marg

Thanks!  Happy to be here.

Thanks Marg for your message !

One of these days, I'll have time to play it again !

Jean-Dag

G'day Marg, SMN is Standard Music Notation. I can now read a little but mainly rely on Tab. I got my electric blues box guitar the other day and put it together with a bit of fiddling. For US$30 i am very impressed (if it doesnt fall apart). I have started on the lessons in the book and on the cd and am already feeling quite bluesy. I was surprised how well it plays thru my little Roland Microcube amp. Have you put yours together yet. I found the rivet holes were a little narrow... i just ran a metal skewer thru them and they widened out enough to tap the rivets in with a hammer.  i hope you are enjoying yours and thanks again for showing it to me. H x

Helen,

that is so funny, I got one myself. Have not started putting it together yet, so much easier to dream of the finish piece. You have to up-date me on your progress. I hope it will be fun for you

G'day Marg... well it got the better of me. I received some Christmas money from my brother and he said on the card 'Buy something fun'. So I ordered the little blues box guitar kit. An online book store down here had the same one on sale down here with free postage. Thanks for showing it to me.. i think it will be fun... if i can put it together. Happy holidays and thanks again. Helen x

Hi Marg, it was so kind of you to contact me. Yes i have been missing in action on here for a while... my health has been a bit rough.. with a hand tremor that was affecting a few things including typing and playing... but it has finally improved over this last week.. so i will be back on board soon. How are you travelling Marg?

Hi Marg

You ask about epinette tuning....and unfortunately it's rather like asking how long is a piece of string!  The longer scale modern epinettes have a melody string tuned to D, but play in G - think DAA tuning and the root of the scale being on the 3rd fret.  The smaller ones are in G, but play in C (ditto).  The drones are tuned a fifth apart to match the G or C tuning respectively.  Using a 0.010 or 0.011 string as a reference on the melody string, try each tuning and see whether it is too slack or too tight.  Or just send me the scale length and I'll hazard a guess....!

Best of luck.

Geoff

Hi, Marg!  You were asking about members of our dulcimer family affected by the flooding in Louisiana...I don't know who, specifically, but the Lagniappe Festival is held in Port Allen, LA each year and I know that area was flooded. 

Hi Marg,

Good eye! Yes it is a TK O'Brien! Walnut Creek model. Found it used though basically in perfect condition. I've had it for almost two months now and so far very happy. Just starting to learn my way around the frets, but coming along nicely. I'm thinking the action is a little high on it. But I've decided to play for a while longer before I get tempted to do anything "drastic".

Gee thanks Marg, that is so very kind of you. I have a dream of getting over .... but is a few years away yet. If i do I would probably fly into Fort Worth International with Qantas  But Aussies get terrible jet lag flying in your direction cos of the time difference so i wouldnt make a very good house guest...tired n grumpy. But if i do get over i'd love to catch up with u for a strum. What tune are you working on at the moment?

Hi Marg, thanks for the note. So it sounds like maybe you want to get back into painting? Watercolors? Oils? I would really like to put a few of my painting up here if I could figure out how to do it. I am mostly painting in watercolor these days, but recently did an acrylic painting much larger that I had fun with. Paint with oils too, or have done quite a bit. Would like to see your paintings too. I'm a primitive painter I guess, but not just abstract. There are certain archetypes that keep showing up in my work. It's very relaxing. Follow me back and we can communicate better.

I measured both of them, they don't sit in the same place exactly, but it was where they were when I got them. Measured fromthe edge of the strumming well closest to bridge, and they sit a bit between 1/2 and just shy of 3/4 inch and tune just fine. Hope that helps. 

Hi, just saw your message, I'll measure the distance when I get home and let you know, they are movable bridges.

 As you said, buying used can be an adventure, and actually, my Warren Mays were a surprise because of all my

other dulcimers had fixed bridges, so when I went to restring the Mays as I always do when I get a "new" used one, the bridge came off and I thought I had broken it!

My other big surprise was buying an older John Maxwell and wondering why no matter how i tried tuning it, it just sounded wrong, That's how I learned about Just Intonation, as opposed to the more modern Equal Temperament.

 Glad to say though, so far I've not been disappointed with any of them, just caught off guard every now and then.

Thanks , Marg for your kind comment on "Night Snow". I'll try to make a video. I have a few technical problems to work out first.

Marg, i sent the tab in a personal message, should get notification of same. You can probably copy and paste the tab to a word document. If not I can send it to you through regular email.

Hello Marg, I have tab for "On Eagle Wings" for noter and drone style playing tuned DAA. If you wish to follow my profile, I can send it to you in a personal message. I don't really good internet service here, seems slow this morning, please bear with me. Gordon.

Thanks, Marg!!!

Alex

(Most craft shops ... here in the Asheville area)

By any chance do you have the names of any of the shops in the Asheville area selling dulcimers?

Thank you marg,

Jerry

Hi Marg;

You will want to determine first what kind of dulcimer you want. I describe several types. There is the "Wall Dulcimer", which is made very pretty, with exotic woods, fancy inlays, lots of decorations, and not the best traditional sound, and is only fit for hanging on the wall.

Then there is what I call the "California Dulcimer (or, when in a bad mood, the "Californicator dulcimer") which has so called "extra frets" and is made for so called "progressive styles" which in my opinion, were never meant to be played on a dulcimer by the original designers centuries ago. People actually play chords on these "instruments", which is something that can be better accomplished on a banjo, guitar, or mandolin. However, many are addicted to this playing style, and it is very difficult to find a dulcimer these days without the 6 1/2 fret; some even have a 2 1/2 fret. Most craft shops (unfortunately) here in the Asheville area have these first two types in abundance. There is another type:

To me, the soul of Appalachia resides in the traditional style Mountain Dulcimer. It has a utilitarian appearance about it, as though it were meant to be played, and there is little ornamentation, though some will have some carvings in the wood or the headpiece. You will not see 4 frets in a row (the 6 1/2), as this instrument is built to be played in the traditional "drone" style (with or without a noter). They are hard to find. I have seen them in little roadside craft shops around Boone NC, or Newland, or Crossnore, but that was years ago. You will just have to look for them.

I wish I were set up for building, as I would love to build a traditional style again, but alas, I have not built one in more than 20 years!

Good luck!