RIGHT This is the head stock style I'm now building into my Teardrop shape mountain dulcimers. Joining pieces of the head affords the chance for another interplay of woodgrain and color. I like the shape and sweep of the design.   INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS: Log School Workshops Arranging Dulcimer Music Chordal Explorations Improvisation JCR Dulcimer FAQ Dulcimer Buying Guide   CATALOG PAGES: Dulcimers Dulcimer Specs Books Recordings ORDER INFO HOME SITE MAP

Design details.       The instrument above has a Teardrop shape, and is all Honduras mahogany except for the cherrywood fingerboard and headstock. The four soundholes are round, a shape appropriate to a traditional Teardrop. My instruments have a standard feature: the nut is grooved to accept strings in different configurations. You can configure your dulcimer either as a three-string with doubled melody, or move the strings out to a four-equidistant string arrangement. [The four-equidistant arrangement will challenge you to explore new open tunings and hosts of new chords]. The circular wooden inlay just above the nut covers the top of a reinforcing member--the luthier equivalent of rebar. Out of long habit, I curl the long leftover ends of my strings to avoid getting cut or stabbed by short trimmed ends. This is an old rock 'n roll guitar player's trick. Someone asked me how to do it: just the way you curl the ribbon on a birthday present. Enhanced digital photos (via QuickCam and Photoshop) ©1998 by Mary Lautzenheiser. All rights reserved.