All it takes to "convert from right to left handed" is a new bridge, a new nut and a new set of strings. They sell the micarta nut & bridge for $1 each, and strings for about $5 a set.
Hi Bill:
I like that shape! Some more info would be helpful -- dimensions: LxWxH, height & width of the fretboard. And the VSL.
What makes you say it's a bass dulcimer? You know of course that it has no 6+ or 13+ frets.
Cleaning: Start with blown air to clean out the pegbox.
Then gently loosen the tuning pegs and remove all the strings (we don't often remove all, but in this case it will be a good thing). AS you do, mark each tuning peg with the hole it came out of, so it can go back in the right place. At this point we don't care what the original string gauges are because you're going to replace all the strings (this is why we need the VSL).
I can't tell from the photo, but the middle tuner on the near side looks like it's jammed much deeper into the holes than the others. True? Wipe down the tuners. Do not sand them. Other that the one tuner seeming set deep, they don't appear to be particularly damaged. However, if they are, or you should want to replace them, those look to be standard violin tuning pegs which can be purchased individually or in sets, in a variety of woods, for as little as $1 per peg, to as much as $20 per peg.
Purchase a bottle of Peg Dope. It will last you for years! When you get everything else accomplished, check back in and we can get you straight on setting it up with those wooden tuners. I, for one, would not recommend replacing them with geared tuners,
With the strings gone, you should then be able to remove the nut and bridge. WHY do you want to remove the bone nut? If you have to, they may be able to be tapped out sideways using a small wooden dowel as a punch. We'll want vey close ups of the ends of the nut & bridge where the set into the fretboard.
With a water-damp (not soggy) soft cloth, wipe down the whole instrument, removing as much of the accumulated crud as you can. Don't use any other kind of cleaning product yet.
Look at the edge of the top and bottom where they overlap the sides. I'll bet you'll discover that they are made from thin mahogany plywood. At least that's what it looks like from seeing that scratch by the farside sound hole, and the nature of the wood grain on the top.
Luster: Well, you could gently sand the whole thing down and refinish it with the finish of your choice. But if it is made from plywood you really don't want to do that because it's too easy to go below that first "beauty"layer of ply.
Probably the best thing is to apply a thin coat or two of wax, and buff. NOT a furniture polish or any other product which contains silicon. You want just wax. Carnuba wax is good. An automotive or bar top wax without any additives would be OK.
Strings: The first thing you need to know is what open tuning you want. You do not have to set this up as a bass dulcimer unless you want to, of course.
Don is the quintessential Fingerdancer. Nearly always on the melody string, very smooth, fast and clean transitions between notes. He also plays Noter & Drone style. His instruments are invariably 3 stringed but not traditional -- they have the 6+ and 13+ frets and mechanical tuners.
OK -- good to know... I thought it might be something I was/wasn't doing...
Doing it again JUST NOW. Interesting that in the Building group, Ken Longfield's post about Tuning Peg Knobs is still at the top of the list, but everything below that is wanky.
Also, I've notice lately (last month or so) that periodically I'll go to some random Discussion and if I try to create a Post, the text box flashes up and then disappears! Not every time or every discussion. It just happened now in the Discussion where someone is looking for a particular Bowed Psaltery. I went in and out of the discussion 4 or 5 times and it finally gave me a text block to type in...
Not a problem, Lisa. Will let you know if things get wonky again. Glad to see that the issue has been forwarded and a permanent solution may be achieved...
Most dulcimers are tuned to DAA or DAd because those key of D tunings, are what most clubs play in -- particularly DAd.
It's not hard to switch between the two tunings, but you chord players have to memorize different chord fingerings for each tuning. Since you aren't interested in traditional music and dulcimers there's no reason to go into any other detail of the stylistic differences between the two tunings.
BOTH tunings have equally accessible chords, although the DAd people would have you believe otherwise. Some say DAA actually has more chords available. If you can't find much information on DAA chords, drop me a PM and I can send you a copy of the definitive article on the subject, by Merv Rowley (R.I.P.).
Of course the chords you can achieve are only those associated with the key of D. Other keynotes (the note to which the bass string is tuned) have other chords associated with them, of course. To reach some of the other keynotes will require different gauges of strings to prevent string breakage (notably the bass string). Unless you go totally modern and get an instrument with a chromatic fretboard (and IMHO are no longer playing a dulcimer), you will never have every chord available at any time.
HI Lisa;
FWIW, the Group discussions seem to be "dis-ordered" again... in new and interesting ways.
Glad that worked out for you. One thing to look at if something like that happens again, it to make sure that the string(s) are firmly and correctly seated in the notches. Sometimes a "violent' strum can dislodge a string minutely, giving rise to those kinds of issues...
The name on the label adds nothing to the value in this case...
Great! Yes -- back to "normal" according to my Senior memory. Thank you thank you!
Most of us just post a separate thread when we acquire or make a new instrument, rather than having a single thread of new dulcimers.
But here's my newest build. This Holly Leaf is shape based on one of two Civil War or earlier instruments known to have been made in this recognizable pattern -- one in North Carolina and a similar but different holly leaf shape made in Virginia by a different builder. Great minds think alike and all that.
Mine is not an exact replica of the one which was built in Burnsville, NC. Rather, I 'softened' the original rigid straight lines by curving the shoulders and tail. Walnut and Maple. Rosewood tuning pegs. Staple frets for the melody string only. Width 7.5", Length 34.5". Side height 1.5". Fretboard 1" high x 1.125" wide.
The Wall comments I never did see out of chronological order. But the Group discussions are completely disordered. I understand that they 'should' have most recently responded to discussions at the top of the list. But in Beginners and Making Dulcimers and Noter & Drone (that I follow a couple times a day) I can't find the discussions that were "current" at the top of the lists. In each of those Groups, there were discussions that were being currently responded to which are now somewhere in what seems to be a randomly ordered stack of discussions.
Hope that helps.
You're right John -- we need to establish acoustic characteristics of a Dulcimer Standard Lap and how far individuals deviate from the standard. I'll get right on that!
Possum boards (regardless of wood type) do increase volume. How much? No one has yet designed an experiment to test the concept (variables would include number and height of feet or standoff, Janka or other hardness rating of the p-board material, and some sort of quantitative measure of both lap an p-board loudness values.
You tune a stick more or less "backwards" from a dulcimer. Holding the stick in guitar style playing position, the top string is the bass string and the bottom is the melody string; middle of course is the drone. I would say most sticks are tuned DAd, some are tuned DAA, as are most dulcimers (or CGc/CGG if you like a lower key).
Not heard of BFM and can't find anything on-line about them or their instruments.
It depends on what you mean by "old"... but none of these stick instruments (not really dulcimers) are much more than 10-20 years old.
Dissonance is what Locrian Mode is all about!! Stick with D-Ab-Bb!!
I prefer Hal-an Tow as a group a capella "chant" rather than an accompanied tune. What would be perfect is to do this one with my Anglo-Saxon Lyre.
Maire's Wedding is a great, easy tune. Here's a link to my old friend Steve Eulberg's Dulcimer Crossing tutorial on the tune.
https://dulcimercrossing.com/mw/dc_mw_md_dad_pre.html
Welcome DivergentLuthier! I'm another one who would be very interested in a copy of Elizabethan music!
As a semi-professional foodie, I'll try almost anything -- Uni, sushi of any kind, monkey brains, menudo, dried grasshoppers -- you name it. Lots of those things I'd eat again readily. But.... I just can't take raw oysters. It's a texture thing. Breaded & fried, sure. Likewise oyster stew. But not raw.
Massive dislike of boiled okra for the same reason -- slimy texture. Love 'em breaded/fried or split and fried with Amchur in the Indian style.
I've had them sliced thin, and cut into pieces. I suspect they may be like calamari or gator -- overcooked and you have rubber; cooked properly you hve nirvana on a plate.
Filing those new slots will not affect the value of the dulcimer. Just use a small triangular file, not a saw.
Good price. Especially considering that includes case, books, spare strings...
Hi Lisa:
Just got here for my morning scan of things, and noticed that the Wall contents of the three Groups I follow most commonly have been completely and randomly re-ordered -- and current threads have been misplaced somewhere in the many pages of threads.
Specifically the Groups are Beginner Players, Dulcimer Making, and Old Style Noter & Drone.
Two kinds of metal strings -- loop end and ball end. Which you use depends on how your dulcimer is set up. There are plain steel strings and wound strings. Type of string is irrelevant, brand of string doesn't matter -- the gauge is the most important factor.
Some people have used gut or nylon strings. Unless the dulcimer is built ultra-light, they tend to make too soft of sound.
Send me a PM here, as I said before, and I will give the file to you directly. You need a free PDF Reader app on your Android or regular computer to open and read the file.
If your Android won't download it there is something wrong, but not with the PDF. Get a highschool kid/grandchild to help you 
TTAD is the best site on the Internet for Traditional dulcimer builders and players to exchange information.
@cbrown said "...of course early on the name [scheitholt] was widespread enough in Germany..."
This is simply not true. The name was NOT widespread in Germany. This is the "great mis-information" which has been accepted and promoted over and over again by dulcimer players who aren't interested in checking facts.
The term scheitholt is specific to the Tyrol, a small part of Austria, not Germany, even in 1619 when Pretorious wrote about it. Tyrol is analogous to Appalachia -- a large area of barely accessible mountains with a small and widely scattered population, whose inhabitants made and played an obscure musical instrument for self entertainment.
Tyrol has an area of about 4800 square miles -- about the size of Connecticut -- and back in the 17th century it had a population of 30-40,000. And of course, the scheitholt was not played by everyone; perhaps less than one in one hundred.
Pretorious' De Organagraphia was not a best seller in Germany or anywhere. It was an esoteric scholarly treatise really only read by musical scholars. Perhaps only a few thousand copies were originally printed in 1619.
Even today Tyrol only has a population of about 700,000 -- about the same as Bucks County, Pennsylvania scattered over an area nearly 8 times the size of that county.
Pretty much what Greg said -- the Modes are built into the diatonic fretboard (as long as you don't go adding any extra frets). One of the pieces I want to give you is called The Uncontrite Modal Folker. It's a discussion of Modes and Modal tunings on the dulcimer (not guitar or anything else). Modes are scales on a single string. It's that simple. Different Modes start at different locations on a diatonic fretboard. Some of those scales are more minor than others.
Truthfully, I would like to get away from the "scheitholt" terminology all together, but I realize I am fighting a losing battle there.
You and me both, brother!
Most folks have no idea of what defines a scheitholt or how little used that word is/was outside of very narrow geographic areas. They seem to think it's a European-wide generic term when it wasn't.
The term Scheitholt for a fretted zither was almost more geographically limited than the phrase Indian Walking Cane for a dulcimer Scheitholt only in the Austrian Tyrol and Bucks County PA; and Indian Walking Cane in the Ozark region of Missouri/Arkansas
As Greg says, there aren't any real dulcimer specific resources for Child Ballads and the like; just scattered its here and there. Greg has given you a number of good printed sources. One of the best online resources that I know is www.contemplator.com. She has audio recordings of the Child Ballads and much more. There are also a couple of folks who have recorded many, if not all, of the Child Ballads on YouTube (guitar mostly).
You are going to want to teach yourself how to create tab by ear.
If this is the kind of music you are passionate about, you really do not need 4 strings and a 6-1/2 fret. A 3-string, traditional, true diatonic instrument tuned and re-tuned appropriately is going to be most useful. That kind of instrument will give you the high silvery sound that goes so well with that kind of music. It took awhile, but after 30 years of playing I finally figured that out -- about 10 years ago.
Anytime you want to "talk shop" about that kind of music, drop me a PM here and we can swap email addresses. I can also point you to some beginner resources that I created years ago...
Ken; his original post -- down at the bottom -- has photos which show a dulcimer made with a Howie Mitchell cut-away tailpiece and an arched fretboard, which the Poster calls the "scheitholt component" of his build.
Welcome truethomas! I've been specializing in the Child Ballads and Scots/English traditional music on the dulcimer for most of 40 years.
Can't say I've heard of Thunderclap Drones dulcimers, and can't seem to find anything about them on-line, except a few sales blurbs on ebay and such; and one video that mostly should a lady struggling to open a shipping box. What little I could find says made in the USA. Not even a website for Thunderclap Drones, which in this day and age is not a particularly good sign.
For a first instrument, IMHO, you'd be better off with a Student model dulcimer from a known builder rather than an Ebay or Piccclik sales pitch from an unknown. If price is an issue, a cardboard dulcimer is about $75, and they sound really good because the important part is how well the fretboard is made. I recommend the Student model from Dave Lynch of Sweetwoods Dulcimers: www.sweetwoodsinstruments.com I've owned and played one for a number of years and find them perfect for those just starting out.
"...that bridge pier design of the scheitholt component... "
Actually, we call that an arched fretboard. It's not a "scheitholt component". A scheitholt is a specific kind of trapezoidal zither found primarily in Pennsylvania, and its ancestors found in the Tyrol part of Austro-Germany. A scheitholt does not sit on top of a sound body -- it is a distinctive musical instrument having integral frets, tuners, etc without a raised central fretboard.
Arching is one of two ways to lighten the mass of the fretboard; the other being hollowing the underside.
Some epinettes (not scheitholtz) -- notably the Epinette des Vosges -- use a constructed fretboard on top of the sound box, instead of the solid fretboard board normally used today. -- a top and two sides, with two end pieces -- to make it a closed box.
One basic string height setup that we often use is known as the Nickel & Dime technique. You can lower the strings even more, but this is a good place to start:
Place a dime next to the 1st fret and see how close the strings are to the coin. Sand the bottom of the Nut until the strings just touch the dime. Now balance a nickel on top of the 7th fret, and check the height of the strings. Sand the bottom of Bridge until the strings just touch the nickel.
Point of terminology, Phroedrick --- dulcimers do not have necks. Dulcimers have fretboards, with or without fingerboards. Necks extend beyond the soundbody, fretboards do not. Also, dulcimers seldom have a saddle. The vast majority have a bridge set on fretboard, or in a slot in the fretboard; even dulcimers with dis-continuous fretboards seldom have a saddle. Instead they use a banjo or violin style tall bridge.
In your discussion you mention both fretboard straightness, and bow. Dulcimer fretboards, especially old dulcimer fretboards, were often made with a distinct bow from say 3rd fret to 12th or thereabouts. The bow is/was intended to accommodate the elliptical nature of vibrating strings, being deepest near the 7th fret and shallowest at either end.
Tied frets (a la Lute) will be 'way too soft with metal strings, and they'll cut the frets. If you want to use wooden frets, as Salt Spring suggests, use bamboo or ebony or Lignum vitae -- again, anything softer just won't work well; I know.... I tried.
A "removeable" fingerboard on top of that fretboard just isn't going to work. 99 and 44/100th percent of dulcimer builders decide well before hand what kind of fret setup they are going to use.
Installing conventional "mushroom" frets involves sawing really thin, undersized slots in the fretboard and then hammering the frets into the slots so they stay by friction. Installing traditional staple frets involves drilling pairs of teenie holes (.035" or so) and then bending large staples from oversize wire and hammering them into the holes.
If you're going to sand the pegs, use a VERY fine sandpaper -- 800 or 1000 grit. A TINY change in diameter makes a huge difference.
Better yet, take the pegs and dulcimer to a violin shop and ask them to correct the peg fit.
