Letters
I ran across your web site dedication to your father and instrument registry and just wanted to drop you a note since you're collecting info on your father's instruments.
In 2004 I purchased a used 15/14 hammered dulcimer that was built by your father.
It's serial number 10981580, and I bought it from Martin Zakarij of Goose Creek, SC.
I believe Mr. Zakarij or his wife were the original owner. He was in the military then,
and was about to be deployed overseas.
I play guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle and wanted to be able to play fiddle tunes on the hammered dulcimer (HD). A friend had loaned me his HD along with an instructional video by John McCutcheon. I heard John perform once in Knoxville, TN in the mid-1970s and after many years of playing other stringed instruments, I realized the HD was a sound that I really liked. John's video got me to the point that I could play a few tunes passably well, for example Golden Slippers.
I hadn't practiced or played the instrument very regularly until this past fall when a visit to the N. GA. mountains and the Civil War Collection recordings of the late Jim Taylor renewed my interest in building more of an HD repertoire. Upon playing more, I broke a string and then decided to restring the instrument in December and have actually been playing it quite a bit since then. It is a fine sounding instrument, I enjoy playing it and feel like I'm making reasonable progress with my HD playing. I will have it with me this spring when I get together with some friends to jam at the Bear On The Square in Dahlonega. I hope that will be pleasing to your father from his celestial vantage point. Your father was a fine craftsman and I really regret not having had a chance to meet him. I have a hunch he was a great American.
best regards, Jim White