Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

A rule of thumb for good string height is to place a dime next to the first fret on the second fret side and have the string just touch the top of the dime. Then place a nickel on the top of the seventh fret and the string should touch that. If you get buzzing after that then you need to level and dress your frets. Now this is good for general playing and finger picking. If you are playing noter style you can increase the height of the strings a little bit. Oh, and you will be adjusting the height of the slots in the nut and bridge if it has slots otherwise you adjusting the height of the bridge.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I am saddened by your loss. Pets, especially dogs, are wonderful friends and family. They endear themselves to us right from the start. Please know that I share your grief.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Nate, you're welcome. I like having a visual reference.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Here is a photo of fret placements for different intonations on a mountain dulcimer fretboard. It is from Bobby Ratliff over at TTMD.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 TuahWCv.jpg - 53KB

Yes. Happy Halloween

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The disadvantage of a floating bridge is that it is easily moved as John pointed out. I've known folks to lose them when changing strings because they took all the strings off rather than doing it one at a time. Also changing strings may move the bridge a little and throw everything off which requires a little time and effort to correct. I've built dulcimers; some with fixed as some with floating bridges. As I builder I prefer the fixed bridge.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song." 

John has provided all the information you need. I purchased a similar one recently except it was the model D50S, a grade up, for $100. In an auction, like eBay, you may get more. While your dulcimer has a 6 1/2 fret, it doesn't have the octave 13 1/2 fret. It would not be that attractive to modern players who want more frets (1 1/2, 8 1/2, etc.). Whoever buys it will get a nice dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad to hear that you contacted Warren and the he is helping you. There is nothing like going directly to the builder for help.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Todd, I agree with Dusty. A 1993 Folkcraft is a good instrument and it is offered at a fair price.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Todd, you are receiving good advice. I just want to make a few clarifications regarding David Lynch's student model dulcimer. His original price on this instrument was $125.  By the time of his death he had to raise to price which was still under $150. He used baltic birch plywood for the back, sides, and top of the dulcimer and the price of this material had gone up. He could no longer absorb the cost of the price increase of a sheet of plywood. The peg head and the fret board on these dulcimers was walnut. All of them were finished with a light coat of Deft spray lacquer. He used either a matte or semi-gloss finish. These were very playable and good sounding instruments. Dave began by building harps and was known on various dulcimer sites as "Harpmaker." He later branched out to making mountain dulcimers.

In searching for a previous owned dulcimer keep your eyes and ears open. I've found some on Craig's list in addition to eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Goodwill, here at FOTMD, as well as some folks contacting me to see if I would be interested in their dulcimer. There are several builders in California; Blue Lion, Joellen Lapidus, and Howard Rugg are all well known, but their instruments are well above the beginner level.

Be patient and right dulcimer will find you. Best wishes in your hunt for an instrument.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Mike, I'm glad to hear that you have your dulcimer playing well again and happy that we were helpful. Enjoy playing both of your dulcimers. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I am not familiar with dulcimers made by James Goodall. He seems to have a good following in the guitar world. It appears that his son Luke has taken over the guitar business and continues to build guitars in Sparta, TN. My guess is that any mountain dulcimers he made were from the beginning of his career as a luthier.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I have a couple of needle file sets, neither was expensive nor diamond coated. They do the job. You can find them at the two places Wally suggested plus Lowes and Home Depot. I've used the welding tip cleaners mainly to expand slots because of binding strings, but not to make new slots. I have a set of Stewmac nut files that I use to start the slots.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with Skip about cutting the slots deeper in the false nut before trying anything else. Sometimes I get ahead of myself and forget to do the easier solutions first.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Mike, that blue piece is not actually a nut (or shouldn't be). It should be a string spacer to keep the strings in the proper place across the nut which is the zero fret. If it were my instrument I would try to get the blue plastic piece off and replace it with a small piece of wood; maybe one eighth inch square, or perhaps three sixteenths or a quarter inch square depending upon what would look good. I'd saw slots for the strings to provide for double melody strings and four equidistant string spacing. I'd make the slots deep enough so that the strings rest on the first fret. After that, I'd tackle the string height from the saddle/bridge end.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Skip and Nate have given you good advice. Check to make sure that the zero fret is higher than the first fret after you check to see that all strings are resting on the zero fret. From there check with the nickel on the seventh fret. If you get lower than that, the strings may start to buzz on the frets. You can make slight adjustments at the saddle (bridge) if you need to lengthen the vibrating string. You can't shorten the string because the saddle is in a fixed position.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Glad you solved your problem. That's a technique I've used a few times.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I missed this entire thread when we were away camping in the Northwoods of Pennsylvania. In addition to Jean Ritchies books, English Folk Songs of the Southern Appalachians by Cecil Sharp and Maude Karpeles and The Child Ballads by Francis James Child are excellent resources. Child's collection was originally titled The English and Scottish Popular Ballads. It contained 305 songs (lyrics only) with American variants. Tunes were added in 1960. I believe the original was 8 volumes. It is still available in print and digital editions. Sharps book was originally published in 1917 is still available in the used book market but most  scholars agree that the second and enlarged addition is the one to have. It contains 273 songs and ballads and 968 tunes. I bought a copy many years ago and paid $200 for it. I looked today and found a first printing of second edition for a mere $750. Since the copyright has expired on Sharp's work, it can be found in reprints and digital editions for a lot less. Both works are worth having for folk song researchers. Many of the individuals and groups involved in the so called folk music revival of the 1950s and 60s used songs from these works.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Karen, due to the thicker strings used on a baritone, I suggest putting on a new nut and bridge. I don't remember if Dave spent a lot of time adjusting the slots in his nuts and bridges to create better intonation or just went with the VSL. I think people stress too much about attaining perfect intonation. Somewhere I read an article about a luthier building a guitar and making sure that the intonation on each string was perfect. Not being much of a player, he asked some well known guitarists to play it. The consensus was that it was dull and lifeless; not due to construction, but due to the lack of overtones or something like that due to the perfect intonation. I wish I could remember where I read that story.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm lucky here in central PA where there are many saw mills. Sometimes you can find short pieces that won't sell to well because they are only 3 or 4 feet long. You can get them for a really good price. Gotta love those Amish saw mills.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Another option if it isn't an historically valuable dulcimer is to cut the dowels off and use #2 1/2 inch or 5/8 inch brass screws.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Take your loop end string and run the plain end of the string through the loop thus creating a larger loop that will fit over the dowels. If it is a four string dulcimer, two strings go on each down. This system isn't very convenient if you break a string, but it works.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Why don't you email or call Warren and ask him? 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Even though, as Skip pointed out, the Strothers calculator tend to suggest strings on the light side, I would go with those to begin with. If you find them to be too loose, you can always move up a little the next time you change strings. You didn't say whether this dulcimer uses loop or ball end strings but strings in the sizes suggested should be readily available as singles.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hatikvah (The Hope) is available in tab form on a few websites and well as in a few published tab books. I think there are few others out there, like the dreidel song, but you can do an internet search for specific songs to see what's out there.

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you, Lisa.

I'll not only be playing on the porch on Saturday, but I'll be serenading my wife as we celebrate our 56th wedding anniversary that day.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I don't play finger style, but my friend does Nina Zanetti does. Visit her website https://www.ninazanetti.com and you will find some good information on finger style playing. She has some free tabs you can download. If you try one or two of them you will get a feel for the style.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I suggest that you go to the For Sale forum and read the information about selling on this site. Also read the FAQs about selling. I see no time placed on membership before selling something. Just follow the rules from the places I've noted and if you sell an item for $100 or more please make at least a $5.00 donation to FOTMD.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you, Strumelia. I think it is helpful for people to have a visual example. I remember years ago a Folkcraft catalog had a pull out section that showed the difference in various vibrating string lengths they offered. I can't remember whether that was under David's or Richard's ownership. I probably have it in a file somewhere. I guess I'll look for it when I get the time. I have an old Windows program, WFret, that prints out a fret board diagram for you. I've thought of printing out different vsl fret boards and pasting them on poster board so people can see the actual distances. It might be a good rainy or snow day project for this coming winter.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Perhaps these calculations will be helpful to see the differences in distances between frets on a 24 vs. 26.5 vsl. I used the Stew-Mac fret calculator for this.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song.

John, the redo of the website looks good. It is easy to navigate and provides good descriptions and other information. You and your customers do a fine job of playing your instruments.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You are on the right track. First see if it moves better after you loosen the screw. You might start with an 1/8th or 1/4th turn. If it turns well and doesn't slip after reaching the proper pitch. If that doesn't work, tighten the screw until the string holds under tension. Now try lubricating the tuner with either graphite or a dry silicone spray. I prefer the first as the silicone spray can get on the finish and harm it. You may need to turn the peg completely around many times. Oh, you could also clean the peg with either a commercial degreaser and/ or denatured alcohol. This best done with tuners off of the dulcimer. Hope this helps.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

My oldest dulcimer is from 1931. It doesn't party. I don't take it out on camping trips or to parties. I do take it to mountain dulcimer events and allow others to play it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Way to go! That will be a great help with your restoration.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you, Strumelia.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for the photo, XLIV. As you can see it is too large to show the entire instrument. You might try resizing your photo and reposting it. I usually post my mine at 8 x 10 inches or 5 by 7, but sometimes my mind slips and I post them at 8 1/2 by 11.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Please post some photos of the unfinished rebec project. I assume you want to finish the project. I'll offer what advice I can after I see what you have. Sounds like an interesting undertaking. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with Strumelia that 27" is pretty much "the normal/standard range for a dulcimer." If you haven't already done so, you might check out this site: https://dulcimercentral.com/gallier-dulcimers  

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Twenty-seven inches is my favorite VSL. I use 28.5 inches on dulcimers for noter playing. I think if you do the calculations on the Strothers calculator they won't be to far off from what I suggested. Restring that dulcimer. It deserves to be played and enjoyed.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."