dulcimer refurbishing

[jtisch]

I was wondering if this would be right forum to discuss doing a dulcimer make-over.

J

[WaterPig Master]

I suspect it would be so - do you have pictures of the dulcimer you are wanting to refurbish?

I can't help you much as I have never refurbished one, but I suspect even the most experienced would want to see pictures!

Thanks,
Barnaby

[kwl]

It certainly is. A few of us have refurbished instruments. Pictures are always helpful, but it all depends on what refurbishing you plan to do. Let us know as much information as you can about the project and we'll offer our usual helpful and friendly advise.

[jtisch]

The dulcimer I am referring to is the bottom one. I've been having troubles w/Photobucket so I hope this pic comes through.

[KenH]

OK, so what do you want to refurbish? The word can mean so many things to so many people. Do you mean a thorough cleaning and new strings? Re-doing the clear coat on the wood? Changing out the tuners for a different type? Making and installing new nuts/bridges for a different string layout? Wash, rinse, wax and blow-dry?

[jtisch]

Ken H,
You are right, I should give more info. Sorry for the poor picture, that is about the best I and my old camera can do.
Anyway let me tell you about this dulcimer. It is the lower of the two in the picture, The top one is a High Country dulcimer and I also have a Blue Lion dulcimer which is not shown. This is just to show that this dulcimer is a bit bigger than average..
Anyway, the dulcimer in question is one I got off of E-bay PDC (pretty darn cheap). It has a sticker on the inside saying Southern Highland Dulcimers. I do not know whether it was a kit from them or one already built. I sure am hoping it is the former as the finish is not very good.

Tuners: Since I thought about posting this I went and bought some Grover tuners at Dusty Strings. Looks like it should be no problem to swap them out. Two of the old ones were almost worn/stripped out.

Nut and saddle/bridge: The ones on the dulcimer seem to be made of wood that is too soft and at the top end the strings (especially the middle string) are just about scraping the first fret.Each time I tune it the strings get lower. The gentleman at DS gave me some hardwood scraps to make new ones which I have already started on and will install unless someone can convince me that bone or corian is the way to go.

Gotta take a break for now, customers coming to my door.

J

[kwl]

I looked at your picture in Photobucket and it looks like the instrument is certainly worth working on. I like the idea of using a good hardwood for the nut and bridge. I think this will preserve the warmer tone of wood better than bone or Corian. If you plan to refinish the dulcimer, see if you can sand or scrape off the old finish rather than using a stripper. Not only is it less messy, but I think it preserves the color wood better. Best wishes for your project.

[jtisch]

Thanks all!! I am free again.
A couple of other things I should mention. When I got the dulcimer it had the usual heart-shaped sound-holes, but they were rather crudely cut out so I made the round holes you see in the pic. The sound from the larger sound-holes seemed a little louder, but not terribly different from the instrument as it arrived.

As for a total re-finishing, I wouldn't mind doing so but I am worried about if whether I could really remove all of the old finish, especially in the corners. The worst areas are around the edges of the sound board and I was thinking of having my artist friend doing something with paint around those edges.

J
Perhaps to help with answers I can tell you that I have shop full of wood and metal working machines and that I have been making Radio-Control aircraft for 30 years so I CAN work with these materials but I do need some guiding light as to what I should be doing.

Thanks again

[harpmaker]

It all depends on how 'new' you want this to look when done. Completely refinishing an instrument can be very very time consuming.

You seem to be on the right track so far for general playing.....new tuners and strings, redoing the nut and bridge etc. While you have the strings off, check the fretboard to see if you have any frets that are bad or need redressing. In fact, that should be the first thing to look at because it will determine how much time you are going to spend on this project. In other words, if the fretboard is not level or if it is twisted, anything else you do will just be wasted time unless the fretboard is corrected.

I'd start there....

[jtisch]

Thanks! I didn't think to check for true on the fretboard. I will do so. The frets show very little wear and while the dulcimer appears to be somewhat old, it shows little sign of having been played much.

Thanks again to all!

[jtisch]

Well, I think I know why my tuners weren't working well. There were no bearings! The shaft just went through a hole in the wood, which got crushed. Too much stress for just the mounting plate to handle, isn't it?

[harpmaker]

Yeah, I've seen that happen....all too often as a matter of fact. I don't know why someone would go through all the work of building the instrument only to get lazy at the end and skip the step of installing the tuner bushings....