It's nice to find this. There are fewer threads now that I want to look in on and add to.

John in Kansas,

Mr. Jeffreys' dulcimers were in the shop I was asst. mgr. of 1965-'66 & '67 in Chicago---the Old Town Folklore Center. I seem to recall they sold for around $40.00 to $60.00. They were basic but had very nice tone. A rather unobtrusive, flat finish---not high gloss. Not terribly decorative either. These had four basic heart-shaped sound holes without fancy ornamentation or beveling--almost as if cut by a cookie cutter. Also, they had a short-ish fretboard with everything reduced accordingly. At least, they were shorter than my personal favorite dulcimers back then---those made by North Carolinian Frank Proffitt. Being a couple of inches shorter, playing them took less stretching --- which was nice for smaller hands.

I do seem to recall that Jean Ritchie had some very nice things to say about Mr. Jeffreys and his instruments in her grand dulcimer history and instruction manual. That book was published by Oak Publications.

Art Thieme