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Paloma Blanca/Eve
Born: July 2008 Maker: Jerry Cripe/Greibhaus Instruments Model: Solidbody electric dulcimer
"In March of this year, I was staying with Dan and Angie Landrum. At one point, Dan brings out this solid-body dulcimer and says, 'try this out, let me know what you think.' Well, I thought it was fantastic; great tone for a solid-body - it actually sounded acoustic when plugged in. Butch Ross had one that he was using and they both had great action and sound. I not-so-secretly lusted after one. Cut to some months later and I meet the maker of the instrument: Jerry Cripe. We're at a festival in Illinois and as I sit there noodling on one of his instruments, he offers me a non-exclusive endorsement deal. He'd build me a solidbody dulcimer in exchange for an endorsement of the instrument. Since I already wanted one, this was a no-brainer and we immediately shook on the deal and began going over specs. I named her 'Paloma Blanca' (which means 'white dove' and is also a great tune by The George Baker Selection) and she is a sweet girl indeed. With an ebony overlay on the fretboard, two EMG humbucker pickups and a fretboard-mounted piezo with two knobs to mix and blend the signals. When I play quietly, the sustain is heavenly, the notes clear and true. When I crank up the volume and the distortion, she can scream 'The Star-Spangled Banner' in way that would make Hendrix weep.
Since this dulcimer arrived on Christmas Eve 2008, I call her 'Eve.' "
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In
time, I discovered that playing while standing up presented some problems
involving anchoring, which included the two tone knobs which suddenly
became obstacles while strumming. I talked with Jerry about some specification
changes in the instrument and he began working up a slightly different
control design, which I was able to try out at the NGFDA Fall Festival
in Georgia. A sliding switch for the tone control and a volume knob
set lower in the body. Somewhere in between November and December,
Jerry made some more changes and then sent this sunburst-patterned
dulcimer out in exchange for 'Paloma Blanca', who will be sold to
some lucky person.