I would put some super glue in the crack and use a clamp to see if the crack closes up and glues together. Actually I'd try the clamp first and if the wood moved with the clamp then I would remove the clamp, put glue in the crack, and then clamp it. A little accelerator sprayed on the crack after it is glued and clamp will harden it up quickly.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Removing a fret is not as easy as it sounds. You need to be very careful. Frets have tangs which hold them in place and when the frets are pulled the tangs have a tendency to pull some of the wood out of the fret board. Once the fret is removed, you need to fill that empty space. There are special tools designed to pull frets with minimal damage. Various types of wood used for fret boards react differently to having frets pulled. If the builder of your dulcimer glued the frets in, you have another whole set of problems. I am not suggesting it can't be done, but it is not a job for the faint-of-heart.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Caleb, I do not use a heating blanket for bending the uke sides. It was just too much for me to invest in for this project. I steam the sides and then place them in the bender. I use a heat gun to heat the sides as I bend them. I make a sandwich of galvanized steel, wet paper towel, side, wet paper towel, and galvanized steel. The first bend went well. I'll see how the rest do; especially when I change from mahogany to rosewood.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Work on my 00 size guitar is stalled as my friend who is helping me with it is renovating his home. The renovation is taking most of his time, so we do not find time to get together. So I looked through my shop and discovered that I have lots of scraps waiting to be used on other projects. When my son was here from California in June, I asked him if he would be interested in a soprano size ukulele for himself and one for his son. He replied in the affirmative, so I decided to go ahead with the project. I am now making six ukuleles; three from mahogany and spruce and three from rosewood, spruce, and mahogany. I spent the last few weeks thickness sanding wood, making forms, and other prep work. Today I bent the first set of mahogany sides. I have one neck roughed out. Here are a couple of photos of the bending.
George, that is a very nice find. If you can close the crack by squeezing the sides, a little CA glue in the crack and clamp across the body should do the trick.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
That's an interesting story. I met Audrey's father, Albert Hash, when I interviewed for a position at their church. I never met Audrey. Her father made some really nice fiddles. My guess is that "Scottish" is a model name. It would be interesting to know how she arrived at that name. The Hashes, being of German descent (I think), probably would not have identified the dulcimer as a "Scottish" instrument.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Dana, sorry, I'm getting in to this discussion late. Dusty really covered everything in his posts. Here is the information on the Ginger from the McSpadden website: 4 String Ginger, Flat Peghead, Hourglass with Cherry top, back and sides. Comes with a padded Teal nylon case.
McSpadden Ginger Models are smaller dulcimers with a 23 3/16” fretboard that can provide a high (Key of G) clear voice similar to that of a mandolin. On request they can be set up in the Key of D to be used as a smaller standard dulcimer for players who have difficulty reaching positions on a standard size fretboard. The voice remains bright and clear whichever key is chosen. The standard setup is G-d-gg. Optional setups are G-d-dd, D-A-dd, and D-A-AA. Included are 6 ½ and 13 ½ frets, Teal nylon padded case, pick & noter and warranty. When set up in Key of D a beginner instruction book is provided and for Key of G setups an extra set of strings is substituted for the book. No case upgrade is available for the Ginger. Other options available include: Strap Buttons (Chrome, Black or Gold); Upgrade to Black or Gold Tuning Pegs; Squeakless Strings.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Sean, I have never used one except to contribute. A friend of mine is using Go-Fund-Me to raise money for his CD. Here is a link to his campaign: https://www.gofundme.com/normwilliams
He seems to be doing well with it. I am not sharing this to ask for contributions, only to help you to see how someone else is doing what you want to do.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Lois, here is a link to chord chart in DAA from EverythingDulcimer.com: http://everythingdulcimer.com/files/tab/chord_chart_daa_major.pdf
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Wonderful, Dana. Thanks for sharing that story.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Happy Anniversary to all whether you have been here all eight years or just joined. This is a great virtual community. Thank you Lisa and all the moderators who help keep this site moving forward.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
That's great! Enjoy the fame.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
This is the reply I received today.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Ken,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Dulcimer is an important of our business and your suggestions have been forwarded to our management team for consideration.
Regards,
David Legere
Mel Bay Publications
I did the same thing as Dusty, however I asked if they still had them in a digital format and if they would be willing to place them on another website if they were not going to be available at Mel Bay anymore. If I receive a reply, I will post it here as well.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
For a minute I thought you were talking about our bell choir rehearsal, but we did not have one last night. Glad that you are happy with the dulcimer.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
George quit making those when he stopped making dulcimers. At that point he moved over to building his dulciharps (autoharps) full time. Enjoy your limberjack.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
My guess is that they are completely gone now. For a while I was making hard copies of some of the articles. When I get home I'll look and see if I still have a file of them. Other than that, I can't help. If they are no longer available on the web, this is a great loss to the dulcimer community.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Here is the information my friend provided:
"Bruce Henry was an industrial arts teacher. He made dulcimers on the side. His wife Lucy and he played at local historic and town festivals in the noter style. She taugh music in schools. Her main instrument...flute. They live in Montgomery which is over the river and mountain south of Williamsport. I presume they are both alive, but would be in their late 70s or somewhere in their 80s. I do not know if Bruce still makes instruments. I have found that his instruments nearly always need fret work to play well. The fret arrangement was in the traditional 7 fret to an octave. DAA or GCC tuning. He never placed a 6 1/2 fret on his instruments. I'd recommend keeping it that way and use the instrument for traditional noter style playing.
Just Google and find:
C. Bruce Henry, 85, of Montgomery, died Thursday, Aug. 8, 2013"
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Well, that confirms it. The Henry I am thinking of is from Montgomery. He was not a prolific maker and sold at craft festivals in the areas around Muncy. Lewisburg, and Danville. I need to check with a friend of mine who knew him to see what he can tell me. I'll let you know what I find out.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
The back porch on my childhood home was very small. Our front porch, on the other hand, was expansive. I remember lazy summer days sitting on that porch and reading books such as Tom Swift Jr. and the Hardy boys. Unfortunately, in those days I did not pay an instrument. It was also fun to listen to the storms come down the Hudson River with the thunder echoing around the mountains. Now we have a very nice back porch and I'll be playing there on August 26 if we are at home then.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Looks really nice.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Go for it!
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
You can use this website to calculate the string size: http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.html . It tends to be a little on the light side. When I did the calculations, I came up with D = 0.018, A = 0.012, and d = 0.0090. I would suggest trying 0.020, 0.014, and 0.010. When you take the strings off, you can use a small block of wood and hammer to knock the pegs out if they do not come out on their own. You can clean them off with a mild soap. Murphy's Oil Soap works well. A small amount of peg dope available from a violin or music shop can help lubricate the pegs for easy turning and grip. I also use the Murphy's for cleaning the entire instrument. Where the scratches are, you might need to sand them out and refinish the area. It depends upon how much you want go get rid of them. Best wishes on your project and the new (to you) dulcimer.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thank you for sharing this sad news, Jan. My sympathy goes out to all who knew Brian. I enjoyed chatting with him.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Thanks for sharing that poem John.It is beautiful. I'm adding it to my collection of dulcimer related literature.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I don't know about the best place, but you can find limberjacks all over the Internet. The places I would usually suggest are either no longer in business or no longer carry them. Are you sure you don't want to make another one?
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Dear Bob and Sue by Matt and Karen Smith. They visit all 58 national parks and write about it.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Humidity swells wood. A well constructed dulcimer should not suffer from humidity. If you are going to play outside in high humidity for 14 or 15 hours a day, you might have a problem. If you play mostly inside in a humidity controlled environment, you should have few, if any, problems. My philosophy is that if you are comfortable, your instrument will be comfortable.
I wouldn't over matter much about this.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Frets wear due to the pressure of the strings on them. Do you press really hard on the strings? If so, you might notices some grooves in the fret board as well. Another factor is the amount of playing time. Do you play 23 hours a day, seven days a week? I have not used stainless steel frets, but I understand that they hold up to even the toughest playing. I'm not familiar with the Evo fret material. I have no experience with it. If you can't adjust your playing pressure, you may need to try the harder frets.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Currently reading Ghost Ship by Clive Cussler and Graham Brown. I finished both the Jefferson book and the latest issue of Fretboard Journal.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
That's a great idea, Ken. My son left a keyboard stand in the attic when he moved out, but my concern has been that it isn't that sturdy when strumming. I'll have to dig it out and give it a try. The tray table looks to be more stable. If mother nature has its way, I may have plenty of time to do that on Tuesday after shoveling snow.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I agree with Dusty. Check the string calculator. It tends to give a "lighter" gauge string setting so you can always go up, e.g., if it says 0.010 you can use an 0.011 or 0.012. For a 27 VSL I like .011, .013, and .024. As for the bridge material, what is the nut made of? Most builders use the same material for the nut and the bridge. Just match it.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
On a standard 88 key piano, middle C is C4. Middle C has a frequency of 261.63 Hz. Yamaha uses C3 because that corresponds to MIDI note 60.When the note is pressed, you are actually playing a frequency of 261.63 Hz. If you set your tuner to A=440 Hz. As Dusty says, the D is below middle C, A below middle C, and d above middle C if you tune DAd.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Unless I'm doing a reproduction of an older dulcimer, I make them four string. My personal preference for playing is 3 string. It's easier to do hammer ons and pull offs on a single string.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I'm still reading Thomas Jefferson The Art of Power. I just received the latest issue of The Fretboard Journal, so I'm reading that as well.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Very nice looking dulcimer. You don't see many with staple frets under all the strings. It's hard to tell from the photos, but the wood may be mahogany. There's no label inside? Do you know what kind of tuners it had on it originally?
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I'm now reading Thomas Jefferson The Art of Power by John Meacham. Also reading the latest issue of Martin - The Journal of Acoustic Guitars.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I remember we sang Happy Birthday if any of our classmates had one on a school day. Songs that I recall are Skip to My Lou; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Sweet Betsy from Pike and I Ride An Old Paint (Cowboy day in first grade), and as we moved on we used at song book entitled Twice 55 which had 110 songs in it. Here is a link to it on Amazon: Twice 55 .
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
