Whole Lotta Dulcimer! (Insert your own Led Zeppelin dulcimer puns here.)
Below, check out a new video of Led Zeppelin's classic "Whole Lotta Love" performed on a three-string electric mountain dulcimer by Sam Edelston.
Here's an edited version of the info Edelston posted with his video:
"The dulcimer can be a very sweet, tender instrument—but it's also great for rocking out. Tuned 1-5-8, it's loaded with power chords. Through a stack of Marshalls ... hmmm ... that would be fun!
"Note to dulcimer players: This arrangement doesn't require extra frets. I've got a single high C at 8+, in the break, which could be replaced or played elsewhere."
Edelston is playing a Robert Force model "Black Wolf" hollow-body electric dulcimer built by Rod Matheson, tuned DAd. (Yes, all that sound is coming from just three strings.) Capo on the first fret, played in Am.
One pickup is running through an octave pedal, overdrive and chorus. The second pickup is running through a phase shifter, compressor-sustainer and Blues Driver distortion pedal. The two channels merge in a digital delay, and there's a volume pedal at the end.
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Instrumental break: 1:29; third verse at 1:52; beginning of the ending at 2:28.
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
