I bought a second hand dulcimer some while back and it has never really been played much. So at xmas I thought I'd see if I could get it to work enough so that my ears didn't pack up and leave in protest.

The intonation on it seems really off - BUT IT VARIES AS I PUT IT IN DIFFERENT TUNINGS.

It drives me round the bend.

I have measured the frets and they are pretty much in the right place (figures from a dulcimer/instrument site on the net).

What I have ended up doing is making a sort of temporary nut addition which shortens the middle string a bit. I can now actually do a passable rendition of a scale and chords when I tune to DAD. It sounds close enough (for folk hoho!!)

So then I retuned it to DAA. Now the intonation has a different set of problems. Arggggh!

It maybe it's not a very good dulcimer but I have the bit a little bit between my teeth now.

I can easily post a short video of my problem (and my sort of solution) and stick it on Youtube if that helps and if anyone is interested.