Renaissance-Man
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You did good. 
Dulcimer anyone?
- Thread starter Ahnko Honu
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frets alot
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Nice find, you did great!
AZChris
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Thanks. It does seem to be really nice. I tuned it up but it took me about 20 really frustrating hand-killing minutes. Holy smokes. I hope someone has some tips on wood tuning pegs. I played the "turn the peg until it's in tune then push in the peg really hard and hope it stays" game. It sounds beautiful and I look forward to new strings on it.
frets alot
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Friction tuners are frustrating. The traditionalists will disagree with me, but I'd consider adding some gear tuners. But that's me. It's a beautiful dulcimer.
I recently "discovered" dulcimers, too. I'm actually unsure why it took me so long. I started with ukuleles, tried guitars, then I added a banjo (well, two), and now the dulcimer. Something about this instrument aligns really well with me. It's fun, sounds good, it's very accessible, and much more versatile than I expected.
I'm currently trying to decide between two MacSpadden standard models, one made of cherry and one made of walnut. They are identical except for the wood and the pickup in the walnut model. The vendor offered to send me both so I can pick the one I prefer and return the other. Still have a few days left to make a decision. I think it will probably be the walnut model because the L&R Baggs pickup will probably come in handy eventually.
Would have loved to find a used quality dulcimer, but as with ukes and banjos, I don't live in the right country for that to be a viable option! (It's gotten better with ukes, but dulcimers are very niche here in Germany -- was surprised to find a (one) dealer that stocks proper dulcimers.
Like ukuleles, and unlike banjos, dulcimers seem dangerously collectible to me! So this is something to be mindful of. But even now I already wonder about electric, baritone, chromatic dulcimers in different woods, designs, and scale lengths... I'll definitely have to be mindful of not falling into that rabbit hole again!
I'm currently trying to decide between two MacSpadden standard models, one made of cherry and one made of walnut. They are identical except for the wood and the pickup in the walnut model. The vendor offered to send me both so I can pick the one I prefer and return the other. Still have a few days left to make a decision. I think it will probably be the walnut model because the L&R Baggs pickup will probably come in handy eventually.
Would have loved to find a used quality dulcimer, but as with ukes and banjos, I don't live in the right country for that to be a viable option! (It's gotten better with ukes, but dulcimers are very niche here in Germany -- was surprised to find a (one) dealer that stocks proper dulcimers.
Like ukuleles, and unlike banjos, dulcimers seem dangerously collectible to me! So this is something to be mindful of. But even now I already wonder about electric, baritone, chromatic dulcimers in different woods, designs, and scale lengths... I'll definitely have to be mindful of not falling into that rabbit hole again!
frets alot
Well-known member
You can't go wrong with McSpadden. I have both cherry and walnut and love them both. The pickup may be nice to have, if you continue with it. The rabbit hole can be dangerous. I have different sizes, tunings, designs, etc. They are lovely and really fun instruments. You can decide what form of play too....drone, chord-melody, strum, fingerstyle. Enjoy the journey.
Luckily (or unfortunately), I'm a little limited by what's offered here in Germany. Importing instruments from the States has gotten fairly unattractive over the years. It adds around 25% in taxes (VAT, import) and shipping costs for bulkier packages have gone up a lot.
But there is still enough choice here to keep me drooling! There's a German dulcimer player who runs a small store and designed a "concert dulcimer" built by a local luthier that I'll eventually want. He plays one in this video (in DADD with capo on the first fret). The different form and taller body give it a guitar-y sound. I considered starting there, but he recommended that I learn on a traditional MD first and then come see him to try the concert dulcimer because the sound is so different. He plays the walnut MacSpadden here. Those are the two tunes I started to learn. As always, though, it's never as easy as it looks!
(There are numerous videos on his channel.)Do you keep all your dulcimers in a case? I have one MacSpadden hard case that I was able to get at a lower cost. I've seen some from TKL, but they are close to $200.
TheresaSC
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I keep my Ron Gibson in a case, I purchased the case when I ordered the dulcimer. Dulcimer cases seem to be crazy expensive. I was really surprised at the prices when I first started looking into dulcimers.Luckily (or unfortunately), I'm a little limited by what's offered here in Germany. Importing instruments from the States has gotten fairly unattractive over the years. It adds around 25% in taxes (VAT, import) and shipping costs for bulkier packages have gone up a lot.
But there is still enough choice here to keep me drooling! There's a German dulcimer player who runs a small store and designed a "concert dulcimer" built by a local luthier that I'll eventually want. He plays one in this video (in DADD with capo on the first fret). The different form and taller body give it a guitar-y sound. I considered starting there, but he recommended that I learn on a traditional MD first and then come see him to try the concert dulcimer because the sound is so different. He plays the walnut MacSpadden here. Those are the two tunes I started to learn. As always, though, it's never as easy as it looks!
Do you keep all your dulcimers in a case? I have one MacSpadden hard case that I was able to get at a lower cost. I've seen some from TKL, but they are close to $200.
Joyful Uke
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Oh, oh. I haven't been keeping up with this thread, and bought a Roosebeck. I haven't had a chance to do much of anything with it yet, but it seems well set up, no intonation problems noted, and since I don't know what good tone is for a dulcimer, that seems acceptable to me. I can see why someone might want to upgrade to a higher end one at some point, as happens with ukulele, though. But since this seems very playable, it should be a good starting point, and if I stick with it and upgrade, by then I'd have a better idea of what I'm looking for with a higher end dulcimer.
The place I bought it from says: "We take these dulcimers through a thorough set up process to ensure good playability and intonation." I think they did just that.
With the holidays coming and Covid already spreading like crazy in my area, I think it will be a good time to learn to play dulcimer and isolate from the Covid filled world when possible. Seems like most people I know either have Covid or have just been exposed and are waiting to see if they end up testing positive too. Dulcimer seems like a good distraction from all that.
Any suggestions for online classes? I was thinking about giving this a try:
Index
But maybe I'll just see what I can find on YouTube for starters? Any suggestions are welcome.
frets alot
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I have cases for all my dulcimers. All but one came with a quality case, and for that one, I purchased a hard shell case. A quality dulcimer case isn't cheap. You can get gig bags at a lesser cost. It all depends on the protection you are looking for. Often, a gig bag is enough, if you are careful with it.
It probably doesn't help that it's likely a niche market. I was surprised that TKL had dulcimer cases at all, though I can't seem to find a German dealer that even carries them. Well, I have the MacSpadden one at least, and I really do plan to stick to just one dulcimer for at least a few months! (Except maybe an electric one with a solid body, because they don't even need a case?
)Padded dulcimer bags are much easier to come by here, too. My main concern is humidity. It gets very low every winter and the floor heating doesn't help. It's uncommon to have house-wide humidification systems here (or ACs), so every winter I battle with low humidity. I was blissfully unaware of all of this in my first year with ukuleles, so my first tenor's neck dried out (protruding frets) and wrapped very slightly. Ever since I've been babying my wooden instruments, making sure they have cases with humidifiers. I try to keep the humidity levels in the room they're in at a decent level, but success with that has been erratic. I only rent the place, so more permanent solutions aren't an option.
On a happy note, the MacSpadden walnut model is out for delivery and arrives in a few hours! I'll have a couple days to decide if I keep the cherry (that's been here for a week) or the walnut one. And I'm totally not going to listen to the voice of my inner consumerist that keeps suggesting that I could keep both since they are not easy to come by, and I could tune one differently, and so on.
I'm only days ahead of you, so I have barely any more experience. My impression so far is that if you have any kind of musical background, the dulcimer will be very accessible and you'll be able to make progress quickly by watching some YouTube videos or just learning from tabs. It's rather intuitive, especially since you already play the ukulele. Getting the hang of playing with a flatpick again and using my thumb to fret strings have been the biggest "challenges".
I've been browsing the e-books offered here, but so far not picked one up. Between the ring-bound instructions book that was included with the MacSpadden dulcimer (it seems to be part of the starter package they always include?), and the videos by Banjo Lemonade on YouTube (plus the ones by the German dulcimer dealer, but they are all in German), I feel I have plenty of material to learn with for the time being.
If you decide to subscribe to the course you linked, I'm definitely interested in learning about your experiences with it!
frets alot
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For those of you who are getting into mountain dulcimer, I strongly suggest joining this dulcimer forum. There is a lot of great information, the people are helpful and pleasant, and you can get all your questions answered.
fotmd.com
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I received the walnut MacSpadden dulcimer a couple hours ago. And, oh, it is hard to pick between this model and the cherry model that I've had for a few days. They are identical except for the wood and the pickup in the walnut model. Both sound wonderful, just different. The walnut model has a stronger low end, a slightly fuller sound. The cherry dulcimer has a stronger high end, a sparkly sound. Volume seems about the same to me. Visually, the cherry wood is prettier.
With ukuleles I sometimes felt people were overly focused on the wood type and I couldn't always hear the difference between different types of woods, but with these two dulcimers it's audible. If money was of no concern, I'd keep both and use whichever fits the mood of a song better. (This sounds like the beginning of DAS! Took me longer with ukes to get to the "I want ukes in different woods" point.)
I have a hard time to make up my mind. It may just come down to the walnut model having a pickup. I won't need it right now, but if I ever play with others outside a room, I'd probably like to plug in. Playing around with some effect pedals/devices might also be a lot of fun.
Do you get your instruments with pickups if it's an option?
With ukuleles I sometimes felt people were overly focused on the wood type and I couldn't always hear the difference between different types of woods, but with these two dulcimers it's audible. If money was of no concern, I'd keep both and use whichever fits the mood of a song better. (This sounds like the beginning of DAS! Took me longer with ukes to get to the "I want ukes in different woods" point.)
I have a hard time to make up my mind. It may just come down to the walnut model having a pickup. I won't need it right now, but if I ever play with others outside a room, I'd probably like to plug in. Playing around with some effect pedals/devices might also be a lot of fun.
Do you get your instruments with pickups if it's an option?
frets alot
Well-known member
In the dulcimer world, it is DAD (dulcimer acquisition disease)... a play on the common dulcimer tuning, DAD.
I have one dulcimer with a pick-up. That's all I need, if I need to plug in. All my other dulcimers are purely acoustic. But that's just me. You have to decide for you. Having the walnut with the pick-up, is probably they way I'd go.
I know it's not exactly a dulcimer, but sort of similar: I got to try my Dad's spruce Merlin M4 and does that instrument ever pack a punch! What a beautiful tone! I didn't realize when I ordered it for him that it was strung left-handed, but if you just flip the tabs or use inversion chord shape, it works fine. What a fun thing to play.
I settled on the walnut model with the pick-up. It just makes the most sense. Both instruments sound and play wonderfully, with great intonation across the whole neck. The pick-up was the decisive factor in the end. I plugged the dulcimer in an older Roland Cube I had, and it was actually quite fun playing around with the reverb, delay, and flange/chorus effects. I have very little experience with playing instruments plugged in, but this was fun. I figure that having a pickup (it's a LR Baggs one) and not need it is better than needing one and not having one. I feel it's worth the extra cost. That was a hard decision.
What a lovely gift! I actually wondered about one of those for my elderly mother. She expressed interest in learning guitar a few years ago, but that didn't go anywhere. Ukulele didn't catch on with her, either, but I think the Merlin may actually be an interesting pick. (And if she doesn't like it, I would probably have fun with it.
) Oh, I don't think they are actually strung for left-handed players! I believe the melody and bass strings are probably swapped because it is held and played like a guitar/ukulele, so it would be a little uncomfortable and awkward to fret the melody string if it was closest to the player (when the instrument is held). It's instead closest to the finger tips for ease of playing, just like a dulcimer sitting in the player's lap.
This one is labelled as a "left" model, so that's what I had assumed. This one is strung with the lowest D closest to the floor (if I hold it like a typical guitar or uke), and the double course D is closest to the ceiling. And when I read tab for it, the double course D is in the same spot as the A on a ukulele or the high E on a guitar, and I have to flip the tab in my mind as I play to get it right. Since it's just 3 courses, for simple tunes, it's not too much mental gymnastics.
If your mother is interested in a stringed instrument, this is a lot of fun and very pretty sounding. I see one available in the Marketplace
. I wonder what the mahogany one sounds like? The spruce one is fantastic IMO.Glad you decided to keep the one with the pickup. It wouldn't be my personal choice, because that's not something I need, but since it will be useful to you, it's definitely worth it.
Joyful Uke
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Thanks for this suggestion. I was wondering if there was a dulcimer forum.For those of you who are getting into mountain dulcimer, I strongly suggest joining this dulcimer forum. There is a lot of great information, the people are helpful and pleasant, and you can get all your questions answered.
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I still haven't had time to get started, but hopefully will soon. My sick dog has had priority, but she fortunately seems to be on the mend now.
Ooh! Yes, this is a left-handed Merlin, tuned in the same order as a lap dulcimer. Sorry for the confusion I may have caused there.
I don't really know if I'll ever actually use it, but the extra cost is the only real drawback of the pickup. I could have gone either way. I think the cherry wood is definitely prettier, but sound-wise I liked both instruments. I was tempted to keep both and was relieved when I handed the package to the postman.
I've experimented with about 25 different picks in various shapes, materials, and gauges (I've been down this road before with ukes when I was interested in flatpicking, so I have box full of plectrums!) and I was surprised by how much the type of pick affects the sound. I narrowed it down to the pointy triangular Herdim (dulcimer dealer threw that in), the .50 triangle Tortex ones from Dunlop, and the light and medium MacSpadden picks. These are all larger picks. Of the smaller, regular ones I liked .46 Delrin Dunlops the most for now (as a novice pick user, soft is easier). I'll probably just stick with the Herdims. These are made here and easy to find, and the pointy end gives the bright sound I seem drawn to (uke, banjo).
I also couldn't help myself and ordered a hardback copy of The Dulcimer Chord Bible. I try to avoid acquiring more physical books (donated hundreds to a local library a couple years ago when I downsized on "stuff", and still have a fair number), but while tabs work well for me on a tablet, I still prefer real books for some things.
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