Allenwood String Instruments 6-String Hourglass Mountain Dulcimer - New

This is a new hand-crafted mountain dulcimer by Allenwood String Instruments – a sole-owner/luthier business with 27 years’ experience building dulcimers of various designs, shapes, and sizes. This is a medium size 6-string dulcimer with a 26-inch scale length in D tuning, strung similar to a 12-string guitar where each string is doubled. Its tuning is dd'/aa/d'd' (frequencies: 146.8-293.7/220.0-220.0/293.7-293.7 Hertz). String gauges are .022 (phosphor bronze), .014 (steel), and .012 (steel). The body back and sides are made of mahogany with a quarter-sawn western red cedar soundboard. The top and back are both bookmatched and have internal scalloped bracing, similar to guitar construction, for structural strength and enhanced tonality. The body is trimmed with poplar edge binding and walnut end caps. The fretboard is poplar with a walnut fingerboard overlay, trimmed with mahogany edge binding, and a walnut overlay on the peghead. Fretboard has 19 frets total including 6-1/2 and 13-1/2 frets, and is an “elevated” style above the soundboard for improved resonance. Tuners are silver closed-gear “mini” type to minimize the peghead weight. The nut and saddle are made of Corian. The saddle is held in place by string pressure, so its positioning is adjustable. However, its placement for optimum intonation is indicated by a scribe mark on its pad, so this location will not be lost during string changes. Overall length and width: 32.5 x 6.25 inches; body height: 1-7/8 inches; overall height: 2.75 inches. Every dulcimer includes a label on the inside with model number, date, and luthier’s signature.