Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

That's an interesting video. Guitar makers have been using "sinker" wood for many years. This is wood cut from logs that have been submerged in rivers and harbors for years. The wood is dried, sawn into boards, and then dried some more. It is then sawn into thinner pieces for making guitars, ukuleles, mandolins, mountain dulcimers, etc. You can find many species of sinker wood for sale; e.g., cherry, cedar, redwood, mahogany, cypress, etc.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

If the dulcimers are "revival" instruments, mainly post 1950, I don't see any problem in modifying it. I would look to be able to undo the modification if necessary. I have a very early Folkcraft dulcimer (1962) but don't value as much my 1931 James Edward Thomas dulcimer. I think instruments made by individuals should be valued more than instruments built in group shop. Having said all that, you run a business. Do what you think is necessary to move your inventory. You are not keeping them as an investment. And anyone who thinks of owning a mountain dulcimer as an investment probably is kidding themselves.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

When I first started making dulcimers I used violin varnish as that was what my teacher used since he was a violin maker. I think I made three or four dulcimers with this finish and started looking for something easier and less labor intensive. I tried both brush on and wipe on polyurethane finishes, but did not like the look of them. For most of the rest of time building dulcimers I used a spray on lacquer finish. Once I got in to making reproductions I started using oil and shellac finishes. I've also used milk paint. Now, to answer your question, I don't think any of the are the best finish. It just depends on what you are trying to achieve. I think for the end user a lacquer finish is the easiest to care for finish. It cleans and polishes well and looks good plus it can be satin, semi-gloss, or gloss so you can go from understated to flashy.

You can't buy denatured alcohol (labeled as such) here in Pennsylvania either, but you can buy denatured alcohol as fuel for alcohol stoves.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I talked with Doug Naselroad the other day and he hopes to be able to have the Homecoming in November 0f 2026. I think the dates he mentioned to me are Nov. 5, 6, and 7. It still depends upon receiving some funding to make this possible. If it happens I plan to be in Hindman for it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You're welcome, Dusty. The Road to Recovery is an excellent program for recovering addicts. Not everyone stays at the Stringed Instrument Company. Some go on to further education and other jobs. I spoke with one of them last year who now has a Masters degree and is teaching at a community college. He continues to come back to speak with employees encouraging them to keep working in the program. Some stay on and become permanent employees at Troublesome Creek. Doug said the recidivism rate among Road to Recovery is very low. He did tell me the number but I can remember it. I do all I can to support Road to Recovery.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Last night (4/6/26) PBS News Hour featured The Road to Recovery program and the Troublesome Creek Stringed Instrument Company in its final segment of the broadcast. I thought they did a good job. Here is a link to the video: Rebuilding I hope you enjoy it. I spoke with Doug Naselroad shortly after the segment aired and he told me he hopes to hold the 2026 Hindman Dulcimer Homecoming the 5th, 6th, & 7th of November if funding for it comes through.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Happy Easter to you as well Richard. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree that it is a Blue Lion.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Very nice instruments, Shopdad. I just worry too much about temperament. I follow this philosophy.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 images-1.jpeg - 9KB

This is an e-book, so you have to download and print it out yourself. However, it has everything you need to know about mountain dulcimer chords. https://www.melbay.com/Products/93858EB/dulcimer-chord-encyclopedia.aspx?classificationSId=D09

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Lisa, I think you are on the wrong side of the river for me way as I go by. I'm planning to head down 9W to see my cousin in Bergen County, NJ. Thought I'd take the old route instead of the big highway and relive some memories of driving up the Hudson River when I was young.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song,"

Here is a photo to show that we are at the Dulcimer Association of Albany's festival in Latham , NY. We met up with each other yesterday and reconnected with many other friends here. Here is photo of us together at the Saturday evening concert.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 IMG_0922.jpeg - 288KB

I just learned today that John Huron who led many in the building of Thomas type dulcimers died on the morning of March 6, 2026. His obituary can be found here:  John Huron . I met John when I attended Dulcimerville in Black Mountain, NC. He restored my J.E. Thomas dulcimer to playing condition and gave me the inside mold in case I decided to build one. He was a part of current mountain dulcimer history. Rest in peace, John.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

According to Doug Naselroad there will not be one this year. They were unable to secure funding to continue the homecoming. Funding primarily used to pay the workshop leaders and provide meals and housing for them. Other participants paid their own housing and meal costs. 

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

In 1976, Appalshop made a movie entitled "Sourwood Mountain" which is about I.D. Stamper. He plays the mountain dulcimer in it.

There is also the "Hearts of the Dulcimer" video about the West Coast dulcimer community.

I have a VHS tape which Lynn McSpadden gave me. It told how they make dulcimers at the Dulcimer Shoppe. I don't if there are other copies floating around. He told me he send it to his dealers.

Jean Ritchie plays a mountain dulcimer on an episode of Pete Seeger's "Rainbow Quest" TV show. 

You can find many videos with the dulcimer on YouTube. Some are clips from movies and TV shows.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Still waiting for my February DPN. I do have a First Class Mail subscription. Can't wait to read it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I love banjo music. I bought my first banjo in 1971 when I was in graduate school. It was a Gibson RB175 which was an open back long neck. I was a big fan of Pete Seeger. I was using his book to teach myself. The next chapter found me moving to Washington, D.C. and falling in with a bunch of bluegrass pickers. I sold the RB175 and bought a RB250 and started learning Scrugg's style. Then my family grew and work impinged on my time and the banjo spent more time in its case. Now in retirement my three banjos continue to spend most of their time in their cases. I'll occasionally get one out and pick a little, but my hands don't seem to work as well as they once did. You will often find me listening to banjo music as I work on researching mountain dulcimer history or build them.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad that you are enjoying the Hearts of the Dulcimer podcasts. Unfortunately Patricia and Wayne don't participate here that much. I think they've gone on to other things. I think Wayne might be building dulcimers now. Dusty may know more about that.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Paula, Garry just celebrated his 77th birthday on January 29th. I don't know if he is still building. Have you tried contacting him through his website? www.dulcimercentral.com ?

Rick Probst died in 2024 I'm sad to say.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with John. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Garage Band is an app that comes with Apple computers, iPads, and iPhones. As far as I know Clean AMP is a way to process your recording in the app. I use Garage Band to record (using a microphone) but haven't used any of the amp modeling for processing the signal. There are so many different settings in Garage Band it is often difficult to decide how to proceed. I took a course in Garage Band many years ago offered by our Guitar Center. That was a 130 mile round trip for six weeks. Luckily a friend and I shared the driving and cost of gas. The course was free. Garage Band has gone through so many changes since then that I hardly recognize it anymore.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The single string monochord with which I am most familiar is the psalmodikon. It is a Swedish instrument. Here is a website: http://www.psalmodikon.org/nap_items/index.htm . Here is the Wikipedia site on Diddley bow: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diddley_bow#:~:text=The%20diddley%20bow%20is%20a,single%20string%20of%20baling%20wire . Probably more than you want to know about either instrument.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It appears that the instrument in the photo with the woman is resting on a stool. She appears to be holding a pick of some sort in her right hand. I think it would fall in to the humle or langleik family of zithers.

Wally, I agree with you regarding the distinction between fret board and fingerboard.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

If you look at some of the old dulcimers by J.E. Thomas and Charles N. Prichard you will see that they only had frets under the first string.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I think the fret board is the most important part of a mountain dulcimer. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I never met Ron, but I do know that he was a tremendous asset to the dulcimer community. He will be sorely missed as a builder, player, and innovator. RIP, Ron.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks, Dusty. That link allows you to download the article which I have had for quite some time. It is easier than having people send me a PM to receive it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I searched for the article here but didn't find. I'm probably not entering the right search criteria to narrow it down. I have a pdf of the article that Wally talks about if any one is interested. PM me with your email address and I'll send it to you. The file is too large to post here. Maybe that's why I didn't find it. Something to note about Seeger's article is that in photos from the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, PA, he identifies them as Pennsylvania zitters.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I just received word that the article is posted to this website. https://dulcimerhistory.com/2026/01/24/lets-bury-the-term-scheitholt/ Check it out there if you like.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You're welcome, Strumelia and thank you for the compliment.

Here is the article that was to appear in Dulcimer Players News. Originally it was scheduled for November, 2025 but postponed until February, 2026. I heard that the "Traditons" themed issue in which it was to appear is now postponed until May, 2026. I have also included a bibliography for the article.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Scheitholtnomorev5.b.pdf - 252KB

I created a thread about this in the Groups area, but I have the feeling that not too many people explore the Groups section. So I am recreating it here in hopes that more folks will see it.

In 1619 Michael Praetorius published the second volume of Syntagma Musicum . In it tried to list all of the instruments known in his world. He described the instruments and included illustrations of some of them. One plate included an illustration of an instrument he called a scheitholt. I remarked to my daughter and her husband that I have never seen a scheitholt. I looked all over the internet for one and found many instruments called scheitholts, but none fit the description provided by Praetorius. They challenged me to make one. After a couple of months of research I was able to put together specifications to build one. A helpful site at a German museum gave numbers for length, width, height, VSL, and number of frets. I contributed a little imagination in creating the sound hole rosette and the peg head. Here is a photo of the recently created scheitholt. I, along with some assistance from Ken Hulme, wrote an article on why we should not apply the term "scheitholt" to all those PA German zitters or hummels that are misnamed here in the USA. 

 IMG_0891.jpeg - 93KB

The "ei" in scheitholt is pronounced as an "i" like in sight. The "ie" in German is pronounced as an "e" as in see. In Chcknj's post below "schiet" would be pronounced sheet.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I put "scheit" into three translation websites, Google Translate, Reverso, and DeepL. Google comes up with "fails" or "failure" and under noun it says "Log" and "piece of wood." Reverso and DeepL translate it as "log." I'm sorry but I just have not been able to find evidence to support the translating it to mean "sh*t." In two years of high school and two years of college German, I never encountered the word "scheit," but I was familiar with the word "scheiße."

BTW, the Nonsuch Dulcimer Club will contain the article in their summer newsletter.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The Story of the Hummel book by Wilfried Ulrich is available again in United States. Check out this website: https://dulcimerhistory.com/book/

Ken Longfield

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Wally, thanks for your comments. I found no evidence of shops making musical instruments in Pennsylvania making zitters. There were some violin makers and of course by 1839 C.F. Martin was making guitars in Nazareth, PA. Of course, the absence of evidence doesn't mean it didn't happen, only that there was evidence that it did. Henry Mercer mentions one builder, but he made bowed zitters.

As to the linguistic issue, scheiße is the German word for sh*t. Scheit in the 16th century was log or piece of wood. I think that is still the translation today according to my German friends.

You are in good company in thinking scheitholt "has been established in dulcimer history too long to just kill off." That was Ralph Lee Smith's attitude as well. I argued with him that we should be precise and correct in identifying these instruments that are not scheitholts as what they were called "back in the day," namely zitters.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

A comment I received via email suggested a better way of saying:  In German, scheit means log or piece of wood, while holt or holz means wood. I like the suggestion below and have replaced this sentence in the original with the two sentences below.

In German, scheit means log or piece of wood, while adding holt or holz means firewood. This is a way of something is garbage; i.e., something to be burned.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here is a bibliography for the article.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song." 

Bibliography - Scheitholt No More.pdf - 60KB

I learned today that theme of February, 2026 issue of Dulcimer Players News will not be "tradition." I submitted an article in 2024 and was asked if it could be held until the December, 2025 issue originally scheduled to have the "tradition" theme. I agreed. It was postponed from November, 2025 until February, 2026 and now postponed again. I decided to wait no more and share this pdf of the article. I hope you enjoy it and it causes you think about the mountain dulcimers ancestors.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Scheitholtnomorev5.b.pdf - 252KB

Oh my, Strumelia, that poor guitar!

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."