CapriTaurus Hourglass Dulcimer Model #10

In 1969, Howard Rugg and his brother Michael became partners. They called their partnership CapriTaurus Handcrafts Fine and Applied Arts. They designed and began manufacturing the CapriTaurus mountain dulcimers and sold them at the Renaissance Faire and the Dickens Fair in California from 1969 to 1987. (I’ve included a photo of the Rugg brothers from the early days of CapriTaurus.)

The instrument I am selling is a 1972 Model #10 CapriTaurus California-body hourglass dulcimer. California-body dulcimers are based on Howard Rugg’s designs. Howard wanted a larger, more mellow (more guitar-like) sound, and he achieved that by increasing the depth of the body.

It is 36 ½” long. The lower bout is 7 ½”; the upper bout is 5 3/8”. The body is 2 ½” deep. The VSL is 29 ¼”, and the FBW is 1 3/8”. New Folkcraft strings.

The label inside reads: “This dulcimer was made / by CAPRITAURUS / Felton California”. There is no date or model number written on the label, which was the practice with later CapriTaurus dulcimers, so I emailed a photo of it and the label to Howard Rugg to ask if he could send me some information. He replied that it was a #10 built in 1972 and that the wood was luan mahogany.

Based on Reverb’s condition definitions, it is in “Excellent” condition. There are some very light scratches, a dark spot, and a small ding near the bottom of the back. (Please examine the photographs closely.) If you want to know how it sounds, think of Joni Mitchell’s California-body dulcimer in “Carey,” “All I Want,” “A Case of You,” and “California.” It has a big, full, mellow tone, and the action is superb.