I've been playing a standard (open G) McNally strumstick for morris team gigs for years now, but for chanty band gigs I take the G strumstick plus a regular dulcimer in D and another one in C (plus the uke and the concertina...) so that I have more key flexibility.

Now I see that McNally is making a sort of bouzouki version of a strumstick that is fully chromatic. He calls it a long-scale 3-string chromatic. Boy, would I love to be able to play in all keys with one dulcimer-like instrument that can be capoed! (Yes, I understand the ramifications of chromatic fretting -- not a problem.)

My question has to do with sound and associated qualities. Has any of you ever played one of these? Does it have the same banjo-like tone that the standard has? (I know that sound is not right for all sorts of music, but it's fine for what I do in the context of the team and the band.) What are your insights, if any, about this instrument?

I await enlightenment.

Claire