Ellen, LOL! I enjoyed reading about your dulcimer journey. It brought back fond memories. Thanks for sharing. And Happy Holidays to you also!
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Welcome back Guy.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Sounds good Kevin. Looks good as well.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
My dream dulcimer is the next one I make or the one after that or the one after . . .
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
I have around a dozen dulcimers. I just call them "my" dulcimers.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
One cardboard mountain dulcimer
One PA German zither replica I built
One hourglass and three teardrop mountain dulcimers I built
Seven mountain dulcimers built by others (Folkcraft, Blue Lion, Sweet Woods, Musical Traditions, Warren May, Uncle Ed Thomas and the Dulcimer Factory)
One autoharp
Three guitars
Three banjos
One 16/15 hammered dulcimer I built
Miscellaneous: tin whistle, harmonicas, jaw harp, bones, spoons, Catspaws, clave, tambourine, etc.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Hi Roberta,
What a surprise! I have a Musical Traditions from the company in Sandpoint, Idaho. Mine is a cherry hourglass shaped dulcimer. I could take some pictures and email them to you if you would like them. I mailed the anchor pins late yesterday so they probably went out in this mornings mail from the post office. I think you should have them Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Terry, I love those "ah ha moments" when they occur. Glad to hear about your piano discovery. Keep exploring and experimenting. That's the fun of music.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Dennis, Folkcraft makes many dulcimers with internal pickups. I really like the Folkroots line with the Fishman pickup. It has a built in preamp so you do not need one as is the case with piezo pickups. I like that you can adjust the volume right from the instrument once you have your amp set up. Check them out on the Folkcraft website.
I have sold a few Folkcraft hickory dulcimers through my shop. Those who purchased them have been extremely happy with them. They were all hourglass instruments, but that won't make an appreciable difference in sound. Enjoy the dulcimer when you get it. You made a good choice.
Here is the tab from from the Dulcimer Association of Alabama in Huntsville. http://www.hsvmda.com/sites/default/files/tabs/WayfaringStranger.pdf
It is in DAD but you will need to use a capo at the first fret.
Hi Jeni,
1. You can order strings directly from Folkcraft, Prussia Valley Dulcimers, and Just Strings dot com are three places to buy strings. I don't know if Gary carries Folkcraft strings, but if you know the gauges of the strings you just need to buy four single strings in the proper sizes.
2. One reason for the string riding up might be the angle of the hitch pin. Check to see if it is at the same angle as the others.
3. Loop end strings will fit tighter to the base of the hitch. If the problem continues with ball end strings switching is an alternative.
You didn't tell us what make of dulcimer you have. That may help us determine the problem.
Glad to hear about your experience sharing the mountain dulcimer at Grey Fox. Keep up the good work!
Welcome to FOTMD Mike! Good advice so far. If the old finish is lacquer, you can clean it with lacquer thinner and then just re-spray with satin lacquer. You can buy spray lacquer in cans at most hardware stores or home centers. Lacquer can be sprayed over shellac. I usually use a thin coat of shellac before spraying the lacquer on my instruments. Your first job as has already been noted is to identify the finish that is on your dulcimer. Best wishes for a successful completion of your project.
Ken
When I frist started attending dulcimer festivals in the late 1980s,I found that I was looked down upon as I played only in DAA. That is the tuning I learned in and did not know there was another popular tuning. I quickly adjusted to DAd to fit in, but still found myself doing DAA at home. I also played with a noter and that, too, was looked down upon at that time.
A friend of mine who put out a very good book for MD did so in DAA. He received nothing but criticism for doing so. He couldn't sell the book until he finally changed it over to DAd.
I am encouraged by the numbers of people now working on noter/drone style and tunings other than DAd.
As to the West Coast style I find more West Coast folks traveling to East Coast(and mid-continent)festivals and more East Coast people traveling to West Coast festivals. I think some of this is because we are reaching the age of retirement and are not restricted to doing festivals close to home because we have to be at work on Friday or Monday. I think this also applies to the reason we do not see large groups of young people at festivals; they need to be in school on Friday and Monday. Even the summer festivals are difficult for young people who need to work or are required to attend sports or other camps.
I do think festivals are opening up more to the branches.
To reply to Folkfan's question, I came to this music before getting a dulcimer. As a young person I was involved in a weekly square dance group. I want to learn more about the music which led to an interest in folk music in general. It was wanting to play dance music that I became involved in playing guitar, then banjo and eventually the mountain dulcimer.
Randy, I had that dulcimer at Dulcimerville. I don't know if you remember seeing it on the table. It was the one from the Joseph Wallo pattern.
Ken
Randy Adams said:
Not so long Ken...but interesting! I had mentioned International Violin in the past and you replied at that time with the 'short' version. Good to hear the longer story.
The story of my first dulcimer is rather long so bear with me. I wanted a dulcimer, but being a student, getting married, and with graduate school I could just not afford it. In 1973 I met a young man at the Iguana Coffeehouse in Washington, DC. We became friends and in 1974 he told me he was going to build a dulcimer. A man he knew who was retired from the Atomic Energy Commission where he worked was going to teach him how to make it. He told me they were going to Baltimore to buy some wood at International Violin Company. I asked if I could go along. He checked with the man and I was able to go with them. At International Violin Company I picked out six rosewood guitar sides (2 sides make the back and one side is split for the dulcimer sides) and two pieces of sitka spruce for the tops. I had enough wood to build two mountain dulcimers. I also purchased some rosewood tuning pegs and strings. On my day off I would travel from the inner city to Bethesda, Maryland to the man's workshop and work on the dulcimer. After about eight weeks I had a dulcimer.
Now there is more to the story. I was assistant pastor at Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, DC. The coffeehouse was part of our church's ministry to the young adults of DC area. It turns out the man my friend knew was a member of the church. I had not met him because he always attended the early service which the senior pastor always led. Since I was up late with the coffeehouse folks on Saturday night, I didn't usually arrive at the church until 9:30 a.m. on Sunday mornings. The man, whose name is George, and I became good friends. I built five dulcimers in his workshop during my time at that church. George was worried about taking his pastor to International Violin Company in Baltimore as it was located on "The Block" which is where all the strip clubs were at the time. IVC was located above the theatre where Blaze Starr was performing. George's hobby after retiring from the AEC was building violins although he had also made a dulcimer and a guitar.
Oh, and by the way, to the best of my knowledge, the young man who said he was going to build a dulcimer never did. We lost track of each other after we both left Washington so maybe has by now, but not back then.
Sharna, you are fortunate to be near Elderly instruments. They do excellent work. I had them sell a banjo for me and had them recondition it before selling it. I was impressed with what they did. It was better than new. That is a wonderful story about how you acquired your Blue Lion. I purchased mine with money that was left over from settling my father's estate. Every time I pick it up I think of him.
Shana what you need to look for is fret wear. This is usually a groove in the top of the fret worn there from pressing down on the strings. My ten year old Blue is showing some fret wear on the third through fifth frets. It is not enough to replace them yet. The only reason to re-level the frets would be if some were worn down and others were not. In leveling the frets you file down the crown and the crown needs to be put back which is rounding them. Sighting down the fret board should allow you to see if the there are any high frets.
Thanks Chuck. It was made of 1/4 inch plywood. I used the panels from a hollow core door to create the lip. It was originally painted yellow and then I changed it to brown. If I ever took all of those stickers off it would probably fall apart.
Okay, if finally found time to take some pictures of my case. I have used it for almost 40 years. Here they are: 
I have a rosewood overlay on one of my dulcimers. My son has a wenge overlay on his. Both are nice, but I think ebony is best the fret board material. I have it on one of my guitars and two banjos. I just like the feel and speed of an ebony fret board. I have walnut fret boards on my other dulcimers and have not problem with them. I do not use Fast Fret on any of my instruments, do not treat the fret boards often or regularly, nor clean them often or regularly. My rosewood fret board is oiled from the oil in my fingers. All the other fret boards are oiled the same way. I have fret boards finished with violin varnish, lacquer and no finish at all. I never noticed any appreciable difference in sound quality or volume from different fret board construction. Ken Hulme likes Titebond. I like Elmer's Carpenters' Wood Glue. Their formulations are similar I think.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song.'
That should be John Wood. Must have had Jim on my mind. Didn't catch that in time to edit it. I have met around 65 members of FOTMD give or take one or two. Looking forward to meeting more at festivals this year.
And I had the pleasure of meeting Jim and his wife Bev as well as Jim Wood and Kevin Messenger at the same event.
Joy To The World
Go Tell It On The Mountain
I, too, am interested to know if there had ever been half frets on this instrument. I need to go back and look at all my pictures of Prichard dulcimers. I can't recall ever seeing one with frets all the way across the fret board. Also the feet on the back do not look like anything I have ever seen on a Prichard. It is a great looking dulcimer.
You're welcome Robin. Glad they had a copy.
