Wildwood Blog

Not everyone knows that most (if not all) tablets and smartphones give you the option to add shortcut buttons to the device’s home screen. Device families (Apple/IOS, Blackberry, Android, etc.) do things differently but follow roughly the same steps.

First, you open your browser in the device and go to the website you’d like a button-link to go to. Then you’ll need to tap whatever image/link is used to bring up your device’s primary menu of options.

On Apple devices (iPad, iPhones, etc.), you’ll see this at the top of your screen:

When you tap the image it will bring up a menu like this:

Tap the “Add to Home Screen” button and a window will appear with an image and a field to add a name:

After you enter a name you tap “add” and you’re done!

Androids and Blackberry’s have similar procedures. For the Blackberry 10, for instance, you tap the overflow icon (3 dots) then choose Add to Home Screen:

Here’s an Android Phone: you navigate to the web page you want to bookmark on the home screen:

Then you tap the “settings button” (the 3 vertical dots — see the red arrows in the image above), and it will generate the menu; tap the “star” symbol (see the red arrows above!) and it will open the “bookmarks” menu. You save as you would any bookmark, then go to the Browser Settings menu and open the Bookmarks folder. Find the item you want to save to the home screen, press on it until another menu appears which will have an ADD to Home Screen option. Tap.

And so on.

If you haven’t learned how to do this, try a Google Search: “how to add to homescreen on Blackberry 10” (or Android, or Samsung Tablet, etc.) And then celebrate by adding our button to your home screen!

Martin Guitars

Established in 1833, C. F. Martin & Co. is the oldest surviving maker of guitars in the world. Currently the largest producer of acoustic guitars in the United States, the company is highly regarded for creating some of the finest instruments and introducing innovations that have become industry standards in the music products industry.

Taylor Guitars

Taylor Guitars is an El Cajon, California‐based luthier, specializing in acoustic guitars, as well as semi-hollow and solidbody electric guitars. It was established in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug.

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Wildwood Banjos

Wildwood Banjos are hand made from the finest figured hardwoods available. From beautiful curly maples and curly black walnuts, to exotic species such as Ebony, Bubinga and Wenge. From the traditional simplicity of the MINSTREL to the ornate design of the SOLOIST, we offer a well balanced range of banjos in styles for the traditional frailing and clawhammer style players, and classic powerful bluegrass banjos for 3-finger pickers. The blend of old world craftsmanship and modern technology helps produce banjos of unequaled quality and design.

Deering Banjo Company

Makers of Deering, Vega, Tenbrooks & Goodtime banjos.

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Songbird Dulcimers

Home of hammered dulcimer makers Chris & Melanie Foss of Muscatine, Iowa.

Masterworks

While playing around on a hammer dulcimer made from a kit belonging to his brother-in-law, Russell Cook’s imagination was stirred. One day, while driving a school bus, he spotted an old junk piano sitting under a big oak tree. With permission from the owners, Russell took what he needed to build his first dulcimer in the spring of 1979. Teaching himself to play, he participated in several dulcimer festivals and competitions with his handmade instrument. Continuing to experiment, Russell even sold some of his dulcimers enabling him to buy tools and supplies for future instruments. Entering the Southern Regional Dulcimer Competition in 1981, Russell won first place. A few months later, he became National Champion.

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Blue Lion Instruments

Builders of fine, hand-crafted, mountain dulcimers and acoustic guitars. Here’s a link to a wonderful article about Bob and Janita Baker, who make the fine dulcimers featured here at Wildwood Music.

McSpadden Dulcimers

McSpadden Dulcimers specialty is the mountain dulcimer; our five full-time craftsmen have 142 years of experience among them. The experience we have gained gives us the confidence to offer you a high-quality dulcimer at an affordable price, covered by a guarantee you can count on.

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by Don McKay

With a rich heritage that extends back over a century and a half, Martin Guitars continue, as they approach their 200th year of building, to be one of the most desired steel-stringed instruments in the world!

The founder of this great company came from a long line of European cabinet makers, and early on displayed an interest in making guitars. At age 15, Christian Frederick Martin was introduced to his father’s friend, Johann Stauffer. Stauffer, one of the premier guitar builders in Europe, came from a family of artisans, too. Johann’s father was also a guitar maker! The Stauffer and Martin families go back in history even further than Johann and Christian, so that the heredity of Martin Guitar Company dates to the intense system of early European Guilds in Medieval times! When you think about it, you begin to sense the immense and rich heritage you embrace–when you hold a Martin guitar!

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By Jim Downey

I’m 62 now. I bought my first guitar (a Goya nylon string) as a knee jerk reaction to seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan. And I mean seeing them! I was in the audience for that history making show. Remember when you first started playing? The pain, the seemingly impossible barred F chord and the millions of dissonant choices that eventually fell away as we fell in love with the guitar. Today, I can say that I appreciate the guitar just as much as when the romance was new. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to own some pretty great instruments. Examples by Dana Bourgeois, Richard Hoover (Santa Cruz) and Bill Collings were each stars in their own little universes. Oddly, I found myself dismissing Martin as a true contender. Sure, a pre-war D28 will certainly humiliate any banjo in its path and once you get up into the more deluxe models, a new Martin will still hold its own against most contenders. I guess, ashamedly, I’d become a guitar snob.

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The moment is all too precious: the case has been laid at your feet; with trembling anticipation you reach down and unclasp the latches, carefully grasp the case top and lift to reveal the concealed treasure—a brand-spanking-new Taylor 454ce 12-string guitar! Someone hands you a flatpick; you lift this beguiling beauty from her resting place and make a quick mental notation: the ovangkol back and sides are wonderfully figured and the color a pleasant surprise (more “woodsy” brown, almost like walnut)—not what you expected. Suddenly, the guitar is resting on your knee and your hand instinctively finds the comfortable neck; your fingers naturally form a first-position, G major chord. The flatpick is ready, you make the requisite downstroke motion with your wrist and your reward is instant and oh-so gratifying: the sound is rich and full! The bass is strong yet not overpowering; there is that wonderful shimmering and glistening “chime” only a good 12-string guitar can deliver. For the next hour you are transported to another world, another dimension, as your new companion yields her secrets and caresses your ears with her charms.

Attempting to describe what it’s like to play a fine acoustic guitar, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, harp, viola, flute, horn, etc., often elicits language evocative of love or romance. Why?

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If you are reading this post, you have discovered what we hope is a wonderful and welcome new experience in Wildwood Music’s continued presence on the Internet! This is the first overall change in our Web image since 1995, and we thought it might be appropriate to do some “updating.”

We have had many kind offers from several multi-talented customers—all experts in the field of Web Design; their suggestions were generous, and are much-appreciated! Our accepting of Ted and Paula, and TH Design, was a product of Fate: Marty and I were ready to change our Website, and Ted and Paula–who happened to have wonderful expertise in Web Design—came to visit Wildwood at that precise moment!

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