Okay, great, thanks! You're certainly a wealth of info about all of this...glad we have connected. I will follow your advice and try those string gauges, and will experiment with tunings, etc. Thanks again!
Thanks Ken. Well, I don't know if that's more than I want to know, but it's more than I knew I needed to know! So, I've measured the vibrating string length of my dulcimer, and it looks like just a little over 28" (maybe 28-1/16"?). Given that, would you have any advice as to what tuning I might want to use? I'm not sure how to decide that, but would it relate in any way to my voice range (assuming that I sometimes might want to sing along with my playing)? If so, I have a fairly low range (not sure how to classify it...have never had formal voice training, etc.)...for example, I often sing the bass line in choral songs, and I often end up tuning my guitar down a full step to be able to comfortably sing certain songs (if I don't want to otherwise change keys, etc.)...does that help in any way?
As for the nut & bridge, I agree with you that the Wilcutt example definitely has metal for those two parts, with notches for the strings cut into them, etc. The nut on mine is somewhat worn and chipped, but it is definitely some kind of wood, and it looks very similar to the rest of the wood on the dulcimer (and it also has notches cut into it). (And as I think I said previously, the bridge is missing, so I'm not sure what it was made of.) I think I should be able to fashion some kind of wooden replacements out of the various varieties of hardwood scraps that I have in my shop.
As for moving to friction tuning pegs, I have found some different versions that might work, both on the International Violin Co. website, and on Amazon. I will keep looking around for options before ordering any. And I still might try and make them myself, since I would ideally like to replicate the shape of the knobs on the originals.
Thanks again!
Thanks Nate. I have various hardwoods as well as bone blanks for guitar saddles & nuts that I could maybe use. I also have the reamers, which I use for installing guitar tuners. Will do some online searching for the pegs themselves.
Thanks again!
Hey fellas. End of the day update here...
I appreciate all of you who have weighed in to help me solve this puzzle.
So, I was able to remove the tuners, by heating up the posts with a soldering iron enough to soften the glue holding the wooden knobs to the shafts, so the knobs could be removed, and then the tuning machines removed from the box. Upon inspection (and touching with the iron), that is definitely lines of solder down the plate of each tuning machine. As I've reflected on it, although I'm new to dulcimers, I find it hard to imagine that this was the original tuner installation...I bet John is right that this was a re-do by some owner of it before it came to our family (although I had thought we were the original owners). I found another Arthur Dixon dulcimer that was sold by Wilcutt Guitars in Lexington, which clearly has the traditional friction tuning pegs (see attached photo)...BTW, this one is numbered 87, whereas mine is 42), and the knob ends on the pegs are identical to the ones on my dulcimer. I can't imagine that mine is the way Mr. Dixon installed tuners on his earlier builds, and then he went back to the traditional friction pegs later. I'm thinking that some previous owner wanted to put geared tuners into it, so they cut off the knobs of the pegs, and mounted them onto the shaft of these geared tuners. And in answer to some of your comments, it appears that the gears were facing down, and the metal rods were soldered to the top side of the plates (and there were no screws used, I guess because there was no way to use screws in the plates themselves). Also, in answer to John's question, yes, the holes do go through to the other side of the tuner box, just like in the Wilcutt example (which also seems to confirm that mine was not the original tuner configuration, because the geared tuners wouldn't have required the holes on the other side of the box).
All that being said, I think I would like to restore it look more like the one sold by Wilcutt, with the traditional friction tuning pegs. Do you all have a source for such pegs? (I could possibly just make them myself, but may want to buy them.) And thanks, John, for your suggested solution...I may go that route if the traditional tuners don't work out.
Finally, any answers to my other two questions below, about strings and materials for the nut & bridge? Its pretty clear from the Wilcutt example that the nut & bridge are metal, like fret wire...although on my dulcimer, the slots are wider and deeper than typical fret slots, and the nut appears to be a thin slice of wood of some type (the bridge is missing).
Thanks again for any and all continued help!
Thanks again for your all's input.
That makes sense about the sound posts. I think I'll just try and put them back the way they were.
And I may try to restore the tuners, if I can get them out without destroying them. I did take out the one that's missing its knob, and they appear to be just a square plate, with the usual posts & gears, similar to a guitar tuner (see attached photos). And upon closer inspection, it looks like the metal rods that ran the length of the box on each side were soldered to tops of the plates of each tuner (see photos), and the rods stuck into the wood on each end of the box. Seems like a pretty crude (but creative!) way of mounting tuners! Anyway, if I can't make these work, I may try to find some tuners that are similar, and figure out some way to mount them in the tuner box securely.
Two more questions...
Thanks again!
Thank you John & Ken for your quick responses and great advice! I think I have the tools and wood that I'll need to repair it and reinforce it, etc. I guess my main challenge will be repairing/replacing the tuners, and then I have a question about the bracing.
As for the tuners, I've seen some photos of Arthur Dixon dulcimers that have simple friction tuners, but these are geared (see additional photo attached), even though they have knobs made of wood and seem to be handmade. Are there tuner sets available that would be a close replication of these? Maybe I can salvage the two remaining knobs, and carve the third one needed, and use them with some new machines? But actually, the existing tuners are working pretty well as is, in terms of turning pretty freely (even before any cleaning/lubricating), so maybe I can salvage them, and just make a new knob to replace the missing one. Also, that rod that is sticking out seems to have been what was holding the tuning machines down in the box (with apparently another rod on the other side (which is now missing). Maybe I could figure out a better way to securing these original tuners into the box. Any ideas about that?
Then, to Ken's question about the "supports" that appear to have been installed between the top & back braces...is that a common part of mountain dulcimer construction? I can see how they could offer some more rigidity, etc., but I'm not sure how necessary they are, since the fretboard makes such a stiff "brace" holding everything together, right? I could certainly replace them, if that makes sense (one is missing, which I would have to replace).
Any other thoughts/advice/referrals?
Thanks much!
I have a 1962 Arthur Dixon mountain dulcimer, from Whitesburg, KY, that has been in my family since it was built. It has a fair amount of cracks and other damage, and am hoping to restore it to playing condition. Although I've restored guitars and other stringed instruments, this is my first attempt at restoring a mountain dulcimer, so I need some advice, and possibly some parts. I will attach some photos here. Anybody out there who could help? Thanks!
