Dulcimer - All together but not quite there.

Everything is put together and looks pretty good, but the nut and bridge are in need of work. I'm getting lots of buzz down by the bridge, it sounds almost like a sitar. (there's another project!) My fret placement is correct so that's at least good. Even with the problems I'm still happy, and it's nothing I can't fix! I'm thinking some string trees and a new bridge are in order.

Cigar Box Dulcimer Ready to Finish

I added a 6 1/2 fret today after doing some more research on dulcimers. I also added some t-nuts to hold the strings, they seemed to work pretty good for my last build. So it's all glued together and ready for a tung oil finish!

Cigar Box Dulcimer Frets and Body

I cut the notches out of the body today and stained it. I also drilled a few sound holes. For the frets I used matchsticks! I don't know if it will work, but they seem pretty sturdy. As a long time guitarist I have to say that the fret spacing for a dulcimer looks pretty strange.

Cigar Box Dulcimer Neck

I carved the headstock, drilled holes for the machine heads, and rounded the back of the neck today. It's looking good so far. Now I need to clean up the mess I made since I work at the kitchen table and it's dinner time!