I've strung autoharps, Chet, and a hammered dulcimer couldn't be as bad as that: you don't have to thread the strings under the chord bars. but I agree about the sound: a very good player dropped in to the Fifth String in Berkeley one Thursday (song circle) evening. It was more than a treat, it was a blessing. I also heard a street musician (again, in Berkeley) playing a very similar instrument, a cymbalon, I think. beautiful enough for me to buy a tape from him (in the days before CDs). --seed