Hi Booster, and all,

I just found this forum, and have spent more time than I should have today looking around (still without getting to everything here, by far!). But I thought I'd say something about resources for dulcimer building.

First, I should tell you that I teach a workshop every June at the Northeast Dulcimer Symposium, in beautiful Blue Mountain Lake, in the Adirondaks. We really get into the innards of lutherie, learning how to evaluate tonewoods, how to choose them to get a specific sound, how to profile the subtle curve in a fretboard, press frets so you don't have to do levelling and recrowning, setting and dressing a wooden peg correctly, etc. The students come out with beautiful dulcimers, and a solid foundation in building.

Next, you should look into the Music Instrument Makers Forum at http://www.mimf.com There are frequent discussions of dulcimer building there.

Also, check out my website. There is a really huge amount of detailed information on how I do things, illustrated with photos. Several people have used the site as a guide to building their first instrument even though I don't furnish plans. Check it out at http://www.bearmeadow.com/build/index.html

Best regards,
Dwain