(SOME) EARLY HOMER LEDFORD DULCIMERS
Homer C. Ledford (September 26, 1927 – December 11, 2006) of Winchester, Kentucky was one of the acknowledged masters of Modern Appalachian dulcimer making. He had a long and productive career but his very earliest instruments are the ones that “speak” to me. He learned his craft from Jethro Amburgey (11 Mar 1895 – 25 Nov 1971), who made the dulcimers I find have the sweetest voice and use the most often in my music making. Amburgey, in turn styled his instruments after the patterns he bought from the legendary James Edward Thomas (1850 – 1933).
These instruments are slender, lightly built, with a number of distinguishing characteristics.The early chronology of Ledford dulcimers is uncertain. He attended the John C. Campbell Folk School at Brasstown, N.C., in 1946, after high school, where he is said to have made (at least) two dulcimers.
The earliest known Ledford dulcimers were made naming his home town of Ivyton Tennessee, though that might have been at the same time he was at Brasstown, which he attended “off and on” for two and a half years.
There are at least four documented from that period of seven thought to have been made there; two others (the 8th and 9th in his log) were teardrop shaped. None of the instruments were dated or numbered. Though he kept a log of all the instruments he built, that log has not been made public.
There is an additional instrument, bought in 1948, stamped (not inscribed), “Made by Homer Ledford. Alpine, TN.” [See the dulcimer which surfaced in 2024 below.]
[Ivyton, which has never had census information, is 3.5 miles from Alpine, whose population in 2000 was only 497, so these names may be considered interchangeable.]
Lily Mae Ledford (1917-1985) was a famous early Old-Time musician. Her grand-daughter, Carrie Norris, wrote, “The dulcimer she is holding in the photo is one of the very earliest dulcimers made by Homer Ledford, which he gave her as a gift. I think it may have been patterned after Jethro Amburgey’s dulcimers. I really don’t know much about her playing of the dulcimer, although she played many instruments including piano and guitar, and I would guess that she could have easily taught herself to play and probably incorporated it into some of her performing. As far as I know our family is not related to Homer Ledford, although I’m not 100% sure on this. He admired Lily May’s music and gave her the dulcimer. I also purchased my first dulcimer from him, so he was a friend of the family.”
This instrument is owned by the Kentucky Historical Society but not currently on display.
KHS notes: “Evidence indicates that this may be one of the first two dulcimers produced by Homer C. Ledford, noted luthier from Winchester , Kentucky. This piece was up for sale on eBay and the seller called and offered it to KHS. He stated that he was the third owner and that the man he had purchased it from had bought it in New York in the early 1950s. The piece is unnumbered and has a label handwritten in pencil. According to Ledford biographer Gerald Alvey, the first two instruments Homer made had handwritten pencil labels and that after he returned form the John C. Campbell Folk School he made a stamp to mark his instruments (see Dulcimer Maker, p. 73, by Alvey). Those first two instruments were a commission that Homer did at the Folk School for a shop in New York.”
Homer Ledford’s official website indicates that Homer sold those first two dulcimers to Southern Highlanders Inc. Guild Shop in New York in 1946,
It seems to be the same instrument in the possession of Bill Johnson judging by the marks on the face of the instrument. [additional photo]
A second Ivyton dulcimer was referenced by Helen Snyder of Douglas, AZ, since sold to Bill Johnson of Lexington, KY, and is now on display at the Bluegrass Heritage Museum in Winchester, KY. It has pencil notations on the back beneath the sound hole.
A third Ledford from Ivyton belongs to Dan Cox of New Tazewell TN, who graciously shared these pix.
Here is Dan with Colista Ledford and his story; his instrument has a paper label.
A fourth Ivyton is owned by the well-known instrument maker, Warren May.
The instrument at the bottom (misdated to the 1950s); is the top walnut (or dark pine?) and note the worn area from strumming. It is not known whether it has a label or pencil notations.
In 2024 another early Ledford showed up on eBay from Michigan with an opening bid of $750 but after a few days (and, clearly, additional research) it was relisted starting at $1950 or Buy It Now for $2600! Hope springs eternal.
According to the dealer the paper label read: “Made by Homer Ledford, Alpine TN,” the original pic differed slightly. Refer to the 1948 instrument mentioned in the opening section above. [Note the seeming wear on the face similar to Warren May’s.]
Stephen Carney kindly sent a complete photo of the label from his Alpine Ledford, the stamp for which Homer carved from red cedar.
Another Alpine dulcimer is owned by Stephen Carney and is pictured here, flanked by Ivytons: Dan Cox on the left and Warren May on the right. Three on a match: not unlucky.
I have a very similar instrument, unnumbered but not quite as early, marked in pencil on the back, “Made by/ Homer C. Ledford/ Winchester KY,” which shares the Amburgey traits of the Ivyton/Alpine dulcimers. [Curiously, “Winchester” has a tiny circle over the “i”.] Here it is side by side with an Amburgey.
Notice the Amburgey-like tab extensions at the top and bottom of the body, though Ledford rounded the heel and squared the endblock rather than retain the octagonal facetings of his model. The scroll is still square, though extended into a more graceful proportion. The scribing around the body continues: a simple, craftsmanlike, country touch.
He developed his characteristic elegant peg design early on, with a basic, unpretentious functional shape, molded to fit the fingers, and the totally unexpected, genius touch of whittling facets on the ends (though the pegs on Dan’s Ivyton example above show the earliest, crude manifestations). His pegs alone elevate his instruments into a higher realm.
This unnumbered instrument weighs only around 20 ounces and has a responsive, delicate voice, though the fretting is consistently flat.
A slightly later, though also unnumbered and undated (pencil signed), dulcimer was made with a pine face (similar to the ones above), fancy walnut back, and scroll and sides from quilted walnut which, being unstable, broke out in a small edge area. This scroll is slightly tapered (a modification I find quite pleasing) and, perhaps uniquely, has a recurved, hook-like heel profile. It weighs about 25 ounces.
The two earliest numbered Ledfords I own [#674 (ca. 1963), poplar and walnut, 24 0z. and #946 (ca. 1965), butternut and walnut, 25 oz.] share the penciled annotations, staple frets, diamond sound holes, and tapered scroll with the eventually-final version of his heel – a rather plain, squared design.
In the section on the right, the unusual, hook-shaped heel is on the top; the original Amburgey-esque, rounded heel in the center; and the winning design at the bottom.
