Choosing a Hammered Dulcimer
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So....you are enchanted with the ringing tones of a hammered dulcimer and set out to investigate. You find out that this novel instrument combines percussion, melody and harmony in one compact package. Furthermore, it's fascinating to learn to play and a joy to hear!
I am proud to retail Dusty Strings dulcimers as they have a well-deserved reputation for stability, strength, beauty and voice. West Coast Harps stocks a number of hammered dulcimer models with others available by custom order at manufacturer retail. How do you choose the best instrument for you? Consider: What type of music you want to play? What keys do you want to play in? How many octaves of notes do you require? How heavy an instrument are you willing to carry? 12/11 Dulcimers - compact, light-weight, solid wood or laminate, limited in keys - 2 & 1/2 octaves - (Dusty Strings discontinued production of this size of HD in January 2021)
16/15 Dulcimers - mid-size, portable, solid wood or laminate, more keys - 3 octaves Chromatic Series - compact to large, portable, chromatic (all keys), solid wood - 3 to 3.5 octaves Piano Dulcimer - compact, portable, chromatic, solid wood, single bridge (piano style) - 3.5 octaves More detailed information below and on our individual model pages (right hand column) |
12/11 Dulcimers
D10 16/15 Dulcimers Overture - natural Overture - black D45 The Chromatic Series D300 D500 D550 D570 D600 D650 Piano Dulcimer PD40 |
About Our Dusty Strings Hammered Dulcimers
Dusty Strings uses two different materials for their dulcimer soundboards. The lower priced instruments have laminated birch for their soundboard and back. This helps keep the price of their beginning instruments affordable with the highest grade of veneered ply available. These instruments are attractive, sturdy and have the added benefit of being fairly impervious to changes in temperature and humidity, enhancing the instrument’s stability. They give a clean, clear and pleasing quality of sound.
All of Dusty String's solid wood instruments have soundboards and backs made of high-quality, quarter-sawn Honduras mahogany. They chose this wood for its visual beauty, dimensional stability, and most importantly for its sound. The acoustic properties of this wood combined with their instrument and bracing designs give a rich, deep brilliance, controlled sustain, and clarity of fundamental tone that results in a smooth, professional sound especially apparent on complex, up-tempo pieces.
Dusty Strings uses two different materials for their dulcimer soundboards. The lower priced instruments have laminated birch for their soundboard and back. This helps keep the price of their beginning instruments affordable with the highest grade of veneered ply available. These instruments are attractive, sturdy and have the added benefit of being fairly impervious to changes in temperature and humidity, enhancing the instrument’s stability. They give a clean, clear and pleasing quality of sound.
All of Dusty String's solid wood instruments have soundboards and backs made of high-quality, quarter-sawn Honduras mahogany. They chose this wood for its visual beauty, dimensional stability, and most importantly for its sound. The acoustic properties of this wood combined with their instrument and bracing designs give a rich, deep brilliance, controlled sustain, and clarity of fundamental tone that results in a smooth, professional sound especially apparent on complex, up-tempo pieces.
Dusty Strings D10
While the use of a ply soundboard and back provides an economical, good-sounding instrument, solid wood on the same instrument will give more resonance, depth, brilliance and volume. Also, the tone quality of a solid-wood instrument continues to develop over the years, enhancing its long-term value and the satisfaction in owning it.
Tuning stability is a top priority at Dusty Strings in order for buyers to avoid spending 15 to 20 minutes tuning prior to each play. The design choices, construction, structural parts, and types of wood achieve a consistently stable dulcimer tuning for a couple of weeks or more.
String spacing is a significant factor in playability. Dusty Strings has chosen spacings of 1-1/16" on their 2-1/2 octave instruments as comfortable for beginners, 1" on their 3-octave model to keep the size down a bit, and 1-3/16" on their chromatic instruments to promote clean, accurate playing on potentially more complex pieces with a deep resonant tone which that size of soundbox can give.
The bridges are of one-piece construction with individual course pedestals to aid in accurate playing. White and black bridge caps on the pedestals are vivid note location markers. Made of a dense low-friction material called Delrin, these bridge caps also help to ensure smooth, accurate tuning and sustain control.
All of the Dusty Strings dulcimers have mounting hardware built into the back to accept a single optional playing leg. A 28-inch leg allows you to play while sitting with the front of the dulcimer resting across your knees. The 4-inch leg tilts the dulcimer for easy tabletop playing. These are very portable ways of supporting your instrument in lieu of a separate stand.
The Chromatic Series dulcimers (D300, D500, D550, D570, D600) come with large leather and wood double-sided hammers, and all other models come with single-sided regular hammers. Dusty carefully book-matches and shapes each set of hammers as a pair, guaranteeing an even, well-balanced weight and feel.
Tuning stability is a top priority at Dusty Strings in order for buyers to avoid spending 15 to 20 minutes tuning prior to each play. The design choices, construction, structural parts, and types of wood achieve a consistently stable dulcimer tuning for a couple of weeks or more.
String spacing is a significant factor in playability. Dusty Strings has chosen spacings of 1-1/16" on their 2-1/2 octave instruments as comfortable for beginners, 1" on their 3-octave model to keep the size down a bit, and 1-3/16" on their chromatic instruments to promote clean, accurate playing on potentially more complex pieces with a deep resonant tone which that size of soundbox can give.
The bridges are of one-piece construction with individual course pedestals to aid in accurate playing. White and black bridge caps on the pedestals are vivid note location markers. Made of a dense low-friction material called Delrin, these bridge caps also help to ensure smooth, accurate tuning and sustain control.
All of the Dusty Strings dulcimers have mounting hardware built into the back to accept a single optional playing leg. A 28-inch leg allows you to play while sitting with the front of the dulcimer resting across your knees. The 4-inch leg tilts the dulcimer for easy tabletop playing. These are very portable ways of supporting your instrument in lieu of a separate stand.
The Chromatic Series dulcimers (D300, D500, D550, D570, D600) come with large leather and wood double-sided hammers, and all other models come with single-sided regular hammers. Dusty carefully book-matches and shapes each set of hammers as a pair, guaranteeing an even, well-balanced weight and feel.
Dusty Strings D300
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Folding hammered dulcimer stands are meticulously crafted hardwood which fold to the size of a two-by-four and set up in seconds, locking open in a stable position. All points of contact with the instrument are cushioned by 3/8" nylon cord or rubber bumpers. Sit-down height holds front of instrument approx. 25" above the ground and fits in all the dulcimer cases. Stand-up height holds instrument approx. 33" above the ground and only fits in the C500 case. Both sizes hold any Dusty Strings dulcimer gently and securely.
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Dusty HD Stand
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Dusty Strings C300 Case
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The beautifully made soft-shell cases are nicely tailored, close-fitting with a protective thickness of foam sandwiched between a smooth inner lining and a tough outer covering of waterproofed cordura. Zipper closing, inner compartment for playing leg, large accessory pocket, carrying handles, and shoulder strap.
The C10 fits the Prelude, Apprentice, & D10 models The C35 fits the Overture & PD30 models The C45 fits the PD40 and D45 models including dampers The C300 fits the D300 model The C500 fits the D500, D550 & D570 models The C600 fits the D600 & D650 models |
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Each instrument comes with an Owner’s Guidebook containing information on the dulcimer’s construction, tuning, maintenance, and care, including string diagrams and string changing instructions. This guidebook is now available for download.
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West Coast Harps economically ships hammered dulcimers to most Canadian destinations using quality packaging via either Canada Post Expedited or Day and Ross shipping. So you can do more than dream when viewing our dulcimers - one can be yours.
We can confirm the price for any Dusty strings Hammered Dulcimer with an Email Quote which holds the price for 10 days.
We can confirm the price for any Dusty strings Hammered Dulcimer with an Email Quote which holds the price for 10 days.
It is of real benefit to call Alison and have her assist you with your decision making process. Her depth of experience as a professional musician and teacher is invaluable in finding just the “right” instrument.