Mountain Dulcimer
"John Muir"

Original design based on the J. E. Thomas dulcimer housed in the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C. The top, back and sides are birdseye maple. The sides also have a black walnut strip running down the middle. The head and tailpiece are maple, and the fingerboard is redwood with a maple fretboard lamination. The tuning pegs are hand-carved maple.

A few years ago, I thought about entering the Yosemite Renaissance Art Exhibition. The theme is, as always, "Yosemite." I figured they get a lot of entries of bears, waterfalls, Half Dome, etc., so I thought I'd do someting different and make a dulcimer with a carving of John Muir, naturalist and one of Yosemite's biggest supporters. Of course, it took me too long to complete, so I missed the jury deadline. I made nearly all the dulcimer with birdseye maple. I carved dogwood blossoms on the pegheads. Maple and dogwood are native to the Yosemite region. Oh, and it has a beautiful tone too.