Workshop | john

top of page

This site was designed with the

website builder. Create your website today.Start Now

Here are photos and descriptions of some of the instruments I have built. Many of these were designed by the buyers, while others were built to my specs

to sell "off the shelf".

Please see "Instruments For Sale" tab in the bar above for more information on available instruments.

"Bowed Dulcimer" SDD 0041 My first attempt, (and most likely my last) at a custom build of something a little different. This instrument is called a "Bowed Dulcimer." It combines various features of a mountain dulcimer, a cello, a violin and a guitar. As the name implies, it is played with a bow, much like a cello.	"Langeleik" SDD 0046 My second custom "non-dulcimer." A woman from Colorado contacted me about building a "Langeleik" for her. These instruments are believed to be one of the older Norwegian influences that contributed to the design of the Mountain Dulcimer. It is basically a rectangular box strung with eight strings. Only one string is fretted while the other seven are played as "drone" strings. There are also included some small "movable" frets that can change the tuning of the drone strings like a capo.	Courtin' Dulcimer, SDD 0031 "Courtin' Dulcimers" were said to been a way to keep young people that were "seeing" each other on the straight and narrow pathway. The young couple would sit facing each other and each play their part on one of two fretboards. The parents could repose to another area to give the courting couple some privacy but when they stopped hearing two distinct parts to the music they would quickly make sure there was no hanky-panky going on! It could also be enjoyed by two players that weren'n courtin!	Elliptical, SDD 0010 Ellipse shape. Guitar type peghead and Fern Frond soundholes. Western Red Cedar soundboard.
SDD 0013 Western Red Cedar soundboard. Geometric dot soundholes. Black walnut fingerboard. Tapered scroll peghead.	Hourglass SDD 0014 Aromatic cedar soundboard. Hard maple fingerboard. Scroll peghead. Orthodox cross soundholes.	Back View of Sdd 0014 Hard maple back. Laminated peghead.	Hourglass SDD 0015 Hourglass shape, hard maple fingerboard, aromatic cedar soundboard with "f" soundholes. Scroll peghead
Hourglass SDD 0016 Aromatic cedar soundboard. Hickory fingerboard. Four different soundholes as selected by buyer. Custom carved peghead (whale tail fluke).	Cigarbox shape. SDD 0017 Our least expensive model. Also reminiscent of what the early builders did with materials they had on hand such as cigar boxes glued together for the body.	Cigar-Box SDD 0017 One of the first images on this page was of this instrument with a diffeerent soundboard. At one of the recent festivals we had an unfortunate accident with a display rack falling over and the original soundboard was slightly split and a small divot was made in the top edge of the body. I could have sold it "as is" but instead I rebuilt it with this new soundboard. The larger soundholes actually increased the volume of the instrument a little.	TEARDROP SDD 0018 Teardrop shape, Sitka Spruce soundboard and Purpleheart fingerboard. Tapered scroll peghead. "f" soundholes.
HOURGLASS SDD 0019 Western Red Cedar soundboard on hourglass shaped body. Scroll peghead with down swept arch. Evergreen tree soundholes. Black walnut fingerboard with maple inlay dots.	Hourglass, SDD 0020 Aromatic cedar soundboard, hickory fingerboard. Horsehead and geometric dot soundholes. Tapered scroll and upswept arch peghead.	BOOKMATCHING EXAMPLE Good example of how I "Bookmatch" the soundboards and backs of my instruments. A board is ripped in half lengthwise, then opened like the cover of a book and glued together creating a mirror image on each side of the now wider board. (this is the back of the Hourglass with the horsehead and dot soundholes)	3/4 SIZE, SDD 0021 Small, hourglass shape well suited for small players or children. Laminated peghead, Black walnut fingerboard.
Stand at first Bazaar The Spring Bazaar at the Evergreen fairgrounds in Monroe, our first event in 2015.	SDD 0022 Aromatic cedar soundboard with Penguin soundholes. Laminated peghead. Gold tuning machines with black knobs. Special order Ebony fingerboard.	Hourglass, SDD 0023 Hourglass with wider "f" soundholes. Note the different treatment of the peghead by thining down the scroll part to make it look a little more streamlined.	Terminology... This hourglass instrument gives us a good opportunity to learn some dulcimer definitions. The narrow part of the body is called the "waist". (kind of obvious...) The wider portions of the body are called the "bouts". In this case the upper "bout" is not as wide as the lower one. This design gives a nice look to the instrument but does limit the choices of soundholes. To put soundholes in the narrow bout they need to be of a slender design.
Hourglass, SDD 0025 A couple of things to point out here. First notice the "Cannarywood" side on the body. This imported exotic hardwood has some beautiful grain patterns with colors ranging from browns to reds and oranges. Also the peghead has a different design. I was just experimenting while building it and ended up with something that reminded me of a turret on a castle.	Hourglass, SDD 0024 Classic "hourglass" shape with leaf soundholes. Western Red Cedar soundboard and scroll type peghead.	Hourglass, SDD 0027 Sides are one of my favorite exotic woods called Canarywood. Usually has multiple colored grain streaks ranging from very light to deep reds and even purples. Standard hourglass shape with Aromatic Cedar soundboard. "Bubble" soundholes.	Teardrop, SDD 0028 Teardrop shape, stylish heart soundholes with dots above and below. Aromatic Cedar soundboard,
Hourglass, SDD 0029 Hourglass shape with rare old growth coastal redwood soundboard. Daisy soundholes and modified scroll type peghead.	Hourglass, Sdd 0030 Dove soundholes in sitka spruce soundboard on hourglass shape body. Guitar type peghead.	Diamond, SDD 0034 Diamond body with matching soundholes. A tribute to some of the very early designs primarily from the Melton's of Virginia. Western Red Cedar soundboard, nicely grained Cherry back and sides.	Hourglass, SDD 0035 Western Red Cedar on Hourglass shaped body. Padauk sides and back. Eight notes on upper "bout" and hearts on lower.
Hourglass, SDD 0036 Hourglass shape with a Catalpa sound board. A very nicely grained wood. Back is black walnut and sides are another exotic... canary-wood, also colorfully grained	Rectangle, SDD 0037 Rectangular body with rectangular soundholes produces a nice, clear sound. Built with contrasting colors to produce a light/dark theme. Soundboard is light colored Poplar. Sides are a dark Walnut and back is a bright Eastern Maple.	Hourglass, SDD 0039 Fleur de Lis and Butterfly soundholes. Western Red Cedar sound board, Cherry back and Red Oak Sides.	Ellipse, SDD 0040 Ellipse shaped, "f hole" soundholes. Soundboard is Red Alder, Backm is Black Walnut and sides are Cherry.
Rectangle, SDD 0042 Rectangle, Western Red Cedar top, Black Walnut with White Ash stripe, Black Walnut sides.	Hourglass, SDD 0043 Four different soundholes on an hourglass shaped body.	Teardrop, SDD 0044 TearDrop with four fern frond soundholes. Sitka spruce soundboard, Purpleheart back and Canarywood sides.	Ellipse, SDD 0045 Ellipise shape.
Hourglass, SDD 0047 Hourglass.	Ellipse, SDD 0048 Eliptical shape.	Hourglass, SDD 0049 Hourglass shape, Hummingbird & Vines soundholes.	Rectangle, SDD 0050 Another "basic" model, built to pay homage to the early "cigar-box" dulcimers.
0051 Certainly one of my top five favorite instruments. I found a piece of poplar that was "marred" by a dark stripe within the grain of the wood. After some creative book-matching and milling I ended up with a unique looking soundboard for this elliptical dulcimer.	Rectangle, SDD 0052 Tribute to early builders that used whatever they could find for building materials. Sometimes they would use cigar boxes to construcg the body, creating an instrument with a rectangular shape like this one.	Ellipse, SDD 0053 Eliptical shape with standing bear and howling wolf soundholes.	"Very Custom" SDD 0054 Ordered by customer in Vermont.
Diamond, SDD 0055 A little different view of a lesser used shape - diamond.	Hourglass, SDD 0056 Hourglass shape. "Trestle" cut-outs in fret board are not just decorative, they are actually designed to reduce the surface area that is in contact with the soundboard. This allows the soundboard to vibrate better, thus enhancing the sound quality.	"Trumpet" Shape SDD 0061 A bit of a different design that I tried out in an attempt to come up with a less expensive dulcimer. It was not a lot less to build but did evolve into another "Economy" model that I am now building.	Teardrop, SDD 0064 Another special order from an experienced player that was very specific about what he wanted in the instrument. One variant was that he asked for six strings, (three pairs of two)
Elliptical, SDD 0065 Custom order instrument. Notice the laminated woods in the peg head. I enjoy doing this little extra touch and feel that it adds to the uniqueness of each instrument.	Teardrop, SDD 0067 This soundboard is Aromatic Cedar, also known as Tennessee Cedar. While it has been a popular option with many of my customers, I am finding that good quality lumber of this species is getting hard to get.	Rectangle, SDD 0076 Basic model with some upgrades. Soundboard is Western Red Cedar.	Hourglass, SDD 0077 Hourglass shape, Crescent moon soundholes.
SDD 0078 kjbkjbkbki	SDD 0XXX Ellipitical Shape, While this shape is not the most popular, it does provide a more mellow, sweeter tone when played.

	Peghead Glueup The peghead and tailpiece are like the foundation to the instrument. Their design, shape and size will have a large influence in how the instrument turns out.
STEAM BENDING Sides have been resawn and steamed in steam box. They are then quickly placed in this jig and clamps are tightened. After 24 hours of cooling, boards retain the shape of the jig.	BODY INTERIOR After sides are bent, Peghead and Tailpiece are fabricated to desired shape and sides are glued to them. Interior bracing and kerfing are glued to inside of body. (Kerfing provides for a greater gluing surface when attaching back and soundboard.)
GLUING BACK ONTO SIDES The back has been resawn and bookmatched, then glued. After cutting to shape it is being held in place with spool clamps while glue dries. Book- matching is a special method where a board is resawn into two thinner boards. These are then opened like a book and re-glued edge to edge to create a board that is now half as thick as the original but also twice as wide. This allows the grain of the wood to present itself visually in an almost mirror image of itself on each half of the glue line.	GLUING BACK ON Another view of a different instrument having the back glued on.
SETTING THE FRETS Fretboard has been cut to size and fingerboard has been glued to it. Fret slots have been carefully cut by hand and here we are using a drillpress with a mandrell in the chuck to press the frets into the slots.	READY FOR TOP This dulcimer is ready for it's soundboard to be glued on but first the soundholes must be cut. You can see that these have been started in this soundboard. Notice the fretboard. Once the soundboard is attached to the body, the fretboard will then be glued onto it.
STORAGE Cabinet hung from ceiling provides clean, protected storage for about 16 dulcimers. My wife, Teresa sews a fabric storage bag for each instrument and the bag goes with the instrument when it is sold.

Click your cursor anywhere on the image to enlarge it and bring up the text that goes with it. This will also allow you to use the left and right arrows to advance or return to images at your own pace.

The Workshop

bottom of page