhammer banjo or dulcimer, I want to learn and play it the way the the original players played it. I guess I want to learn the tradition, keep it, and maybe add a personal touch here and there. But "old school" tradition is very important to me. So, if I want chromatic, guitar or banjo is the way to go for me. With clawhammer banjo, I thought of transferring it to guitar - but why? It was made for banjo. With a dulcimer I want that lovely sweet sound of the mountains and to keep the tradition alive as best I can. I don't want to make them into something modern and into something they are not. There are plenty of hybrids instruments - banjo dulcimers, guitar banjos, etc. out there if you want to come into the up to date modern world.
So, in my mind, let a guitar be a guitar, let a banjo be a banjo and let a dulcime be a dulcimer.
How serious can you get with a recorder? See the following:
J.S. Bach Toccata & Fuge d-Moll BWV 565 arr. for recorder orchestra
Berliner Blockflöten Orch
Dietrich Schnabel - Symphony 1, mvmt 4
Three Irish traditional - Quinta Essentia Recorder Quartet & Paul Leenhouts I Quarteto Flauta Doce
Quinta Essentia Quarteto
I suspect that the recorder over tin whistle choice is often snob-ism. The American Recorder Society says
"Rather than a mere toy, an educational aid, or a simple musical instrument suitable only for amateurs, the recorder is a vehicle for serious musical expression demanding years of dedicated study. It has a long and interesting history and can lay claim to an extensive and highly varied repertoire spanning eight centuries. It has always enjoyed a particularly rich representation in literature, drama, painting and sculpture."
https://americanrecorder.org/about_the_recorder.php
Similarly, four year olds should be given lessons on the violin or piano, not the dulcimer.
IT'S NOT ABOUT HAVING FUN OR ENJOYING MUSIC! (Or learning to count.)
As a result, where I live you can buy a recorder in a "dollar store" for $1.25 whereas you have to go to a music store to buy a tin whistle for $9.95.
To give a specific example of how key and temperament affect notes on the dulcimer, if you had 3 dulcimers built to be tuned (EBE) and
one was "equal temperament"
one was "mean tone temperament"
one was "just intonated"
G# would be flatter on the "just intonated" dulcimer than it is on the equal temperament dulcimer
G# would be sharper on the "meantone" dulcimer than it would on the equal temperament dulcimer.
That is not a common tuning, but it is an example of one where G# is quite different for each temperament, since you mentioned G#.
I've always wondered why schools don't use penny whistles instead of recorders. They are cheaper and are based on a simpler counted-hole method of scales, like the dulcimer is. I've noticed a distinct similarity between dulcimers and p.whistles in terms of playing different modes- both are based upon the ionian mode, with aeolian being quite accessible as well. (ionian home on 3rd fret dulcimer, 3rd hole whistle) Both are easily played in the most common keys as well. P.whistles would certainly be much more portable and durable for kids to take for practicing at home.
It depends on what temperament is being used, as Skip also mentioned. In equal temperament, G# is the same as Ab. There are other temperaments (systems of tuning used at different points of history and/or in different cultures) where G# may not be the same as Ab.
In addition to that, players of fretless or other instruments capable of microtones may choose to inflect notes depending on what follows them. For example, leading tones (like G# in the key of A) might be pushed sharper in order to accentuate that leading to the tonic.
To complicate things further, due to acoustical physics of various instruments, there are often tuning peculiarities regardless of what temperament the instrument maker was going for. Clarinets, for example, overblow an interval of a 12th- but some fingerings end up producing wider or narrower 12ths, even on high end instruments. It's up to the player to be able to compensate for that. And of course some ears are more sensitive than others to even notice.
More than you probably wanted to know for your question!
It boils down to the fact that the frequencies of the notes are not exact/even and do not double [times 2] as is commonly accepted. This is the basic reason the frets are not evenly spaced and results in the 'Rule of 18' and '12th root of 2' for fret placement. I think 'wolf notes' are also part of this.
When the "G#" frequency approximately doubles, the frequency is not the same as the doubled frequency of the Ab. This difference is/can be audible.
When 'equal temperment' was developed, this difference was, essentially, eleminated.
Most of the other 'temperments' are attempts to modify this difference.
You can purchase a plastic recorder or tin whistle for less than $3.00. A plastic ukulele can be had for $5.00 or less. The least expensive dulcimer kit in a quantity lot of 12 is $52 each and then you need to factor in the cost of building (labor, glue, paint or other finish, tools, etc.). Given tight budgets for the arts in education, which would you choose.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I though I understood the whole sharp/flat thing but now I'm confused. I have always heard for example a G sharp was the same as a A flat. But now I hear that pitch wise they are different at least on a string instrument but not on a keyboard. Can someone help me understand? Thank you!
Cheap school instruments= plastic recorders, plastic ukeleles, cardboard dulcimers, plastic or metal p.whistles.
I've always wondered why schools don't use penny whistles instead of recorders. They are cheaper and are based on a simpler counted-hole method of scales, like the dulcimer is. I've noticed a distinct similarity between dulcimers and p.whistles in terms of playing different modes- both are based upon the ionian mode, with aeolian being quite accessible as well. (ionian home on 3rd fret dulcimer, 3rd hole whistle) Both are easily played in the most common keys as well. P.whistles would certainly be much more portable and durable for kids to take for practicing at home.
Although the conversation happened a couple of years ago, I found the idea of replacing recorders with dulcimers interesting. I am finding that kids are aging with less fine motor skills. More students struggle even with the most simple recorder fingerings. I am looking at using dulcimers during my primary grades music instruction. As early as kindergarten, students will learn to count the frets (which correlates with the simple counting curriculum) while making music using the noter style. As they progress, they can learn to use fingering on the melody string to increase finger dexterity, and eventually chords. This would probably last through the second grade. At this point, then I can branch out to ukulele, recorders, guitars, etc. I will never replace recorder or ukulele, but the dulcimer will definitely prepare students for such making them invaluable in school music. Best part, kids will make music quickly and fall in love with it faster. I think I got the plan.
Haha, well while I'm definitely no expert in the standard behavior of woodworkers, but I do know that a lot of people have a grandfather who built a handful of dulcimers for friends and family, and when those get sold, it can be almost impossible to find info about them.
You do make a very good point. Dulcimers can come in different intonations (such as meantone or Just-intonated), or have a bridge setup for a tuning with a specific gauge of strings such as DAA, or AEA, so buying from an obscure luthier increases those risks.
I think it's somewhat common for skilled woodworkers to build a couple of dulcimers for fun, which then end up in circulation with very little info about their builder. I wonder if this may be like that.
Being pretty clueless about the standard behavior of woodworkers 
, I didn't even think of that, but it does sound Very Plausible from a purely logical standpoint.
It also sounds like I could end up with a specific variant of DAD involving dulcimers of obscure origin, so I should probably be careful about that...
