Val left today and she'll be back on Friday. Then She "leaves" for camp on Sunday. Then I leave for banjo building on Tuesday, and that'll keep me in VA until Saturday the 25th. On the 26th I report to Arlington to start my NEH grant, where I'll make a study of Civil War graffiti. That ends on July 1st.
Then, I got invited to visit the archives at Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, where there is a good bit of information on the Appalachian Dulcimer. So I'll do that until the 5th.Then I get home and see Val! For four days because she is off to do a Kodaly training in NC. That'll be from the 10th through the 22nd, and she'll be home for 1 day before she leaves for Europe with her momma.
I got the saddle set. The intonation is so good on this instrument. I was a bit worried because I couldn't get the action just right, but I got it!
I say this each time I finish an instrument, but this one is the prettiest for what it is. I guess it is because I custom make each one so they are all really pretty. The curves and lines are the same, but how they all come together is completely different!
I had to make a new string bridle to keep the strings down at the bridge pins. As some of you know, I will not buy endangered woods. I will, though, take somebody's dropoffs! When I visited the Millers Ken let me go through his scrap wood box, where I found a lot of his fingerboard leftovers. Heck yeah I'll take 'em and thank you!
So now I have more spirited wood from a builder whom I admire and love!
The tail end of this instrument is just really pretty. Really. Pretty.
Val giving it a go!
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