Homer Ledford

Instruments and Stories

     Are you one of the folks who have been blessed to own one of Homer's fabulous instruments or would like to share your stories about our dear friend? 

Please send them to the webmaster or mail to Bill Johnson, 3456 Belvoir Drive, Lexington, KY 40502 so we can share them with family and other friends of Homer's!

Homer with Dulcimers #6000(l) and #5000(r).  #5000 is owned by Colista Ledford of Winchester, KY and #6000 by Bill Johnson of Lexington, KY

pictures by Bill Johnson

Dulcimer #6000 in Homer's "La-BOR-a-tory" on April 13, 2005.  Only 14 more dulcimers would be produced

Click here for Winchester Sun article about #6000 and for Homer's description of this instrument

Homer with banjo #537.  This is one of 13 bluegrass banjos that Homer built and the last banjo he produced.  This instrument is owned by Bill Johnson of Lexington, KY

pictures by Bill Johnson

Homer with his Martin D45 #417429 guitar specially made for him by Martin in 1979 which Homer sold to Bill Johnson in November 2005

 Picture by Bill Johnson

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This dulcimer number is not numbered or dated, but it is one of Homer's earliest dulcimers. Homer did not number (or date) approximately the first 100 dulcimers he built. He did, however, keep a hand written log of each dulcimer. Inside one sound hole is the hand written inscription "Made by Homer Ledford Ivyton Tenn". The inscription is on the wood and not on a paper label.

There is a unnumbered Ledford dulcimer in existence that is known to be purchased in 1948. That dulcimer is stamped (as opposed to hand written) "Made by Homer Ledford in Alpine, TN". Homer lived in Ivyton prior to living in Alpine, so the dulcimer pictured above had to be built prior to 1948. The listing of dulcimers per this website (taken from Homer’s handwritten

records) indicates that only nine dulcimers were built prior to 1948. The 8th and 9th dulcimers built by Homer were teardrop models, so this one cannot be #8 or #9. As a result, this dulcimer is almost assuredly one of the first seven dulcimers ever built by Homer.

Based on other corroborating evidence, it is also possible that it is one of the first two dulcimers he built at John C. Campbell Folk School. Homer lived in Ivyton before attending John C. Campbell Folk School, so the name of the city inscribed on the dulcimer is a significant fact. In addition, this dulcimer was purchased second hand in 1952 from the original owner in New York. Homer sold those first two dulcimers to Southern Highlanders Inc.

Guild Shop in New York in 1946, so the fact that the dulcimer was purchased from the original owner in New York is also significant evidence that this dulcimer could be one of those first two.

This is dulcimer #6004 and is one of the last to be produced by Homer.  It was built in April, 2005.

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Homer Ledford Masterpiece #5989

 By Marie Mitchell

                        I’ve been hooked on dulcimers since Merwyn Jackson, founder of the Madison County (Kentucky) Dulcimers, taught me to play Bile Them Cabbage in 15-minutes. Merwyn loaned me a cardboard dulcimer to play with his group while I shopped around for my own instrument.

            At the outset I felt destined to own one of Homer Ledford’s handcrafted dulcimers, partly because our paths kept crossing. When WEKU-FM (the public radio station at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond), where I worked, sponsored a local broadcast of the national program, Whaddaya Know, Homer was one of the featured Kentucky performers. He wowed everyone by playing his musical saw.

            Another encounter was at a Riders in the Sky concert in Frankfort. Homer was the opening act. Weeks later, fresh from a dulcimer gathering in Lexington, my sister and I happened upon Homer at Joseph-Beth Booksellers. He was promoting the updated version of R. Gerald Alvey’s book, Dulcimer Maker, the Craft of Homer Ledford.

            At every event Homer was engaging, entertaining and down to earth. I scheduled an interview with him at his workshop for a radio feature. We passed the morning easily, like having coffee with a neighbor.

            It was months later that I actually requested a dulcimer. I stopped back by the workshop and Homer showed me some claro-walnut wood that came from out west. There was only enough to make a single dulcimer. Mine. It became #5989.

            I didn’t just buy a Homer Ledford dulcimer though. It came wrapped in stories, jokes and memories. No extra charge.

            I can’t take credit for any soothing sounds that come out of my dulcimer. Homer had high standards to meet—his own. His creation reflects his pride, passion and precision. I try to do him proud every time I perform with my group or play at church or a nursing home.

            I’ve been teaching my eight-year-old daughter, Ruby Margaret Smith, to play some songs on the dulcimer. It’s not just the notes and chords I want her to learn—but to appreciate its history and Homer’s signature imprint on the instrument.

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My name is John Pascuzzi.  Homer made me dulcimer # 5150 back in 1987, which I still own and cherish.  I have a website about odd, unusual and unique musical instruments, and have had a picture of my dulcimer the Homer made in my virtual Gallery online since 1999.  The website has evolved and is now mostly about experimental and other unusual instruments, but I still have the dulcimer in there because many folks, even here in the USA, don't know what a dulcimer is or have rarely seen one.  Plus it's one of the few truly American musical instruments. 

This dulcimer was custom made by the late Homer Ledford (1926-2006) of Kentucky, considered to be a legend and master craftsman of the instrument. It is made from Yellow Poplar wood that is over 100 years old, salvaged from planks that were once slave cabins.

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Hi Folks,
    This is my instrument purchased from Homer at the Berea Craft Fair in 1983. It was used on the album Front Porch Pickers Vetco music, on the album Cookin' on a Dull Simmer Bob and Susie Hutchison and on Welcome Christmas also by
Bob and Susie Hutchison and is still one of my favorites. The repaired cracks were from a co-worker sitting on it.

Bob Hutchison, Frankfort, KY  Dulcimer #4797

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I am the original owner of Homer Ledford's dulcimer number 746. My parents bought it for me in the early 1960s at the "Traipsin' Woman" Festival at Jenny Wiley State Park. It is a three-stringed model with simple diamond sound holes and staple-type frets. The body appears to be butternut and the original friction pegs are of rosewood.

 

This instrument has traveled with me all over the US from Maine to California and barely survived a house fire about ten years ago that destroyed my Gibson banjo and mandolin and nearly got my Martin guitars.

 

Sincerely.

Art Boebinger

Frankfort, KY

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Dear Sirs:

I have one of Homers dulcimers. # 4791.

With the original receipt from (Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen box 291 Berea, KY Receipt No. 24552) dated May 13,1983.

Originally Sold to Mariam Litton of Lexington, KY.

Specks;

Paper label inside & signed by Homer

Tail piece scribed flower & L

Full frets /W scribed flower markers 3,5,7,&10

Heart sound holes upper & lower

Butternut top

Walnut body

Rosewood pegs

Fine tuners

Dulcimer $155.00

Soft shell case $18.00

1 set   Ledford strings which is still in case 2.50

tax 8.78

Total $184.28

I am myself a dulcimer maker and studied several different makers.

“The craft of Homer Ledford” by Gerald Alvery was an insight to great knowledge and inspired me to further create my own style of instruments.

I feel lucky to have a copy of Homer’s book “See Ya Further Up the Creek” signed to me by himself.

I will continue to search for his instruments as treasures to myself and for my children & Grandchildren.

Joseph A Reller

Saint Paul Island, Alaska

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Homer Ledford Mt. Dulcimer # 996, purchased by Peggy Carter of Houston TX in Oct. 1965 at the Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild Fair in Asheville, NC. Butternut top and walnut back and sides. Frets are under the 1st and middle strings, but 3rd fret is under all three strings.

Hi, my name is Peggy Carter from Houston TX. I purchased a Mt. dulcimer, # 996 from Homer at the Craftsman's Fair in Asheville, NC in Oct. of 1965. I still have it. It has a walnut body with a butternut top with three strings and rosewood tuning pegs. The sound holes are small diamond shaped holes, and the frets extend under only the melody string and middle string, but the 3rd fret goes all the way across. His signature is on the inside with the serial no. (It looks exactly like the one owned by Rusty Little in the pictures, except my 3rd fret goes all the way across.)

At the time I purchased the dulcimer from Homer my husband asked him to make me a baritone ukulele. I got it on Aug. 15, 1966 as a gift from my husband on our 7th wedding anniversary. It has a rosewood body and a butternut top with machine-tuners. A small mother-of-pearl dot with Homer's "L" inscribed is inlaid in the flat head. A small metal plate on the back of the flat head has an inscription, "Peggy Carter, 8/15/66." I can't find a signature inside, or a number. It has a beautiful tone and I have used it heavily through the years to accompany my singing... Its so much easier to play than a guitar, and sounds just as good to me!

Peggy Carter

The people in the picture (l to r) are: Lisa Carter (now Ellsworth) at age 5 holding the dulcimer, my husband's mother, Thelma Carter from Asheville, NC, holding Lottie Carter (now Cantu) age 3. Thelma drove us down to Greenville where we caught a train back to Houston. All of us took turns playing the dulcimer on the trip, during which time my husband, Chuck along with Lisa and me... ALL learned to play "Down In The Valley."

This is a picture of Ms. Carter's rare Ledford Ukelele.

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Dear Bill,
My grandmother, Dorothy Gaines Gonzenbach (of Louisville) went to Berea with her sister, Mary Page Tydings. Her sister convinced her to buy a dulcimer from Homer, and my grandmother ended up using it for years in her kindergarten classes. She used to do "Go Tell Aunt Rhody," "What'll I Do With the Baby-O?", "Goin' to Boston," "Shady Grove," and some others. She used a noter and either her fingers or a quill; I can't remember. She gave it to my mother eventually, who gave it to me. But it was my grandmother and her sister who taught me to play just a few songs. Neither of them seemed to think that they were musicians at all; the dulcimer seemed more for hanging on the wall and getting down only to accompany singing, not for instrumental music. By the late 70s I had played it so much that the wooden pegs never seemed to hold on, so (with terrible guilt and anxiety) I got someone to put geared pegs in. I did keep the wooden pegs, though!

Thanks! Good luck with the website, and of course if I meet other people who have a H.L. dulcimer, I'll send them to you. I am also sending you a photo of my dulcimer, #979. All the best,

Sean (Williams) Olympia, WA
 

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I just purchased a Ledford Mandolin. It is #22 of 23. I purchased it from Elderly Music Store in Lansing MIchigan. My name is Scott Boulis from Wapakoneta, OH. I would like to more about the other Mandolins and is there any other Mandolins than these 23? my e-mail is scott@mercerlandmark.com

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rev. 2/18/08