17/16 Poplar Soundboard Hammered Dulcimer

Construction

The soundboard on this instrument is hand selected heart Yellow Poplar.  The red and purple color is rare.  The usual predominant color of heart Yellow Poplar is green to yellow in cast, but occasionally this species can have red and purple tones because of the minerals in the soil where the tree is grown. This soundboard also has a bird’s eye pattern which is extremely rare in Yellow Poplar.  In all my 30+ years of woodworking I have seen this pattern in Poplar twice and the wood in this instrument is the second.

Yellow Poplar is among one of the softest and lowest density hardwoods. It is an ideal choice for a soundboard when you want a rich, mellow tone.  Yellow Poplar also gives a uniformity of sound whether you are striking the strings on the left or right of the treble bridge or playing the notes on the bass bridge.  As the instrument ages the tone quality improves.

The backboard is made of hand selected curly Yellow Birch. The side tuning rails take the greatest pressure and must resist bowing.  This is why they are made of three 2 ¼” wide pieces glued together.  The two bottom pieces are curly Yellow Birch and on top is bird’s eye hard Maple for the tuning pins.  These two woods are very similar in strength and density and when laminated together laterally they make a very strong bond which can endure the enormous stress of the tensioned strings without bowing.  I chose curly Yellow Birch for the back board because it is a very dense wood and the sound readily bounces off giving ideal amplification.

The front and back rails are made out of American Black Walnut as well as the treble and bass bridges and also the sound hole rosettes.

The internal structural braces and the tone bar are made of Yellow Poplar, chosen for its light weight to reduce the overall instrument weight, but more importantly, poplar is a low density wood which vibrates evenly, enhancing the richness of the instrument tone when the strings are struck.  This is especially important for the tone bar and the bridge supports which translates the sound vibration throughout the instrument.  The tone bar is a critical element because it is precisely placed under the center of the soundboard.  It is slightly higher than the rest of the internal structural material which connects the soundboard directly to the backboard.  When the instrument is strung and the strings are tensioned for tuning the tone bar creates a slight arch in the soundboard, maximizing the sound vibrations throughout the instrument.  The internal components of these beautiful instruments are as important as the external elements which you can see.

Sound

This instrument has 66 strings which makes 4 octaves.  The lowest note is D-1 and the highest note is  B-4.  The left bridge is the treble bridge which is played on each side with hammers.  The notes on the right side of the bridge are whole notes in the scale and the notes on the left side of the bridge are five steps higher than the notes on the right side of the bridge.  When playing on both sides of the bridge simultaneously you are playing major chords.  The bridge on the right side of the soundboard is the bass bridge which is played on the left side of the bridge and is tuned an octave lower than the notes on the right side of the treble bridge.  Inlaid in the bridges are black markers for orientation reference.  They mark the C and G notes.

What’s Included

Included in the sale of this instrument is a pair of handcrafted double sided hammers, a T-handle tuning wrench, a tuning chart and a Korg electronic tuner.  The price of this instrument is $1785.00 which includes packaging for shipment.  I use UPS ground service for shipping so shipping cost is to be added based on the zone the instrument is to be shipped.  State sales tax will also be applied based on the state you are from.

Details

Dimensions: 40” long, 19.25” wide, 2.75” deep

Weight: 16 lbs.

66 strings make 4 full octaves

Lowest note: D-1

Highest note: B-4