After building a dulcimer, I fancied building the close relative, the Tennessee Music box. It is 28" long with 3 strings tuned DAd. Frets only on the top string. The "neck" is rimu from NZ and the case is wood (!)It's amazingly loud :-)
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From what I've seen around Tennessee, what you've built is authentic--including fretting only the melody strings.. Local rumor is that the Irish Travelers built these as craft items, played and sang hymns and jigs, and then sold 'em to the local farmers who may or may not have ever figured out how to play them.
The Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN has a large collection. (http://www.museumofappalachia.org/) When the hydroelectric dam flooded the Norris valley, John Rice Irwin collected all of the household items that people didn't think were worth moving to their new homes.
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Nice one mate, good food for thought there, I like it!
From what I've seen around Tennessee, what you've built is authentic--including fretting only the melody strings.. Local rumor is that the Irish Travelers built these as craft items, played and sang hymns and jigs, and then sold 'em to the local farmers who may or may not have ever figured out how to play them.
The Museum of Appalachia in Norris, TN has a large collection. (http://www.museumofappalachia.org/) When the hydroelectric dam flooded the Norris valley, John Rice Irwin collected all of the household items that people didn't think were worth moving to their new homes.