My brother pointed out in the video link I posted that the 2nd fret played sounded flat. Of course it did. I played the extra 1.5 fret that I installed. Here's the scale played with skipping that fret.
Probably easier to get out of the basement than the aircraft was.....
Nice build.....Will it fly?
Yes, not excavating and cutting foundation walls this time. If it flies, it will be because of frustration. Although I'm not prone to throwing things that matter.
Nicely done, @terry-jaye . Have you tested it out yet? What starter tune are you experimenting with?
It's in testing mode right now. I need to move the 2 melody strings closer together. Minutes ago I received a little amp/speaker/bluetooth thingie that plugs into the output jack. Not really loud, but very portable. Google photo link below.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/byTkN4caWCsD9HBg7
I'm picking away at Amazing Grace as it's my mom's favorite.
Hello all. I've been aware of dulcimers for over 52 years, but never learned to play. I built one from plans in a 1973 Popular Science issue when I was age 14. I was fascinated with the graceful curves. Here's a snap of the original article.
With the very limited resources living in rural Southern Ontario, I was able to approximate the instrument. No one including the big city music store nearby knew what I was talking about. It served it's purpose as a wall decoration for all these years. This past winter I noticed the peg box had spilt. I did a minor restoration and finally purchased dulcimer strings and replaced the pegs.
I lent it to a classical guitarist neighbor of mine. She returned it stating it was difficult to play. She was being kind. After some research and viewing lots of Youtube videos, I came to the conclusion that the first 4 frets were correct. For some reason, I inserted another a slightly more than an inch after the 4th. The rest were correct but offset by that 1 inch. The instrument was unplayable and it's now back on the wall.
I decided I there was one more dulcimer in my bones and started construction on an electric one. Nine days after starting, it's functionally complete. I have more resources and time than I did for the last project. I shaped it to pay homage to the original. This one has a removable fretboard so that mistakes are easily fixed. Also allows for a chromatic fretboard if I want to go that route. I made use of AN aircraft fasteners everywhere. I built an aircraft in my basement some years ago and those fasteners ger used everywhere
It's visible on the photo above the two instruments.
Anyway, I'm learning to play the new one. I don't have a musical bone in my body, but should be able to crank out some tune in a mechanical way. I'll post the construction process in the appropriate forum. It was nice to find this site as I'll probably need some advice and assistance.
Terry
