Hey Everyone,
I got my Roosebeck Cutaway on Thursday afternoon. I have to agree with John Stephens. I was SHOCKED at how well it is made. My dad is 90 and has made me beautiful wooden items and he looked at it and said it looked "hand rubbed" I've had some instruments that were made overseas that had visible glue and just shotty workmanship...but honestly this thing is rock solid and very pretty. Also the tuners are very beefy and I've been playing it for probably a total of 10 hours and it's already staying in tune. I bought two sets of D'adarrio strings to change when these get worn. I hear that once you change the strings it will sound even better. ALso the frets are not sharp (i've owned guitars and mandolins where you rub your hand across the neck and it gets stuck on the frets ) but this is NOT the case with this instrument. Now as far as the sound. I think it's pretty loud when you want it to be. I personally think I would eventually like a "deeper" sounding dulcimer or even the dulciborn as I like that sound a bit more...but I'm actually getting used to it and finding ways to play it that emphasize the low d string!
Just thought I would let you know.
Take care
Maria