Just an update photo of my Black Tabak Especial showing it rigged as a 5-string stick dulcimer with dual melody strings and dual middle strings.
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This CBG was originally a 4-stringer with equal-spaced strings and chromatically spaced frets. But, after a week or so of playing, I decided chromatic was too tough to play and converted it into a diatonic stick dulcimer with dual melody strings (something that I'm used to playing). Then, after playing that a few weeks, I decided I needed to modify it with a 5th tuner so I could also have dual middle strings so as to be able to accommodate those song tabs which are arranged to play part of the melody on the middle string. I dislike the sound when you are playing your melody on the two melody strings (and sounding a bit like a mandolin) and then you have to play a few notes on the single melody string, so this was the fix.Someone dug up an old photo of this instrument a day or two ago on my personal page on CBN and I decided I needed to add a couple updated photos.
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Thanks, Clockwork.
This CBG was originally a 4-stringer with equal-spaced strings and chromatically spaced frets. But, after a week or so of playing, I decided chromatic was too tough to play and converted it into a diatonic stick dulcimer with dual melody strings (something that I'm used to playing). Then, after playing that a few weeks, I decided I needed to modify it with a 5th tuner so I could also have dual middle strings so as to be able to accommodate those song tabs which are arranged to play part of the melody on the middle string. I dislike the sound when you are playing your melody on the two melody strings (and sounding a bit like a mandolin) and then you have to play a few notes on the single melody string, so this was the fix.Someone dug up an old photo of this instrument a day or two ago on my personal page on CBN and I decided I needed to add a couple updated photos.
-Rand.