Scale length
General mountain dulcimer or music discussions
Nate: Of course youd never be able to perfectly account for the difference in the actual fingerboards. I guess one possibility would be to have both fingerboards be 31" long, and the "shorter" scale just doesn't reach the end of its fingerboard.
When I bought my Terry McCafferty dulcimer, he was offering 3 VSLs from which to choose: 25", 25.8", and 27", though I could be wrong on that last one. The boxes are all identical, with the difference just being the length of the fingerboard and the placement of the saddle. So his instruments would be good ones to choose from to gauge the difference VSL makes.
I am convinced that there is little-to-no difference in tone, although the differences in VSL in these cases are minimal.
However, I believe the 25.8" has a bit more sustain than the 25", and the difference is less than an inch! (I opted for the 25" model anyway, just for the comfort of my chording hand.)
(If you visit Terry's website, click the "Cool Stuff" page. You might see someone you know playing a tune or two!)