Forum Activity for @ken-longfield

Dusty, blame it on spell check. When I typed in "Cotten," spell check immediately changed it to "Cotton."

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for the tab Dusty. And the link to Libba playing it. I'm trying to think of the first person I ever heard playing that song. It might have been Mike Seeger. I just can't remember.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I agree with both of you. Black Mountain Dulcimers has provided quality instruments and will continue to do so, just not on as a large a scale as in the past. Building custom instruments for individuals in different from making large quantities of the one design for wholesale purchase. I wish David the best as he transitions to building one dulcimer at a time.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for posting this Ben. Probably should be a separate discussion. I enjoyed visiting with Jeremy at a few festivals. 

I couldn't find an obituary for Jeremy. Ben, do you have access to one?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Very sad news indeed. Today is Missy's birthday. My sympathy goes out to Missy and the rest of the family.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I'm glad you finished it and can enjoy playing it. Have fun.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You might talk with Richard Ash at Folkcraft to see if he would make custom kits for you. Folkcraft does make a chromatic dulcimer kit, but all the kits are three stringed. So if you would want to experiment with 4 equidistant strings, he would need to provide different fret boards. Otherwise all your other requirements are possible with the two types of 3 string dulcimer kits from Folkcraft.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Using super glue makes the frets a little harder to remove if you ever need to do that, but not impossible. I've used super glue, the thin kind, after seating the fret and wicking a little under the fret. I haven't had one come loose yet. I do use it sparingly.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

On Facebook today, 01 February 2023, Ashley Ernst announced that DPN will cease publication in 2024. She did not give a volume or issue number, but I suspect the last issue will be the first one that comes out in 2024. Again, that is just speculation on my part.

Having been a columnist and contributor to DPN over the years, I will miss the magazine. I understand why Ashley made this difficult decision. Many print publications are ending that aspect of life and shifting to electronic (online) editions. There was no mention of this as a possibility for DPN.

In the early days of DPN it seemed the "newsletter" worked to create a community of dulcimer enthusiasts. It helped people share ideas, arrange meetings (festivals), and find places to buy instruments. It also kept us posted on what we were all doing. While these things continued over the life of the magazine, over the last 10 or 15 years the emphasis seemed to shift to teaching techniques or songs. In a sense it became a quarterly lesson for mountain or hammered dulcimer. The connection of getting to know "dulcimer people" seemed to have been lost. We knew contributors were good players and provided excellent lessons without learning what brought them to play the dulcimer, desire to teach, etc. I know that much of that community building happens at festivals, but with so many festivals going virtual what we are experiencing is group video lessons and little real community (but that is a whole other discussion).

I offer my thanks to Ashley, Dan, Maddie, and Phil for their hard work and dedication to DPN and the dulcimer community it created. Without them who knows where we would all be. So to those five folks and all who contributed to the magazine over the years, "So long, and thanks for the all the fish."

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

What a great story and wonderful ending. Enjoy your granduncle's handiwork.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

This is good to know Dwain.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I don't know of any makers of the fine tuners on the Sunhearth dulcimers. Walt made those himself. One was missing on the Sunhearth I bought, but I had some little pieces of ebony so I made one for my dulcimer. If you send me a photo of the the fire tuners on your dulcimer and rough measurements, I can make one for you. Send me a private message here if interested. Click on @ken-longfield and then look for  send message on the left hand side of the screen

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I think the original poster meant Cigar Box Guitar, CBG and just transposed the B and G. I'll be interest to see his new cigar box creation when he finishes it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You're welcome.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for sharing this story. It certainly was interesting.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

If you send me a personal message and provide me with you email address I can send you two scans for articles about Walt Martin and Sunhearth dulcimers. Walt was quite a character. He could be very cordial and at other times acerbic. I met him at festival and talked with him for a bit mentioning that my in-laws lived near him. He invited me and wife to stop by to visit him and see his workshop. When we did, he wanted to know what the h*ll we were doing there. We did manage a brief but somewhat antagonistic (on his part) visit.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

This is a beautiful rendition of that song. Thanks for sharing it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

My bad. It is the last Saturday in March which is the 25th. Note; the 25th not the 28th. I will go back and edit my post.

Ken

The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Just giving everyone a heads up on IADD which will be on March 25th this year. It's not too early to begin planning both your music and fun for International Appalachian Dulcimer Day.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

John, I look forward to your video. This is a new hymn to me. Thank you for sharing it.

Randy, it has always been my practice to hold the door for anyone following me in to a building. Unlike you Nebraskans, there are few people who say thanks. On our trip across country in October I can count on one hand the number of people who thanked me for holding the door open for them. That would be at truck stops, gas stations, rest areas, restaurants, motels, etc.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Lisa, I don't know if that is the correct person. I did a search on her name an that is one of the options that came up for Spartanburg, SC. The photo looked like her likeness from her videos. I never met Gwen and only know her through the dulcimer videos.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

There is a Gwen Caeli Mooneyham in LinkedIn. I don't know if that is the same person. There is information about her professional life.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Well, Marlie, I don't have any pegs or screws in my spare parts box. I'm sorry I can't help you that way. Here is a link to new pegs like you have on your dulcimer: https://www.stewmac.com/parts-and-hardware/tuning-machines/ukulele-tuning-machines/grover-champion-dulcimeruke-friction-pegs/  You might be able to find the cheaper elsewhere by doing an internet search.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Marlie, following up on John's post, are you able to turn the screw in the tuner that is giving you trouble? If so, tightening the screw will increase the tension on the tuner and prevent it from turning on its own when brought up to pitch (when the string is in tune). If you can't turn the screw you will need to find someone who can remove it for and then replace the tuner. The tuner appears to be one used on ukuleles. Dulcimer makers used both ukulele and banjo tuners. I will look in my spare tuner box the next time I'm in my workshop (tomorrow) and see if I have one that matches the one in the photo. If I have have one, I can send it to you and you or someone you know who is handy with a screw driver can put it on you dulcimer for you. No charge for the tuner or mailing it to you if I have one.

I could probably send you a screw from an old tuner too.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Sounds like a great opportunity to me. If I were buying it, I would do so unfretted and install the frets myself.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

A misplaced is fret is not a difficult repair, but can be tricky depending upon where you need to cut the new slot and what it will look like cosmetically. Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The 6 1/2 and 13 1/2 frets halve (roughly) the space between frets 6 and 7 and 13 and 14. Essentially you have chromatic fretting in those places. Once you cross frets 7 and 14 you return to diatonic fretting which means those spaces, 7 -8 and 14 - 15, will be wider than the chromatic spacing, but shorter than 6 -7 and 13 - 14 respectively. Take a ruler and measure the spacing 6 -7, 7 -8. The width 7 - 8 should be slightly smaller. The same will be the case 13 - 14 and 14 - 15. If the second measurement in each case is not shorter, you have some misplaced frets.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Are you talking about the 13 1/2 fret?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thanks for sharing the video link Robin. I've seen that program before, but this is the first time in color. Always interesting watching the Ritchie family.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

You're correct John. I think it was in the $2,000 to 3,000 range, but I may not remember it all that well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Good point, Dusty.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Haha, Dusty. I'm glad they repeat those old shows. Sometimes the second or third time through I can get the right question for the answer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Jeopardy has been offering video and photo clues for years. That's nothing new. Also, this show is not new either. It was first broadcast in July of 2022.

Kwn

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hello again Mivo. Thanks for sharing the beginning of your dulcimer journey with us. It sounds like you are well under way. You have a very nice McSpadden dulcimer. It will give you a lifetime of pleasure.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Good for you Frank. I wonder if we still have our cheese slicer around. If we do, I'll check the gauge of the wire on it. We switched to a cheese knife years ago.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

John and Ken have already given you good advice, however, I'm going to add another one or two. First, from the photo the Blue Lion looks to be in good condition. It can use a good cleaning, but that's not a problem. I play my Blue Lion as a three string as I prefer that to four strings in any configuration. Second, I'm sorry you've had bad experiences buying used dulcimers. It can be frustrating. Like Ken said, we can help talk you through replacing a nut and bridge if that is all that those dulcimers need. There are resources out there for playing with four equidistant strings, both books and videos. I do think that most of them (if not all) require some knowledge about how to play the dulcimer.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I ditto the "Doh!". I guess we will never know since it was an eBay sale and have no idea who sold it or may have purchased it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Okay. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

As usual, I agree with Ken. The inlay looks like a green heron to me, but could certainly be some other bird. Since you are inquiring, I assume you either bought this used or someone gave it to you. The use of ukulele friction pegs may place the date it was made somewhere in the 1970s when they were popular among one off or hobby builders.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The little dots look like they are stick-on and not inlays, so any cleaning or oiling of the fret board is going to loosen them. If you like the dots, you can have a luthier inlay pearl dots in the same spots. It requires drilling holes in the fret board, gluing in the dots, and then leveling them with the fret board. Ebony fret boards do dry out over time depending upon how much they are exposed to sun and air. A good fret board conditioner such as those sold by Fender, Dunlop, Taylor, Music Nomad, Lizard Spit, etc. will restore your fret board. Use as directed.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."