Dulcimer building tips and resources

Posted by Mark Bliss on November 5, 2011 at 11:11am

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Note: Not restricted or specific to cigar box construction.

 

Here are some resources that might help with some basic luthier tips and ideas.

Appalachian dulcimer building-

Here is a good step by step photo blog of a mountain dulcimer build.

http://www.osborneatelier.com/Dulcimer_01.htm

 

Bear Meadow provides a lot of information on everything from planning and materials to construction tips.

http://www.bearmeadow.com/build/index.html

 

Heres another link that may be of interest:

David Mitchell, Howie's son, and the pubisher of his classic 1960s book

The Mountain Dulcimer -- How to Make and Play It (after a fashion) 

have made the book available as a pair of downloadable PDF files.   The book has long been out of print and only available through libraries -- although the publisher says they have a few copies on hand for sale...

http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/dulcimermaking/forum/topic/show?id=3745489%3ATopic%3A314646&xg_source=msg

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Replies

  • Mark Bliss April 14, 2012 at 10:25am

    Heres another link of possible interest, an available dulcimer building guide from the 60's:

    http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/dulcimermaking/forum/topic/s...

  • Bob Lumpkin April 13, 2012 at 6:10pm

    Hi there: I'm fixing to build a "StrumStick" using this cute little trapazoid shaped cigar box & was wondering if I could just copy the scale & fret spacing from my Mountain Dulcimer? It's about a 26.5" scale or VSL as some call it. Any other ideas will be helpful.

    Thanks

    • Diane in Chicago > Bob Lumpkin April 13, 2012 at 7:51pm

      You could, but it is hard to get the fret positions exact when copying from an existing instrument.  Instead, you can print a fret template of your desired VSL, and use that to mark the positions.  Most folks use Wfret, but I don't because it doesn't work on Mac, and I am of no help here!

    • Bob Lumpkin > Diane in Chicago April 13, 2012 at 8:33pm

      Thanks Diane: I can usually make paterns for stuff I copy that work out pretty good. I'll check out Wfret, got some other sites that have good caculations. (wish I had a Mac !) I'll let you all know how this turns out. Seems to be a big community for Dulicmers here & elsewhere. I'll check it out when I can.

      Thanks; Bob

       

  • Diane in Chicago March 24, 2012 at 11:29am

    And somewhere on Gitty's site is a little tutorial I wrote on making a 2-box mountain dulcimer, but I can't find it now since the site is all new-and-improved.

  • Mark Bliss March 24, 2012 at 8:53am

    Thanks for the addition Randy, I am a member of "Friends of the mountain dulcimer" as well, and cant explain how I forgot to put the link on the list. But then I cant remember starting this thread. Tequila or senility. Cant remember that either.

    Thanks again!

  • Randy S. Bretz March 24, 2012 at 4:31am

    http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/     here`s a whole web site just for dulcimers, i`m a member as well as Diane....great bunch of folks with tons of info, pic`s, vid`s, discussions and groups. If your into dulcimers i would suggest you join up.

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