Ultimate noob query: which Hammered Dulcimer?

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Celtic983
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Post by Celtic983 »

I tend to like the Floating soundboard designs. (Ardie's and Dana Hamilton) Although I am sure there are exceptions, but to me they seem louder. Perhaps not as expressive as a Dusty String ...but definately not void of expression. Some dulcimers get drowned out when there are quite a few instruments.
I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family.

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Post by Random notes »

Thanks for all the information.

After playing with Missy's generously loaned Masterworks for a few days I knew I had to get a dulcimer of my own, so I stopped dithering and went for it.

Basically, I wanted something bigger than a 12/11 if possible and wanted to keep the whole package within $400. That pretty much narrowed it down to Rick Thum's 14/13 Traveler w/ solid or ply top and Chris Foss's 16/15 Poebe w/ ply top.

The Phoebe has a larger soundbox and is probably an excellent instrument, but I could get the Traveler with a Spanish cedar top for the same price. Since I will probably only ever play for my own enjoyment (primarily because I doubt anyone else would enjoy my playing) and won't have to compete with a band the box size is probably not that important. Also, the Traveler has 1 1/4" string spacing - I couldn't find the spec for the Phoebe - and that was also attractive.

So I splurged for the solid wood top and got a case as well (I have an Australian Shepherd who sheds like a herd of St. Bernards). That brought me a bit over budget so I'll have to go to Home Despot for some hardwood sticks and cobble up a stand when I have time. The Traveler has a threaded fitting in the back for use with a camera tripod, and I have one that might be sturdy enough to serve in the meantime.

BTW, I bought it through http://www.dulcimers.biz/RickThumDulcimers.html run by Sharon Skaryd. She doesn't post her prices, but she offers a significant discount. If anyone is interested, you can email her at skaryds@dulcimers.com for a price list. (No, I'm not getting a commission).

Thanks again for all your help - it was good to know what you like and why.

Roger
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missy
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Post by missy »

good choice! Like I said, I got to "babysit" a Traveler for a week over the summer, and I was VERY impressed with it.

And besides, as Tom and I told you, Rick is a nice guy, too!

Keep the dulcimer as long as you like.......

oh - and here's a link to the festival in Elizabethtown I was trying to remember:
http://www.geocities.com/heartlanddulcimerclub/
If you click on the "Fall Festival Details" at the top you'll see the workshop lineup. I haven't taken a class from Cathy, but she's a great player.


P.S. - and the dog is a cutie, maybe next time we'll "introduce" her to Wyley and Buster.......nah!!!! :D
Missy

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Post by HDSarah »

Congratulations, Roger!
You'll find that one benefit of the hammered dulcimer is that it LOOKS really impressive (and, of course, sounds beautiful), so if you just learn to play ''Mary Had a Little Lamb'' people will be impressed. I've had people in awe just seeing me take mine out of the case. (Hmmm . . . maybe there's a correlation between me NOT playing and people being impressed :-? . . .)That's in direct contrast to the whistle, which looks so simple that people are never adequately impressed even on the rare occasions that I manage to play a tune without squacking. :lol: (And how does one spell squack? nothing looks right.)

The hammered dulcimer is a wonderful instrument to learn because it makes such lovely sounds from the very start. Enjoy yours!

P.S. I had the good fortune to meet Rick Thum at the Swannanoa Gathering this past summer, and I can second what was said about him being a nice guy. He's also a fantastic player (his ''A Reason to Dance'' CD is one of my all-time favorites), an enthusiastic lover of music, and a really good jam session leader. I hope you get to meet him someday.
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Post by Random notes »

Well, I took Missy's suggestion and sent my registration in to the E-town festival and I'll be in a couple of beginner workshops. Hopefully the Traveller will be here by then or I'll have to schlep the Masterworks. Either way, the instrument will no doubt be far more impressive than my playing of it.

I have managed to plink out rough approximations of "Sally Gardens" and "Planxty Dale Wisely" but my 'cute' little dog has made it clear that she is not impressed.

BTW - I checked the lat&long from your profile. Do you really live at Fairbanks Int'l Airport? That is so cool.

Roger
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Post by HDSarah »

Random notes wrote:
BTW - I checked the lat&long from your profile. Do you really live at Fairbanks Int'l Airport? That is so cool.

Roger
Well, actually I live northeast of Fairbanks, but I copied the latitude & longitude from the official Fairbanks weather station, which is the airport. I figure one shouldn't divulge one's exact address on the web, right? (Plus it would be more work to determine the coordinates of my house, and I'm lazy! :lol: )

I'm Fairbanks' resident hammered dulcimer fanatic. I've had mine almost 4 years now, and it brings great joy into my life. I hope yours does the same for you.
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Post by chattiekathy »

Congratulations Roger! :D

I hope you like your Rick Thum Dulcimer. He is a great guy. If you ever get a chance to take a workshop of his, Take it! even if it seems too advanced for you, you will learn so much from him.

:lol: watch out, after you have gone to a dulcimer festival, you will be on the look out for everyone near you! The people are great and it is just so much fun! The there is the cross over to the mountain dulcimer and it is just as addicting. I started out with one hammered dulcimer and now I have added 4 mountain dulcimers to my music room. :P

If you have any questions about playing it, you can check out the discussion forums at http://www.everythingdulcimer.com . There is a specific Hammered dulcimer forum there.

Have fun!

Cheers,
Kathy :)
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Post by Random notes »

Thanks! I am looking forward to getting out ot the festival. I am not looking forward to DAD, but it looks like that's a hazard for any hobby.

I am trying to convince a friend of mine to go with me Saturday. She has a Homer Ladford dulcimer that she has never played - I think she got it from her husband's family. Ledford is apparently a Kentucky treasure - there was a special on KET about him a little while ago. I tuned it up for her and showed her how to hold and strum it (after watching Tom and Missy for all of 5 minutes I was an expert, of course) and it has a very warm sound. I think we can encourage each other to follow through on club membership, etc.

I've stopped by that dulcimer forum a couple of times. I may have to become a regular. There are a number of suspiciously familiar handles over there...

Roger
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Post by chattiekathy »

I hope you can convince your friend to go with you. a couple of Sunday evenings ago, I gathered a group of about 16 kids from my church ages 4 years old to 9th grade and I had 8 dulcimers with me. In about 1 and 1/2 hours, I had all but 2 of those kids playing mountain dulcimer and they all learned 4 songs. The 2 that didn't learn to play on their own were 4 year olds and they still learned how to strum and with help from a couple of parents they were also fretting. They didn't do any chording but they played the melody notes. Thats the best place for a beginner to start. Especially with us old fogies, We take longer to learn than kids do. :lol:

Is her Ledford one of the ones that have the old style tuners on it? I have a Sunhearth that has the old style peg tuners. It is a pain to tune, but when I get it tuned, it stays in really well. Mine is suppose to have fine tuners at the tail end but they are missing. I got some but I had just changed the strings on it and I hate to take off the new strings to put on the fine tuners.

Yeah, There are a couple of us that are jumping from board to board. :wink: Missy, Lolly, Byll, Brassblower, Flyingcursor, Me, hummm, I probably left some of us out.

Cheers,
Kathy :)
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Post by Flyingcursor »

What do you all think of the Meadowlark or the Wren? I really would like a smaller dulcimer and I think 13/13 is about right. Plus I've always wanted a Rick Thum.
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Post by Random notes »

According to Sharon Skaryd, the Meadowlark/Wren were originally Chris Foss designs that Thum bought and improved. They have the same size case as the Traveler. Rick's website is a bit confusing - it lists them both as 13/12 in one place and both as 13/13 in another and the pictures are not clear enough to count the tuning pegs. Sharon lists them both as 13/12 on her price list

Chattykathy, my friend will be accompanying me to the dulcimer festival in E-town Saturday. She gave up tickets to "The King and I" just to do this. There were no gears on the Ledford's tuning mechanism and nothing fancy on the tail piece. It's really a plain-vanilla instrument, but the workmanship is excellent and the sound is sweet.

BTW, my Traveler arrived today. I have nothing to compare it to except Missy's Master Works 15/14 which is much larger and costs about twice as much, so it's hardly fair. Shortcuts were taken with the finish - there is nothing on the bridges, and the hitch pins look like they were just cut from wire. They are stout enough to do the job, but there are rough edges on the exposed ends. Still, I'm not going to de-string it just to de-burr the hitch pins and slather linseed oil on the woody bits. I'm sure that after this Saturday I'll have more to compare it to. I'm also sure that I will discover once again that the music I make will be far more limited by my musicianship than by this instrument.

Roger
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Post by Flyingcursor »

Random notes wrote:According to Sharon Skaryd, the Meadowlark/Wren were originally Chris Foss designs that Thum bought and improved. Roger
I thought those names sounded familiar. I wondered why Thum would start naming his dulcimers after birds the same as Foss.

I just looked it up and discovered that mine is a Warbler.
http://www.songbirdhd.com/

I see they are selling a line of mountain dulcimers now. It looks like they are the same as Modern Mountain Dulcimers.

Missy, doesn't Don Pedi play Modern Mountain dulcimers?
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Post by missy »

Fly - I'm not sure if Don plays a particular make of dulcimer, he owns quite a few......

I've noodled several of David's dulcimers - they are very nice.
Missy

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