I've switched from Pegheds to Wittner geared tuners. I think the tuning is a little more precise. You would be in big trouble if you cut the button off as the gears are in the button rather than the shaft.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

@robin-thompson One of the things that make Pegheds attractive is they do look very much like wooden friction pegs. Had I been more patient, Chuck, the man who makes them, would have cut the grips (buttons) off the original pegs and attached them to the new geared pegs. But I'm completely happy with what I have. Much more elegant and light-weight than those chrome banjo pegs.

But now I'm causeing the thread to drift. I think I'll go play some dulcimer.

@john-gribble While I love the look of old friction tuners, my hands can no longer manage them-- soft tissue woes, not arthritis.  Enjoy those Pegheads!  

Good for you @Gary-Major !

I am coming back to playing. Been away too long. Got new strings. Polished my dulcimer up. Have a few song boook... Well I hope to shar when I finally catch up lol.

Well, I'm falling in love all over again with my Kevin Messenger teardrop dulcimer (see my avatar). I installed a set of Pegheds on it last week, and now I can zip from one tuning to another without sweat or foul language. It's like having indoor plumbing!

I'm also exploring the materials I got at the on-line Berkeley Dulcimer Gathering a couple weeks ago. I only attended one day, but received plenty of skill-developing information to keep me busy.

Non-dulcimer—I'm nearing completion of a book manuscript I've been working on since last November. It is a translation  with notes of a Japanese poetry collection from the 13th century. Here's one which seems particularly appropriate to our times:

 Fujiwara no Kiyosuke 

1104-1177

Given enough time, 

all these troubles may become 

like those of the past—

all those mean, hard, fear-filled days,

remembered with nostalgia.

nagaraeba mata konogoro ya shinobaren 

ushi to mishi yo zo ima wa koishiki 

I'm finishing up a 15 string plucked psaltery with decorations.   I gave my #25 plucked psaltery to my two little grandsons that came here with their daddy and they left today.   We made two canjo's for them.  One is 3 and the other is 8.   both could play both instruments.  sooooooooooooo fun.  aloha, irene

Doodling up a smaller version of my Burnsville Holly Leaf dulcimer.  This one will be only 5" wide and 30" overall, with a 25" VSL

I'm constructing a mean-tone walnut hourglass Thomas replica for a guy in Yorkshire.  The body's assembled, but needs trimming and pegs, nut, bridge, frets, strings, etc.

Thank you, Dusty.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

It looks like you're doing very good work with those zitters. @Ken-Longfield.  That kind of preservation is obviously important.

Learning “Carrickfergus”. Mostly got the tune down (cgc) now starting to work on the other two strings. 😉

Well, I finally finish the restoration of a Pennsylvania German zitter. I purchased two of them back in the Fall of 2019. The other one was easier to restore as I just had to repair a few cracks and reglue some joints. The top on the one I just finished was beyond repair and I had to make a new top. Here is the instrument.

Ken,

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

IMG_4349.jpeg  •  106KB

Thought I'd resurrect this discussion thread. What are you guys working on?  building a new instrument?  learning a new tune?  putting lyrics to a melody you wrote?

I was watching an episode of the BBC series Poldark the other night and heard a charming Irish jig called "Haste to the Wedding."  I'm working on it now.  Not quite up to speed, but we're getting there.  I'm playing it on my Ron Ewing octave dulcimette, which is a 3/4-size instrument.  The smaller frets and the proximity of the strings make it a bit easier to play faster tunes.

Share with us what music and/or instrument you are currently working on!