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Help Please.... butchered Dulcimer

Posted by Penny Nelson on January 4, 2010 at 5:36pm in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion

Ironically the name of the music shop I took this to for repair is called The Best Music Shop. I didnt actually want the base board replaced but they took it upon themselves to remove the original which was not split & that had a knob for a strap & replace it with this work of art. This is the result after it was returned for rectification after their first attempt. Any and all suggestions for an innovative repair will be greatly appreciated. My problem is that as the base of the dulcimer is not flat I would have to carve a new base which is a bit daunting for me. Any suggestions regarding the repairer have probably already been thought of by me.

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Replies

  • Penny Nelson January 5, 2010 at 2:20pm
    Thats cool Dan, is the tail piece metal? so many ideas...Should have it sorted by this afternoon. Pulled it apart last night. Thanks again...

    Dan Tomkinson said:
    Hi Penny Im going to tell you that anyone with any skills for wood working can fix that up right proper ,do you have a cabinet maker or even a carpenter around about your way ?they could fix that in a jiff I know I could unfortunately I live about 4000 miles away this is how I atach the strings to all my builds
  • Dan Tomkinson January 5, 2010 at 1:35pm
    Hi Penny Im going to tell you that anyone with any skills for wood working can fix that up right proper ,do you have a cabinet maker or even a carpenter around about your way ?they could fix that in a jiff I know I could unfortunately I live about 4000 miles away this is how I atach the strings to all my builds

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  • Penny Nelson January 5, 2010 at 6:59am
    Thats very cool - I looked online and found skull ones for a small fortune. Will have to look locally for them & your tail piece is very inspirational. Thanks : )
    Randy S. Bretz said:
    Here`s a pic showing the string pins that I was talking about. I use them on just about all my builds.

  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates January 4, 2010 at 9:56pm
    Oh and get your money back for the 'repair'. They should REALLY know better. Heck, we here are garage luthiers and know better. The damned screws are not even centered correctly. Sheesh!

    Can you send us some more pics of the dulcimer :-)

    -WY
  • Wes "I'm Baaaaack" Yates January 4, 2010 at 9:54pm
    Bag the gorilla glue (tho you don't have any anyhow). Get some good string wood glue and glue that thing and follow what Randy says.

    -WY

    Penny Nelson said:
    thanks Randy,
    Thats a very neat and tidy suggestion.. if only we had Gorilla glue in Australia - lol. Can you tell me what it is? i.e. contact cement? Wood Glue? Epoxy? I'm sure will have something similar over here. Will have to souce string pins..

    Randy S. Bretz said:
    Remove the string holder screws, try and remove the top part where it`s split. Put some Gorilla Glue in there and put the top piece back on and clamp it overnight. When fully dry, sand off excess glue. take those 4 screws out of the bottom ansd redrill the hole using a countersink bit. smear alittle Gorilla Glue on the threads of the screws and screw them back in. Then overlay a nice piece of wood to cover the whole end block. Instead of using those screws to hold the strings, I would use string pins. Alot smaller hole and you can use either loop ends or sleeve ends.
  • Penny Nelson January 4, 2010 at 8:49pm
    thanks Randy,
    Thats a very neat and tidy suggestion.. if only we had Gorilla glue in Australia - lol. Can you tell me what it is? i.e. contact cement? Wood Glue? Epoxy? I'm sure will have something similar over here. Will have to souce string pins..

    Randy S. Bretz said:
    Remove the string holder screws, try and remove the top part where it`s split. Put some Gorilla Glue in there and put the top piece back on and clamp it overnight. When fully dry, sand off excess glue. take those 4 screws out of the bottom ansd redrill the hole using a countersink bit. smear alittle Gorilla Glue on the threads of the screws and screw them back in. Then overlay a nice piece of wood to cover the whole end block. Instead of using those screws to hold the strings, I would use string pins. Alot smaller hole and you can use either loop ends or sleeve ends.
  • Penny Nelson January 4, 2010 at 6:06pm
    Toast indeed Jess. Thanks I will take it apart one day... its my only practice instrument at the moment so I'm reluctant to have it out of commission for long.
  • Jess January 4, 2010 at 5:52pm
    Hi Penny: I think the anchor plate is toast. It looks to me like the reason for the damage is that the plate was created and attached with the wood grain running the wrong way. The moment tension was placed on the strings the wood split. I think a new plate could be easily crafted to fit the conture you mentioned, but the picture doesn't show it. Can you remove the piece and take another photo or three of the dulcimer at different angles to see the conture? How does it look shot from the top down and bottom up views. And the screw arrangement and design of the plate is really weak! What are the dimensions of the plate? Perhaps some of us could lend a crafting hand if we knew exact dimensions. ;-)
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