Mountain Dulcimer
"Coog Moon #2"

Original design based on the J. E. Thomas dulcimer housed in the Smithsonian Museum, Washington, D.C. The top is 125+ year old salvaged Douglas fir that came from a Portland, Oregon, warehouse. The sides, back, head, and tailpiece are maple. The fingerboard is salvaged pine with a laminated black walnut fretboard. The tuning pegs are ebony.

When I built this dulcimer (many, many years ago), it had been ten years since I made one. I spent most of that time working in the private sector, but on evenings and weekends, I was building guitars, banjos, harps, and various other North American and European folk and early instruments--most from scratch, but some from kits (to learn how they're made).

This is the first dulcimer that I used binding on, which was similar to my guitar work. All my other dulcimers have overlapping tops and backs like those on violin family instruments, and with their beautiful bookmatched walnut and Brazilian Rosewood backs, they didn't need any inlay to detract from the grain design. The lovely cream-colored maple I used, however, didn't have any distinguishing grain, so I decided to add the inlay for visual interest.