A friend of mine bought an old dulcie from her sister-in-law's sister-in-law, and the friend brought it to me for help in playing it. It looks simple, but it doesn't look actually homemade.

There is no label on it, the seller knew nothing about it, and the soundholes are three stars, about an inch across and casual in shape. We hit the rocks trying to decide how to tune and play it.

1. I have a dulcie that's meant to be tuned DAA. It is 73.4 cm from nut to bridge. The new one is smaller - 65.0 cm from nut to bridge.

2. The open strings don't play a major scale when you go up. (They don't give a minor scale either.) But you do get a major scale if you start playing on the third fret.

Can anybody tell me, based on this info, how it should be tuned? What gauge strings should be used? I don't want to get strings that are too thick and pull the instrument apart by having to put a lot of tension on them.
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Today is Thanksgiving for me, so I won't be back until tomorrow.