Looking forward to addiontal videos. These are great informative videos and I appreciate the details. Looking forward to discussion and string selection for various dulcimers,
yes, strings with ball ends are certainly more of a challenge. Sometimes it is handy to have a friend just put their finger on the pin holding the ball on until you get a little tension on the string. That is why at the start of 2021 we changed the Ginger over to loop end strings...
Great information for us newbies! I always wondered, with instruments, how will you know if you should change the strings? just when they break? Never heard about the suggestion to change them after about 50 hours of playing. Is it because aged strings are harder to play? just don't stay in tune? something else? I suppose changing them at set intervals makes sense to me. I'm fairly prolific at sewing and have taught sewing education for years. Old school thinking was to change your needle when it breaks. Those sewists with a bit more wisdom know to change them often. It's said the lifespan of a machine sewing needle is 8 hours for a common household machine, professional high-speed machines are about half that.) If you cannot remember when you changed your machine sewing needle just go ahead and change it. A damaged tip or eye on a needle will cause microscopic tears in the fabric and/or thread. Your finished garment or quilt will be fine and look wonderful when it's finished but wash it once or twice and you'll see the frayed fabric show up all along every seam line. (Ask me how I know - especially with knits) Your hard work of sewing will only result in a garment with a short lifespan - when it starts ripping at the seams with use. Thanks for this info on how to change my strings on my dulcimer. It's so helpful.
there is no hard fast rule when to change your strings, but usually it is for sound quality. After time they will not "ring" quite as nicely. If your instrument still sounds good to you, there is no reason to change them. I would though recommend changing them just before you enter the recording studio when you fulfill your recording contract...
Looking forward to addiontal videos. These are great informative videos and I appreciate the details. Looking forward to discussion and string selection for various dulcimers,
Thanks for this. It’s hard for me to put a new string on my Ginger, which came with ball ended strings. I’m learning.
yes, strings with ball ends are certainly more of a challenge. Sometimes it is handy to have a friend just put their finger on the pin holding the ball on until you get a little tension on the string. That is why at the start of 2021 we changed the Ginger over to loop end strings...
Great information for us newbies! I always wondered, with instruments, how will you know if you should change the strings? just when they break? Never heard about the suggestion to change them after about 50 hours of playing. Is it because aged strings are harder to play? just don't stay in tune? something else?
I suppose changing them at set intervals makes sense to me. I'm fairly prolific at sewing and have taught sewing education for years. Old school thinking was to change your needle when it breaks. Those sewists with a bit more wisdom know to change them often. It's said the lifespan of a machine sewing needle is 8 hours for a common household machine, professional high-speed machines are about half that.) If you cannot remember when you changed your machine sewing needle just go ahead and change it. A damaged tip or eye on a needle will cause microscopic tears in the fabric and/or thread. Your finished garment or quilt will be fine and look wonderful when it's finished but wash it once or twice and you'll see the frayed fabric show up all along every seam line. (Ask me how I know - especially with knits) Your hard work of sewing will only result in a garment with a short lifespan - when it starts ripping at the seams with use.
Thanks for this info on how to change my strings on my dulcimer. It's so helpful.
there is no hard fast rule when to change your strings, but usually it is for sound quality. After time they will not "ring" quite as nicely. If your instrument still sounds good to you, there is no reason to change them. I would though recommend changing them just before you enter the recording studio when you fulfill your recording contract...