Happy new year, new things in the shop!
Good morning, y'all!
Happy new year, and "wow!" we have a lot going on in the shop right now. Check out this photo:
You may have to look closely, or squint a little. What is this?
Fretboards! Four fretboards made of Northern cherry, with purpleheart accents. Six pieces of wood (three cherry, three purpleheart) in each fretboard. You might see seven, but the fretboard veneer (of purpleheart) is a single piece, with part of it sanded away to reveal the strum hollow.
Here's another photo that might be easier, visually, to decipher:
These fretboards have a 25" VSL, and are the standard 1 3/8" wide. They're already installed on a set of cherry/purpleheart dulcimers, which should be completed by mid-February, in time to take to the Homosassa festival. Speaking of which...
In less than a month, I'll be packing (actually, Pam and Bonnie will be packing) for the Florida Gulf Coast Dulcimer Retreat. The EIGHTH ANNUAL retreat. Good grief - that's a lot of years. I'll be there as a vendor/repair person/teacher/performer. Folkcraft's big display will be on hand, with over fifty dulcimers to choose from. MaxDADs, LAP-JOs, standard dulcimer, bass dulcimers. All the good stuff!
It isn't too late to register, so you can join in the fun, too. Go to the festival website: GulflCoastDulcimer.com - this event has the same staff year after year - Bing Futch, Guy George, Sharrie George, and me - and is unique in nearly every way. Lots of fun.
I'm going to wrap up this newsletter by paraphrasing the classless billboards along I75 in southern Georgia - "DulcimerDownloads.com - need we say more?"
New titles added the past few weeks? The rest of the Aaron O'Rourke titles, plus pretty much all of Bing Futch's books and CDs. Plus Melanie Johnston's new TablEdit books. And Carol Crocker's new spirituals book. Totally licensed, authors paid for every sale. It is a great approach to getting new dulcimer content in your hands!
If you get the chance, please give me your feedback on the new DulcimerDownloads.com website? What can I do to make it easier to use? Is there a particular artist that you want to see available for download?
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Richard Ash
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