Comments

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  Low Budget Luthier July 11, 2012 at 3:56pm

  dont b suprised if u see me build one. i got 3 cheap fiddles
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  Rand Moore July 10, 2012 at 10:04pm

  $5.00 an hour is pretty good. In China, its more like 5 yuan (about 83 cents an hour). So, for me, it's a labor of love and not profit. I need to find a way to smuggle them into the States w/o having to pay big bucks for shipping. In China, I can buy (and have bought) cheap factory ukuleles for about $12.50 U.S. That's what I'm trying to sell against. Not much margin. If I were a real businessman, I'd import to the States cheap Chinese ukes.

  -Rand.
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  Rand Moore July 10, 2012 at 9:49pm

  I forgot to mention (other than as a re-entrant string for strumming and clawhammer), the main reason for a 4th string is to give you another string to help you find more notes to form chords. With this is mind, I'm not sure ADAD is the best tuning choice for those whishing to play chords. Need to mix it up a little, like maybe use the high 4 strings from the guitar standard tuning: DGBe; but that will also require a chromatic fretboard. If you are really into chordal music, I'd recommend a 4-string chromatically freted instrument (tenor guitar, baritone uke, uke, etc.)  Diatonic is too limited for serious chordal playing... you got only 3 strings and fewer fret per octave to play with. The ADAD tuning is more keeping with the dulcimer playing.

  -Rand.
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  Rand Moore July 10, 2012 at 7:06pm

  Hi Jamie Howe,

  I haven't actually gotten around to playing with ADAD tuning, which is a natural extension of DAD. I guess because I haven't built a sastifying 4-stringer yet.

  I did build one (a 4-stringer paddlebox dulcimer) just before leaving on my anual trip to the States, but was unable to finish it before taking off. So, in September, I can tune it ADAD and let you know how I like it. This new instrument was intended as a test-bed for 4-string tunings, but it has a diatonic fret layout. (Will have to build a second onbe to test out 4-string chromatic tunings.) Likely it will end up being played D-A-dd, but there is room enough on the fretboard to have 4 equally spaced strings with 1cm string separation.

  My current interests have turned to a shortened 4th string added to a 3-string stick dulcimer in the same way a 3rd sting was added to a 2-string stick dulcimer (with banjo style drum body) to create the Dulcijo. I like the idea of Clawhammer, and the shorteened string tuned high (rentrant tuning like banjos and ukulleles) allows one to do clawhammer nicely. I also have a 5-stringer paddlebox banjo design which I'd like to build this September. But, actually, I need to limit the experimental builds and hone my skills at building more recognized instruments in an attempt to learn to build something I can readily sell. The wife keeps after me about tuning my hobby into a business.

  -Rand.