Workshop | john

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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.

"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.	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).	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.	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 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,	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.	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.	Hourglass, SDD 0043 Four different soundholes on an hourglass shaped body.	Ellipse, SDD 0045 Ellipise shape.	Hourglass, SDD 0047 Hourglass.	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.	"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.	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.	Teardrop SDD 0083	Another commissioned Langeliek for a customer in North Dakota. SDD 0087 This is considered one of	SDD 0088, Hickory bookmatched back with laminated racing stripe adds a distinctive personal touch.	Peghear detail for SDD 0090. Laser edched initials or other items can also be added onto scroll typ

	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.

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The Workshop

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