idle moments

i just found this lovely oak appalachian dulcimer stand on ebay (oh what wonders can be found on ebay!). now i have two treasures to wait upon. i've seen a few versions of stands meant to be used to hold your dulcimer while you play instead of having it slide around on your lap. mostly, i use a small table when i have slippery pants on since i don't like the heat of using the traditional chamois. this little gem is fully adjustable in height and slender, yet stable, enough to rest between your legs so will make it an ideal companion to support my favorite dulcimers while playing!

until it arrives, i will just kick back and rest a while. perhaps even stitch? i'm done with the holiday gift quilt and am cutting back on shifts at work for a while. it's time to take some joe time for a change....

meanwhile, outside it is snowing. again. we got almost 8 inches over the weekend and are getting a few more even now...

namaste'

cigar box guitar heaven

since i can't share with you the quilt i've been working on (it's a holiday present and i don't wanna spoil the surprise), i thought i'd share my latest musical acquisition instead. earlier this year i commissioned an extremely talented english luthier to build a very special cigar box guitar for me.

i asked him to use a vintage cigar box with an interesting design, electrify it, make it convertible from 3 to 4 strings (hence the two little brass screws above the base string and extra notches in the bridge and nut....very clever solution on his part!)...(also note back in the first pic the fret markers....those are made from salvaged vintage bone piano keys and a great amount of the wood is salvaged from old furniture)...

i asked him to carve a blossom and a skull on the custom bridge...

i sent him sketches and photos of my tibetan monk's skull tattoo and asked him to stylize it for the hand carved heel...

and to include some tibetan clouds and more blossoms...

then i asked him to carve some stylized tibetan clouds on the headstock...

he did some very creative layering of woods to give the instrument fine detailing.

now, we decided to not actually ship this beauty across the pond until after the holiday madness subsides (for safety's sake), but flatfoot johnny made this wonderfully teasing video to stoke the flames of my desire and longing... in it he describes the many features, gives a lot of close up views and plays it both accoustically and amplified!



ooooh.....i can hardly wait to coax my own music!!

namaste'

a little holiday cheer

imagine my surprise when confronted with a rather large, unusually shaped box this afternoon at the post office, arriving from an interweb quilting friend down in kentucky. surprise transformed quickly into delight once i opened the box and found this beautiful old mountain dulcimer nestled inside.a plethora of golden packing peanuts! she obviously knows my passion for these amazing instruments. i am enriched and filled with gratitude by such a kind and generous gift from this incredible lady...

you can see how it was made in the traditional manner, using fence staples as fret wires...and where old frets had fallen out and been replaced. i can only imagine what this beauty sounds like given that the fretting is virtually all over the place. ha!

hand carved friction tuning pegs planted in a sculpted headstock. no grand grace and charm in the construction here. this is a down home, lovingly crafted instrument that invites you to speculate as to its history. possibilities spin out into eternity, spiced with romance and joyful gathering around the hearth!

the conundrum now is whether to restore this glorious wounded bird and help her to sing again by repairing a crack on the back soundboard, refinishing her, and adding a new fret board complete with properly intoned frets, or to leave her aging grace and charm in place and allow her silence to speak volumes in our dreams? i think i'll let her rest and settle in to her new home for a while and see what she whispers in the quiet hours of the night...

namaste'