Getting Back To Dulcimer Building
Good Morning, Y'all, and Happy Friday!
I'm getting into the groove of making dulcimers in the new shop. It seems like there's an awful lot of "I need Tool X to finish this job - where is it?" Nothing is quite in the right places yet, but we're getting closer by the day. I finished off a bunch of instruments that were built and lacquered in our old/Indiana shop this week. A few for customer orders, like the one pictured below, (Click on the photo below to hear it in action)
and even more for our website/inventory. As of this morning (Tuesday the 26th), we have 18 instruments ready to ship. We might have a few more, or a few less by the time you read this email. Click on the image below to see what we have in stock for quick shipping:
Any of our "Ready To Ship" instruments can be set up as standard dulcimers (regular octave DAD tuning), baritone dulcimers (tuned four steps lower to AEA), or as bass dulcimers (low-octave DAD tuning - eight full steps lower than a standard dulcimer). If you want something other than "standard," you can order online, then follow up with an email or a phone call, so I know you have a special request!
Back To Work On Special Order Dulcimers
As we've been moving the shop (and our households) I've been saving up work to do here in the new shop. You'll be happy to know that we've begun work on your special order dulcimers going back to early this year. They'll be going out the front door, finished, over the next couple of months. Just know that our workshop is back in full swing, though, and we're gaining on the backlog. Thank you for all of your patience!
We are shipping books and strings daily, of course. We only missed one shipping day in the move, thanks to a lot of planning and organization. Pam came in early and packed orders on our last Wednesday in Woodburn, and right after the day's orders were packed, we loaded the Folkcraft trailer with all the books, strings, straps, and other small items. I left Indiana at about 1:00 PM, and arrived in the UP at 10:52 that evening. Dad, Aly, and I spent all of the next day unpacking the small items (books, straps, strings, cases, etc.) and by Friday morning, we were shipping from our new location.
Need A New Dulcimer Book, Or Two, Or...
Could you use another dulcimer book for the summer? We have 298 of them, all for mountain dulcimer. CLICK HERE to go check out our extensive collection.
We've Gots Lotsa Strings, Too
And strings - many of you liked the bulk strings they had at JustStrings.com, but now that that company is no longer operating, I'm going to mention that Folkcraft has bulk strings, too. We have both singles and twelve-packs of pretty much every gauge string under the sun. Plain steel strings (both ball and loop end) start at $1.00 a string, when you get a dozen of them. Wound strings cost a little more, of course, but we're competitive with our pricing on 12-packs of strings, for sure.
If you go to the Folkcraft.com website, you'll see an entire category for "Strings & Wire." On this page, you'll see a "filter" which allows you to select the type of string you want. Here's the page, with the filter highlighted:
The Rising Cost Of Dulcimer-Building
Dulcimer prices are going to go up on June 1st - next Monday. It's been a while, and our cost to make instruments keeps rising. I'm sorry, really, but this has to be done every once in a while. I'll wait until the end of the day Monday, so if you want to put in an order and beat the price hike, you have time. (If you have a custom dulcimer that's going to take some discussion/planning, let me know, and I'll honor the old pricing for the next couple of weeks - if you let me know this weekend that you're thinking about a new instrument...)
Instruments that have already been ordered (over the past few months) will still get the old pricing.
Our Rosewood Is Ready To Roll
Don't forget - I have a BUNCH (that's a luthier word for "a whole lot") of East Indian rosewood right now. It's been drying since last winter, and is ready for dulcimer-making. If you're considering a higher-end dulcimer (rosewood!) now is the time.
Thanks for reading, Y'all. I've got shop work to get back to now. Do any of you know what I did with the tap we use for threading tail blocks to receive end pin jacks? I haven't found that tool, yet. It's in one of the unopened boxes, for sure, but which one? Who knows...
Have a great weekend - Go play your dulcimers!
Sincerely,
Richard Ash - luthier-who's-happy-to-be-back-to-making-instruments-for-you-all
FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: BECKY DAHMS
Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
Becky: I have been playing for seven years. I started the year I retired, thinking I would need something to do. I had some credits to use for a Road Scholar trip, so I used them on a trip to West Virginia to learn the dulcimer.
Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
Becky: I got my first and (so far) only Folkcraft dulcimer before the pandemic, so I broke it in taking classes on Zoom.
Folkcraft: Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
Becky: I play with my local group weekly, and we perform at gigs several times a year. Occasionally I play at church, accompanied by my husband on guitar.
Folkcraft: What other hobbies or interests do you have besides playing dulcimer?
Becky: I crochet, read a lot, volunteer at the library’s used book store, and lead a weekly Bible study.
FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE WANT TO INTERVIEW YOU!!
No new player to add to our online dulcimer community today, but we are glad to be able to re-feature Becky Dahms, who's been playing the dulcimer for about a decade now. That's awesome, Becky!
There's still plenty of room for more of you, folks! Maybe we could feature you and your Folkcraft dulcimer(s) next week?
Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep The Family Growing?
It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Send an email to: newsletter@folkcraft.com
2) With the answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)
We look forward to receiving your submission & featuring you in our newsletter real soon!
1. How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
2. When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
3. Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
4. What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?
WE'RE OFFERING A $25 FOLKCRAFT GIFT CARD TO ANYONE WHO ANSWERS THE FOUR EASY QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE, AND SENDS IN A PHOTO (OF YOU WITH YOUR FOLKCRAFT DULCIMER). IT'S REALLY SO EASY TO DO!
WE JUST LOVE HEARING FROM Y'ALL!
This Week's Featured YouTube Video:
The next four lessons are for the beginning player. For this week, Mandy teaches new players the "first song." A little boiled cabbage never hurt anyone! CLICK HERE to go to the Video Instruction page on our website where you can scroll down to "Your First Song" and download the TAB that goes with this lesson. Click on the image below to listen & learn.
We have a slew (that's a fancy luthier word for "bunch") of videos for you to watch on our YouTube channel. Click here to see the full list. Be sure to comment on a video, and subscribe to the channel - either action helps us a LOT with YouTube's suggestion algorithms.
We've got quite a few books available for beginning players. Here are two of them. One is by our video instructor, and the second one from the Baker's Dozen series by Shelley Stevens. Just click on the cover to download one, or both, of these excellent volumes!
Want more instruction from Mandy? She put out this book which is perfect for beginners! It has 9 songs, 14 exercises, and 26 audio tracks. Mandy takes you from Day One and teaches you all about your dulcimer and how to play it. Skills included: holding your instrument, how to pick, fret, read tab, learn chords, many exercises included with audio, intro to music theory, I IV V chords, strumming patterns, and more!
This book is part of the ever-popular Baker's Dozen series by Shelley Stevens. With 12 tunes instead of the usual 13, this set of arrangements for young hands features both one-string (melody string only) and two-string (melody and middle strings) versions of nearly every song in the book.
Familiar tunes to get young hands comfortable playing the dulcimer. Awesome!