I'm a beginner taking lessons. Judy's book answers all the questions I have between classes, provides exercises, and even warm encouragement. This book is a must have for those new to mountain dulcimer. I'm grateful to Judy!
I was given the hourglass dulcimer plan as a gift. I liked the parts list as well as the full sized design. You can use tracing paper to make a pattern so you don't cut or destroy the plans. It was very detailed with dimensions to where I had no trouble following what needed to be done from start to finish.
I used this to fashion a new nut for an old dulcimer I had. It was easy to cut/file/sand, and the dulcimer sounds good too. It has held up perfectly to all the playing and tuning stress since then.
These strings sounded great. The packaging was really nice. It was a clear thick plastic rather than some paper thin packaging like a lot of strings.
I installed these strap buttons on an old dulcimer. It was really easy to install. They look great and have lasted for several years now. They still look like new.
This has come in handy transporting my dulcimer and for keeping it on my lap. The 1” strap is low profile, so I can focus on playing and not fighting with the strap.
Quality you can count on. I use these in constructing bowed psalteries and like their tone quality.
I just happened to be browsing through the book department here at Folkcraft and landed my eyes on this book by Susan Trump. I have taken at least 2 one-hour online workshops with Susan and I found her teaching style to be sympatico with my learning style so I decided to give this book a chance. I consider myself to be an intermediate player, so I was a little put off by the "Intermediate to Advanced" rating of the arrangements, but I know I need to keep challenging myself so I took a gamble. So glad I did! Susan's arrangements are very clear and easy to read and the CD with all of the songs played on Mountain Dulcimer is so very helpful. I am still focusing on the first three songs of the book so far (as the songs are arranged from easiest to hardest), but I feel I am making good progress. I knew very little about O'Carolan until recently and I am enjoying this new experience with these new (to me) songs.
I am not a tab user generally, tend to read the music. However as I started to work through the exercises in Dave’s Beautiful Melodies arpeggio booklet I found the tab to be out of sync with the written music ..not in all cases but enough that I found it disturbing that these errors passed into publication. I’d include an example here see one example ..Arpeggio Exercise 1 ..
They are working well. It is nice to not have to guess which drill bit to use. I’m an amateur luthier and need all the help I can get.
So far, I have fabricated. two dulcimers from scratch. I purchased. all of the hardware parts and strings from Folkcraft. I am very happy with end results.
The quality of the kit is good, but my husnand struggling in cutting out the top and bottom. The utility knife is not working for him. It would have been helpful to have a video but we are persevering on.
Martha Robinson
I play autoharp and this the best source I have found for Patriotic Music!!
Quick and fast service - quality product - professionally wrapped /
Customer service is outstanding // My new website for sure !!
I have enjoyed restoring a few old mountain dulcimers. Thanks to Folkcraft Instruments my 1973 Capri-Taurus is back in commission. Thank you Richard and the crew for quality products, and quick delivery of the machine heads, etc. I'm looking forward to meeting y'all soon.
I am really enjoying Carol Walkers Classical Dulcimer for Wascally Wabbits. I wanted to learn Cannon in D, and it's there, but so much more. Thanks Carol and Folkcraft
Been using these as nuts almost exclusively for years. Very convenient to install. (I usually sand down the height to allow fine adjustment back up with shims).
I use these strings on my bowed psaltery. They are easy to work with and give an exceptional tone when bowed.
Dad and I had our doubts at first. We are not luthiers, so the instructions looked sparse and undetailed at first, but we successfully built a beautiful instrument that plays well and holds tune consistently. Will be purchasing more products from Folkcraft as we expand our knowledge of instrument building.
The overall measurements go well beyond the length and width of my psalteries (mostly Unicorn Strings). But the "height" of the case is very narrow. It squeeze the psaltery enough to keep it from sliding around, which is a good thing. I believe it protects better than most "psaltery gig-bags" in its class. It certainly protects against banging the ends into things much better. But it does take up more room than a fitted gig bag would.
I've giving this set a 5-star because they are the same items (but different gauges) that I usually order in bulk. Have not yet started the build of my MaxDAD but I'm confident that this set of FolkCraft strings will perform past my expectations.
Ever since I received "Heart's Ease" by Nina Zanetti, I've been playing some of the 35 tunes from the medieval, renaissance and baroque periods on a near daily basis. I especially enjoy the arrangements of songs by John "The English Dancing Master" Playford. Other favorites include Johann Sebastian Bach's "When Bagpipers Play," "Greensleeves" and a Sarum plainsong from possibly the 9th Century, but all are worth playing and ones I haven't played before except two. No need to have a 1+ fret for these arrangements but a few require tuning in DGD or DAC.
I am throughly enjoying the arrangements in the this book. September on the Mississippi is particularly beautiful. I look forward to learning all of the tunes. Larry Conger’s arrangements are great!
Hello, from Japan. This is my second DIY dulcimer. The kit contained pretty beautiful wood material, such as a dead straight finger board, beautiful book matched and figured cherry top. I modified head shape, added abalon fret markers, 1.5 fret, kerfing, back brace and gecko shaped sound holes. Finished with Watoco oil narural twice and polished with bees wax. Speaking modestly, this is a beautiful dulcimer kit and beyond the price.
