Forum Activity for @ken-hulme

IMHO spending $200 to fix a $100 dulcimer is not worth it unless you happened to luck onto an historical instrument from a known master builder (it has happened, but rarely).  Spend the $200 on another instrument.  Keep you eyes open here for someone selling an instrument that you could become attached to, at a price you can afford!

As Richard sez, we can talk you through cleaning up the instrument you have, adjusting the tuners so they work as properly as possible, and other issues.  

As a new player I recommend you copy, print and read the following booklet I wrote a few years back for beginners called
I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?   It's an illustrated glossary of dulcimer terms, so we all speak the same jargon, plus answers to many beginner questions about tuning, playing, care and feeding.  Tips like how to never breaks another string when tuning...

Ken Hulme's "I Just Got A Dulcimer, Now What?" Article - Strumelia | fotmd.com

The Beginner Players Group here is the perfect place to ask beginner questions.  You actually have to Join the Group to read most posts and make your own posts there.  Start a new post with your question(s) rather than tagging in on someone else's post -- it will help others like you find the answers you asked for.  

Folks, be sure to look over ALL the discussions in the "How Do I...?" forum, for help in figuring out how to do things on the site here.

Check it out, the answers may already be there waiting for you:

https://fotmd.com/forums/forum/site-questions-how-do-i

I understand your quandary. Over the 28 years I have messed with dulcimers, for me, I have found that second to the sound of the dulcimer, I need to enjoy the looks. I do like nice looking and well finished wood. From what you are saying, it sounds like you may have a hard time enjoying the looks of this dulcimer. (perhaps I read you wrong?)

There a number of people on this site who can give you some good advice on how to clean this dulcimer up yourself--I am not one of them. Perhaps you could get the build up off the tuning machines, get them oiled so they work smoothly  and get  the wood cleaned up to look nicer. Then you can play it and save up for one that is nicer with a shorter vsl. I have personally purchased more than 5 dulcimers, several sight unseen, which were bought by the original owner as an impulse buy, played very little if at all, then put away and stored. One of them still had the noter stick and the pick sealed in its little envelope that had not been opened.  I say this to let you know that used or second hand dulcimers are not something to avoid out of hand if they have been stored in a home with controlled temp and humidity--not in a rental storage unit, not in a damp basement or in a hot attic.

Just my 2 cents. Best wishes with this project whichever way you decide to go.

The How To Start A Discussion instructions are in the very first post at the bottom of this string. 

Basically go to the Discussion area you want to start a new Discussion in, such as General Mountain Dulcimer Or Music Discussions.  At the top of that page, click on the + sign at the right of the name.   In the appropriate boxes, give the new Discussion a name and write a bit about what you want to discuss there.  Then click the Create Button.

Gina & Doug -- there IS a UK dulcimer organization -- it's been around for decades.  The group is called Nonesuch Dulcimer Club: www.dulcimer.org.uk   They can set you straight as to local players, activities, meet ups and such.

Hi @ginaB  - I'm in same position - Kent in England, not a dulcimer in sight! I'm working it out slowly but must say it has a distinctive warmth of sound that is really distinctive and good. I have family members pick it up and get simple tunes out immediately. I got the Mel Bay chord book which is useful and also gives one of the best explanations of modes I've seen anywhere. But it's still upside down to me  (guitar player you see).

enjoy

Welcome to FOTMD, @ginaB.  Peruse the forums and join any groups that interest you (you have to join to see all the discussion posts).  Ask questions whenever you please.  We'll be happy to offer answers -- and some of them might even be correct!

@molly-mccurdy - I need to contact you right away. I've sent you a private note here. Can you please check your FOTMD inbox and respond to me? Thank you!  -strumelia

One other trick: use a business card to apply the glue:

• First make sure there is no 'garbage' left at the bottom of the slot! A flexible 6" ruler can be used to shove sawdust and old glue out (though it's a shame to use such a nice tool for that).
• Apply glue along edge of card and draw it through the slot. Just half an inch of glue might be enough
• The first application is a "primer." Wait for it to dry, then repeat
• Matt Berg's tip about putting down tape is a good one, but be sure to remove it before putting in the fret
  • His tip about using rubbing alcohol or acetone to dissolve CA glue is interesting. I'll have to try it! There is also an "Uncure" fluid for CA glue, but it only softens the glue, and can possibly make a mess if used to completely remove all traces of glue.
• Then press fret in. Use a true straight-edge long enough to span the 6, 6-1/2 and 7th frets to make sure the fret is not put in "high". Any rocking can be cured with a small block of wood and a tap with the hammer.
• Also check the 5, 6, and 6-1/2 frets, to make sure the fret isn't too low
• CA glues are available in a variety of thicknesses for different gap-filling uses. I find that a medium-thick AC glue is perfect for such repairs.

And here is a tip for builders:

• before inserting frets, dress the edges of the slots with a 45° chamfer just wide enough so the barbs of the fret go in on the chamfered edge not the top surface.
• • When it is time to pull the frets, this will avoid the dreaded grain pull-up.
  • Both the person who does the re-fretting job and the instrument owner will be grateful for that small task.
  • I use a small pillar file with one edge blank, so I'm only cutting on one edge at a time. That keeps the file from jumping out of the slot!

Thanks, Ken.  I appreciate your sharing this information.  

Thank you, Ken.

Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University still has a Folk Music department. Currently there are two instructors in fiddling but none on other folk instruments. There is no chair listed for the department. There also is a department of ethnomusicology.

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@don-grundy I'd be interested in learning what has become of the program there, too.  

Not perfect pitch, very good relative pitch, though, thanks to voice training and barbershop singing!

I don't know how involved you want to be in this project or how much you want to spend on it, but StewMac sells colored lacquers that do an excellent job. Here is a link: https://www.stewmac.com/search/?q=lacquer

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@ken-hulme Your trip sounds incredible!  I'm especially happy you survived hurricane Ian! 

WHAT AN ODYSSEY!   Nearly perfect month in the UK  from the far south (Steyning on the coast of West Sussex) to Lincolnshire on the east coast.  Then up north beyond the northern tip of Scotland to the  Orkney islands, when humans first came to the UK tens of thousands of years ago.  Home to stone monuments, underground villages and religious centers as old or older than the pyramids and at least as impressive as Stonehenge.  From there driving diagonally Scotland to Oban on the west cost, down the The Great Glen (which includes Loch Ness).  Then diagonally the other way to Dunbar south of Edinburgh and on to the West March where my ancestors held sway around the towns of Coldstream, Kelso, Eyemouth and the stately homes/castles of Wedderburn, Duns, Marchemont and Hirsel (including the lands of the Blackadder branch of the family for you Rowan Atkinson fans).  After our Clan Gathering, we went south to Birmingham for a week or so before returning to the US.

Stain and lacquer or varnish are not the same things.  Lacquer or varnish provide a protective covering, which is clear or slightly red-golden in color.  Stain just colors the wood -- make your spruce look dark like oak or red like cherry or brown like mahogany.  Unless you have perfect pitch or extremely sensitive instruments you will never hear an effect that such tretments will have on the sound (at least until the finish gets 1/16" deep!).  

Awe!!!  Where's the sound? 

Pretty cute!

So easy, any one can play it - and my keyboard, my Fender, my Princeton, and my Yairi.....

Thanks, John, Ill give that some thought. I didn't think of spray lacquer/stain. 

@marg - if you are tuning to the key of D, then the note D would be "1" as you count on your fingers with the alphabet... and the fifth (5) from there would be A (D, E, F, G, A). That's the 1 (the tonic or key note) and its 5th note in the scale... D with A. Hence the popular tuning DAA.

1=tonic, 5=dominant. I never pay attention to absolute pitches.

(tuning is 1s and 5s)

sorry but what is that - could you say like Gg's or Aa's or Dd's

I'm glad Ken is fine and am sorry for the many who have fared badly.  Thank you for posting here, @richard-streib ! 

and i thought *I* had a lot of banjers. 

Thank you so much, Richard, for passing along this word since we know he was right in the worst hit area.

@strumelia.  It is 1 3/4" deep. I love the soundholes too: I figured they might jog someone's memory. The pegs stay perfectly in tune over long periods. If you mean the fretless in the pic, it is my copy of the Wm. Sidney Mount pic. [All - but two - of my almost hundred banjers are fretless.]

[I thought the little flap on the shoulder might be diagnostic, too.]

@marg. The strings came with it; the tuning is 1s and 5s.

I spoke with KenH this morning. He is fine. No power. No damage to his house. Some folks staying with him who did not fare so well.

I checked your FB - what size strings do you have on it & what is it tuned to? Sounds lovely

Perhaps a light coat or two of spray lacquer, such as Deft Semi-Gloss.  It dries quickly, too.

Well that's a really lovely instrument! I like that it's got a relatively shallow depth, so the sound will be bright and project nicely. Love the little sound holes too. Must be a bit of a job to tune though! 

Who made your fretless banjo?

Ken H, when you get a chance, please let us know how you are doing since hurricane Ian.  

Good morning!

Mainly for wood protection, a little for aesthetics. It is the naked-est of all the instruments I own (guitar resembling).

Stain -why?  Lacquer, maybe, will lose some mellow in the tone.  Pick guard, maybe, stick on, no, mounted off the surface, possible, need to know how you plan to mount.

I've been recording a lot lately and falling in love (again) with my beautiful cherry, 7-string American épinette. I have always bewailed the fact that I didn't know the maker; the man from whom I bought it only could offer that he had gotten it, used, in Virginia. I will, once again, reach out to the Internet dulcimer and other instrument community for help; if you have any information, please let me know. I am eager to know and, as I wind things down, and begin my instrument de-acquisition, I'm sure the next owner will appreciate it as well.
[It can be heard on several of my albums.]

My files are all too big. See my Facebook post for pix.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10224215474392337&set=a.1860687234702

My older daughter did choir and madrigal in HS- full costume. Her senior year she was the Queen of the Madrigal “court”. The rest of them not so much musical, though. They have other interests. My 22 yr old son DM’s for about 4 different groups online and plays Warhammer 40k, my younger son and middle daughter are K-pop fanatics. We’re a weird lot

Welcome to the site!
Wow what a lot of music playing runs in your family- how nice!