A question of Hammers?

[Dick Glasgow]

Now that I've ordered my new Dulcimer, all I can do is wait.
However, I reckon I might as well splash out on a new set of Hammers too, while I'm at it.

Now I know my new H-D comes with a pair of Double-sided Hammers, & I am looking forward to trying them out.
But I'm just wondering if you folks can tell me who makes the best Hammers, & why, in your opinion, are they better than the rest?

Perhaps Nikita, you can tell us who makes the best Hackbrett Hammers?
How are they different from the H-D Hammers?

Oh & by the way, sorry Dizzi but no I'm not willing to spend £99 on the
HAMMERS OF DESTINY
4000 Year old Bog Oak Dulcimer Hammers
LIMITED EDITION!
Certified 2653BC
from Glastonbury UK

Although, if my Lotto ticket is lucky this week ......................

Cheers
Dick

[gypsy]

I'm with you! i looked at those hammers, and there just ain't no way. My fave hammers are by Lee Spears, who also makes dulcimers. They are two sided, medium weight, and very responsive. I have some slightly heavier hammers, which are good for certain gigs, but i love my Lee Spears. they feel more like an extension of my hand, rather than a separate thing. If you order.......get TWO sets. he takes forever and a day to ship. The only caveat i would add: i am a woman, with smallish hands. If you have large manly hands, they may be a bit wee for you. For the same idea, larger version, look at Dusty Strings two sided hammers. Might be a better option for you.

[Dulcetta]

Waving my little hands !

As always seems really hard to get ahold of the range of hammers available in the US, here in the UK.
I can't use credit card online.paypal only due to bad experience.

I would have liked to experiment with different hammers to the ones I received with my dulcimer.

[Dick Glasgow]

Sorry to hear about your bad Internet experience Dulcetta.

Touch wood, I haven't had any bad Internet experiences yet myself & I certainly don't want any either, thanks very much!

By coincidence, just this week I ordered two pairs of Hammers from this site: Laserelegance
I'll certainly let you know how I get on with them, they certainly look great on the site.

Of course, you don't have to order over the Net. You can simply send a cheque, or should I say Dollar Draft, which of course is a little more expensive.

Another option worth thinking about is that I know Oakwood Dulcimers do 4 different types of Hammers, I have three of them & they're great Hammers. Now I know they are based in Leeds, but they also spend the next 4/5 weeks going round loads of festivals so, if your at any music festivals, you could watch out for them.

Cheers
Dick

[Dulcetta]

Thanks for that link !

I see they take paypal too, which is a bonus. I also noticed they have a pair of hammers which look a litle more like the hammers my grandpa played with. They are flatter. Grandpa's dulcimer was larger than mine (I thought it was childhood memory making it seem that way , but Dad and uncle confirmed this).He had four courses and I certainly remember the hammers were larger and flatter than today's ones.

Well perhaps I can order a few different ones for Christmas.
I'm afraid my hubby has no interest in the folk music scene, and right now I can't travel far in the car .I also can't drive myself right now, doctor's orders, I'm afraid.

[gypsy]

Would like to hear how Bob's (laser elegance) hammers are. They are gorgeous, i really like the oak tree pattern. But would like feedback before planking down the ducats. Other hammers on my list: I REALLY covet the firefly hammers, with LED's on the head. They would be GREAT for contra dances!

[Dick Glasgow]

Of course, if you are looking for something a little different, you could try a pair of these: Hammers

However, if things aren't going well, I hope you never have to sort to this style of Hammer

I do also have one pair of very fancy looking Joyful Noise Double Sided *Bob Bedard* Hammers
They are very different from my other Hammers, & produce a harsher, more strident sound & to be honest, I wouldn't use them nearly as often as the softer, more gentle sounding ones, but then of course that's the whole point of having different sorts of hammer, isn't it!

What I do find really useful though is, when I'm going over & over a new tune, trying to get the patterns into my head, I love to do the rounds with my different hammers, because each one makes the tune sound so different. Using this technique means I can practice for much, much longer, before I start getting tired of any one tune.

Cheers
Dick

[drs55]

I learned with the hammers that came with my second hand dulcimer. They looked like small blocks attached to popsicle sticks. My new dulcimer (from Folkcraft in Connecticut, US) came with a set of curved hammers - like most are today - and I tried them out, but I prefer the sound of the popsicle stick variety, so I made myself a new set out of some plywood (for the sticks) and a local hard wood (it's called buk in Hebrew - sorry, don't know the English). The lighter, curved hammers sound a bit tinny to me. Maybe I'm just used to the old clunckers. I'm going to try attaching felt to the curved set and see how that sounds. Anyway, the older style is easy enough to make an you might have fun experimenting!

Deborah

[Dick Glasgow]

Interesting stuff Deborah. Makes me want to experiment too.

I know the late, great, John Rea here used pieces of bent clothes hanger with Cotton Wool stuck on the ends.

Certainly worked well for him.

Hmmmmmmm wonder what else I could try using ................................

[drs55]

I've seen hammers with felt, leather, or rubber glued onto them. I've also seen something that looked like regular xylophone sticks (round rods with balls of wood or rubber at the end). the possibilities are endless, though something tells me velcro might not work so well....

Deborah

[Nikita]

Hello There !
I've been trying to send a photo of different hammers on this thread, but my computer didn't agree... there seems to be so many different types of hammers, from the very light chinese bamboo to the treetrunks of cymbalum... with all kinds of lengths, from around 20 cm to 30 cm (which ois the length of the appenzeller hackbrett ones...). And for modern music,, like Deborah, I've seen the use of all kinds of percussion sticks, all producing differnet tones... mine are two-sided. there's also differnet ways of haloding them : between thumb and first finger (HD, Yangquin...) or between first and second finger : hackbrett, santour, cymbalum...
to answer Dick's question : I like the hammers made by Johannes Fuchs, becauss they're slightly thicker than the average hackbrett hammers. allows you the "bouncing" effect you HD players use often...

[Dick Glasgow]

Nikita, I'm curious to see his Hammers but I couldn't find a website for Johannes Fuchs.

There was one linked at the Official Hammered Dulcimer site but it is not active any more!

Do you have a link to his site?

Cheers
Dick

[Nikita]

Here's Johannes Fuchs 'Site : www.hackbrett.ch/
I've just tried. so it should work !

[Dick Glasgow]

Och of course, THAT Johannes Fuchs!

Pity he doesn't have any photos of Hammers on his site.

Cheers
Dick

[gypsy]

"Of course, if you are looking for something a little different, you could try a pair of these" himself has threatened to get me a pair of these.........i play with a rather heavy hand