Mountain Dulcimer - Help a Newbie get started - created 07-23-2009

Sawyer, Steve - 07/23/2009.12:16:48
Livonia, MI

Howdy all.

After expressing an interest in building a mountain dulcimer, a friend in my local woodworking club referred me to this forum. I've been working may through all the library archives on this instrument, and am really excited about getting into this branch of woodworking. There seem to be so many variables to experiment with that I can see myself enjoying building dulcimers for years without exhausting the possibilities.

Anyway, the wealth of information I've found in the library is terrific, but seems to be a bit light on advice for getting started on one's first instrument.

Can anyone recommend a good source for plans and construction information for rank-newbies?

I've been looking both at the plans and the "Dulcimer Reference Manual" available on the Pilgrims Projects web site (link below). I'm thinking that working from plans and a basic instructional book might be a good way to get started, then I can begin trying different materials and designs as described in the library archives.

http://www.pilgrimsprojects.biz/dulc.html

Thanks!

Hi Steve, and welcome to the MIMForum. We sell a set of plans for a simplified student instrument that might be a good place to start. If you're a member of that woodworking club and have access to tools, your own or those of other members, you're already ahead of the game.

Thanks, Deb - I have enough hand tools and machinery in my basement to start a small cabinet shop, so while I'm sure that I'll find an excuse, er, NEED to buy some additional specialty tools, I'm sure I have most of what I'll need on-hand.

Thanks for the link to the plans (don't know how I missed those) though one of my reasons for wanting to tackle a musical instrument is acquiring new skills like making the sinuous bent shapes common to dulcimers and guitars - as well as having something to play with when finished, instead of just furnishing the house! :-) Still, the student dulcimer might be a better place to start to get familiar with some of the basics.

Is there a book on basic dulcimer or other stringed instrument construction that you (or anyone else) can recommend? I'm experienced enough that I can probably do ok just working from plans, but it sure helps to have an "expert" describe some of the materials, fabrication and assembly techniques that may be unique to luthiery.

I'll let staff member Jim McConkey take your questions when he's next online as I'm on the hammered dulcimer side of things.

There are a few of us around here that build mountain dulcimers. My preferred book, though I haven't use a book in years, is Dean Kimball's "Constructing the Mountain Dulcimer." It is supposedly out of print, but is still available at LMI for not much money.

If you have any woodworking skills, and it sounds like you do, this should not be a daunting project. A dulcimer (and most other instruments) is nothing more than a glorified box with curved sides. Deb might fire me, but given your objectives I would stay away from the MIMF plans, which are for a trapezoidal dulcimer. The only tricky part of the build will be bending the sides, but that is really not as tricky as it may seem. There is plenty of information in the Library on bending sides, as well as constructing benders from a variety of things. A teardrop dulcimer will be marginally easier than an hourglass, but the latter is normally the preferred shape. You can make the headstock as plain or as fancy as you like, as long as the tuners fit. Don't skimp on the tuners. Cheap ones are more aggravation than they are worth! I prefer the banjo-style pegs myself.

If you buy your wood pre-thicknessed, you can build a dulcimer with very minimal tools. The one thing you may not have on hand is a long, accurate ruler to lay out the fretboard. I would recommend adding a 6 1/2 fret to the standard dulcimer spacing. For wood, some prefer the standard guitar format with spruce or another softer wood on top, but I think harder woods produce better tones on the dulcimer. My favorite dulcimer is all oak, but cherry and walnut are often used as well.

Dive right in, ask questions here, and be sure to take pictures while building and show us when it is done!

There's a good (and timely!) article about dulcimer making in the current issue of American Lutherie (#98) by John Calkin.

I made an hourglass shaped one using the PL4 plan from LMI. That plan has both teardrop and hourglass shapes. I used walnut for back and sides. Walnut is one of the easiest woods to bend. I used a piece of 2" iron pipe and a propane torch and just bent to match the plans. If you can make decent furniture then you can do it.

Thanks all...

I have some plans in hand for a teardrop-shaped dulcimer, and have Dean Kimball's book on order

Steve -- you are well on your way.

My entire instrument building output is two mountain dulcimers built from the plans in Dean Kimball's book. Nice size and shape and scale length and yields a sweet-sounding instrument even with beginner's mistakes (with your cabinet making experience you won't make the same mistakes I did)

I got Dean Kimball's book the other day, and have skimmed through it all, and read some sections in depth.

I have a nice big chunk of KD walnut that will be perfect for the sides and back, some nice hard maple that would make a great fingerboard, and a piece of basswood for braces. All I gotta do now is find some spruce for the top and I'll be ready to start. The local Woodcraft store had some cedar but it was very knotty. I think the closest place to get QS spruce is a lumber yard about 90 miles away, but members of my WW club frequently get deliveries from them, so maybe I can piggy-back a chunk of spruce onto one of their orders.

Really looking forward to this project.

OK, I have a couple of suggestions for you. Here is a discussion about how to find decent spruce at local lumberyards, and if you are a newbie anyway then it's a good time for you to learn this stuff - Here it is.

Also, you shouldn't use basswood for braces, use the same spruce that you used for the top. If you hunt for a good piece from a lumber yard I think you'll have good luck because a dulcimer top doesn't need to be very wide.

Here is a discussion about how to find decent spruce at local

lumberyards

Thanks, Mark - interesting thread.

Being a fellow Michigander, have you had much luck finding spruce amongst the local big-box "white wood"?

I have gotten my salvaged spruce from old houses and buildings. I have a lot better luck there than the new stuff.

I think the closest place to get QS spruce is a lumber yard about 90 miles away

Hi Steve- Check out Armstrong Millworks in Highland for a good variety of woods. I'm in Livonia also.

Hi Steve- Check out Armstrong Millworks in Highland for a good variety of woods. I'm in Livonia also.

Ah - didn't think of Armstrong. They're SO expensive, I usually don't consider them, but I'm only looking for a short, so they can't nick me too bad for that!

Thanks, Mike.

You might find a suitable piece in their cut-off rack.

There is a Rockler on Woodward in Royal Oak you might want to call also.

Good luck.

Steve - If you shop at the Woodcraft on Ford Rd, Marko is a good source of information. He is knowledgeable on woods & instruments and is a fine musician as well.

Folkcraft also has all sorts of dulcimer woods and parts. The woods are generally dimensioned as needed for a dulcimer, which you won't get from a standard wood store.