my dulcimer is made of wormy chestnut.the wood came from the basement of the late ALBERT HASH,of whitetop,virginia.ALBERT was one of the great instrument makers of that region.my dulcimer was made by WALTER MESSICK,also of whitetop,virginia.WALTER learned his craft fom ALBERT HASH.my dulcimer has a rich mellow tone that is produced by the wormy chestnut. i use the tuning of g,d,d,d,in our family band.we perform many of the old-time cater family songs and use the dulcimer like momma maybell used the autoharp.it definitely gives us a unique sound. when performing instrumentals in competition,i use the d,a,a,a,tuning.it gves my dulcimer its natural sound. i do not perform many "dulcimer tunes".i have found this instrument to be a very VERSATILE instrument and using it for the music that we love and play just really FEELS GOOD!! and so,that is the style of dulcimer music i enjoy best...WHATEVER FEELS GOOD!!