@D-Chitwood and @Brian-G, in addition to a radiused fretboard, Aaron O'Rourke's dulcimers also have what he calls a "reversed flare." The strings are 1" apart at the nut but .8" apart at the bridge. That might compensate for what Brian refers to as the difficulty fretting on a radiused fretboard up high.
Dusty,
I need another dulcimer/instrument, like I need a hole in my head. That said (haha), I've told myself, if I were to get one, it would be a McCafferty. I'm happy to see your response, that that would be your choice. Can you post a pic of yours? He makes beautiful dulcimers!
Susie, if someone asks how many dulcimers you need, the right answer is "one more."
I don't want to go too far astray from the original goal of this thread, but it seems reasonable to ask what someone likes about the one dulcimer they identified in response to this forum question.
I bought my McCafferty before he was making radiused fretboards, so I can't speak about that attribute. Terry's dulcimers all have a loud, round, well-balanced tone. The tone resembles a guitar more than the high silvery sound of a traditional dulcimer. The action is excellent and the intonation is superb. One feature of McCafferty dulcimers that I love is the extended strum hollow. Most of us end up strumming over the upper end of the fretboard, and that extended strum hollow allows us to pick and strum there without clacking against the fretboard. Terry uses K & K Sound twin spot pickups inside, and although I don't have too much experience with this stuff, I find them to be phenomenal pickups that provide plenty of amplification without distorting the acoustic tone of the instrument.
Mine is the shortest of the three options Terry offers. The body of all his instruments are the same size, but he makes three different VSLs: 28", 26.5", and 25". I think it is inevitable that you lose a little sustain with a shorter VSL, and were I to buy the instrument now, I might get a 26.5" model. On the other hand, I've already gotten use the shorter VSL and have arranged a few tunes that require stretches I wouldn't be able to make on longer fretboards.
I did have to make one adjustment to the instrument before I felt comfortable flatpicking. The strings are pretty far apart. that works well for fingerpicking and for playing slow tunes, but I found it difficult to flatpick with any speed. I use a single melody string, and the first thing I did was to move that single string to the inside groove on the nut. I then made an extra groove for the bass string that was the same distance away from the middle string. My bass and melody strings are now about 1" apart. I have thought of making a new nut and bridge with grooves that are even closer than that, but for the moment I am doing OK with that distance.
If you go to my video page , you'll see that five of my last six videos were made with my McCafferty dulcimer. And here's a picture of the top. The back and sides are figured cherry and the top is redwood. The inlay is a wolf in front of a full moon with little stars for position dots.
Hi Dana,
Thanks for the quick response! Yes, a 10" radius fretboard is still pretty flat, so what you've written doesn't surprise me.
As for the reason for coming up with the idea - there are certainly good reasons for radius fretboards, but like pretty much everything else you can choose to do on an instrument, there are trade-offs also. I mentioned bending earlier, but moving across strings, especially higher up the fretboard, is another example of something that's generally considered easier with flat fretboards.
But it sounds like in this case, at least, any trade-offs were minimal and well worth it. :) And I certainly can't argue with how that instrument sounds. Love it!
Hi Brian,
It is 10" fingerboard Radius according to the dulcimer specifics and a 25.5 VSL. I don't know about compound radius.
So here's the thing. I can't feel any type of curve, nor does it look different. All I do know is that the action is low and smoothe and after an intensively insane class with Aaron O'Rourke on flying finger licks, Cindy ran a flying finger test on the fretboard and her eyes flew open wide and she said, "OMGOSH did you see that!? That was so easy on this fretboard!!"
It has the most comfortable feel to it of any dulcimer I've played and I do use all five fingers in chording and barring and whatnot.
I did find out Terry McCafferty also does a radius fretboard.
Again, I can't see it or feel it. I'm sure there was a reason Tony and Aaron came up with the idea. All I know is my fingers don't hurt at all and I don't find myself wishing the action was lower.
I've only had the Mcspadden, Folk Root, Gibson, Gallier, Sweet woods, Modern Mountain & Blue Lion to compare to. So many have hurt my fingers. This just feels ...gentle and easy. I will say one thing...the sustain on the harmonic is insane. I think I heard it still going after I went to bed. 
I have several wonderful dulcimers, and they serve different purposes. A tune that shines on one does not necessarily work so well on another. However, at any given time I usually consider one of them my "numero uno." Right now that would be my cherry/redwood McCafferty with a 25" VSL. It works equally well for fingerpicking and flatpicking. But ask me in a few months and my answer will be different.
Playing only one dulcimer is like drinking only one kind of wine.
Dusty,
I need another dulcimer/instrument, like I need a hole in my head. That said (haha), I've told myself, if I were to get one, it would be a McCafferty. I'm happy to see your response, that that would be your choice. Can you post a pic of yours? He makes beautiful dulcimers!
Hi Dana,
I have a couple questions for you, but rather than ask them privately I figured I'd do it here in case anyone else was wondering also.
1) Do you know the radius of your new dulcimer's fretboard in inches? (and if it's a compound radius fretboard, do you know the radii for each end?)
2) Do you like it (not the dulcimer itself, which sounds fantastic, but the fretboard specifically)? I'm familiar with the general advantages of curved fretboards (eg, more easy to barre and chord) as well as their disadvantages (eg, can't usually get action as low as with flat boards, more prone to buzzes, especially when bending notes or hammering) and I can understand the desire for curved fretboards on, say, a guitar, because of how they are played. But given the way a dulcimer is played, it doesn't seem to me that it would make much difference for playability. My guitar playing is mostly limited to classical guitar (those have flat fretboards) so my experience with curved fretboards is limited.
Thanks for any insight.
Brian
As Dusty mentions, there are a number of makers of "Spider-like" capos other than Spider-brand.
Dana, I was just going to respond to your personal message, but I saw this forum, so I'll respond here instead.
More and more luthiers (including Folkcraft as an option) are making radiused fretboards, but the truth is that unless you barre with a single finger like Aaron O'Rourke or Stephen Seifert, it doesn't really offer an advantage. Then again, if more of us had radiused fretboards, perhaps more of us would barre with a single finger!
I bought a dulcimer from Terry McCafferty, but it was before he started offering the radiused fretboard as an option.
If the Ewing capo works, then you have your solution. The Spider Capo should work once you get the hang of it. Ideally you would want a capo with the exact same radius as the fretboard.
David Beede provides a radiused capo with his models that have radiused fretboards, so you might contact him and find out if he can sell one separately, but unless the radius is exactly the same as the Bella, I am not sure it would work. According to the website, Bella dulcimers have a 12" fretboard radius. Terry McCafferty used to sell capos that matched his dulcimers in design, but I don't know if he's started making radius capos. You might send an email to both of those luthiers and see if they can help you.
This is all pretty new. If more luthiers begin making radiused fretboards and that exact radius becomes standardized, then I'm sure someone will start making radiused capos to match.
It's walnut with butternut soundboard. The fingerboard overlay is wenge and the VSL is 25.5. My friend got one of the fancier ones (I think he sold out every single one he brought) and honestly, it was the most beautiful dulcimer I've ever seen. The sound...unlike anything I've ever heard. It made me cry when I played it. It made. me. cry. I looked up at my friend, and her eyes were filled with tears. Yall. The dulcimer made us both cry.
It will be my keeper for the rest of my life. The tones are stunning. He sells $20K guitars so the man knows high quality stringed instruments. He did something heavenly with his design, gracious alive.
Several instructors were lucky enough to order or buy one.
It was a once in a lifetime find.
But that spider capo, it can go suck an egg as far as I'm concerned, LOL. I'll find which capo works best and go with that. So far Ron Ewings is doing pretty good.
A Spider type capo would have been my suggestion.
Wow! I would sure like to see a photo of that Bella.....I just checked Tony's website and those are some amazing instruments.
Hello all!
This past weekend I got to go to Unicoi festival and it was fantastic! I bought a new dulcimer from Bella Dulcimers and it's the best sounding thing I have ever heard, Lordy mercy! The action is low and so comfortable and the sound...ohmyheavens, it's like angels singing! I have never heard anything like this before and I've owned a gallier starsong which to me, was a gorgeous sounding instrument!
This Bella Dulciner has a radius fretboard, like Terry McCafferty's dulcimer. Tony Vine the luthier (you may be familiar with his guitars?) suggested I use a spider capo and gave me one. I'm struggling on the best way to use it. If anyone else has a radius fretboard, what do you use?
I did put on one of Ron Ewing's capos and it seems to work fine actually. Just wanted to know what yall use if you have one! Thank you!
A TAB-ee, eh? 
David, your Sally reminds me a bit of our Ellie... who lived a long very happy and healthy life... and passed away peacefully at age 20, nine years ago.
Here's a picture of Ellie when she had just turned 20. In this photo she was clearly elderly... but when she was young she looked a lot like Sally! 
Lois, you joined here in Sept 2012.
That's funny what you said about "so fotmd". Well I guess when you have thousands of members there could never be one way of doing... anything!
This is SO FOTMD! I'm not quite sure when I started here (I found something dating back about 6 years ago), but at the time I was taking instruction from a very fine folk instrumentalist. He was fine for other instruments and he gave me a good start on the dulcimer, but I finally found it was time to leave. He was so dogmatic (hmm, dog as opposed to a bunch of cats), while I found FOTMD members inclined to say there are so many ways and each has validity. Guess this is also why I'd find it hard to limit myself to any one of these names.
Sometimes there are sensible answers, Jane. As @Ken-Hulme says, "railroad men were our industrial age heroes." Part of the national myth of America is a modern society slowly moving westward over a whole continent. A simple image in a western film might be a railroad moving through the wilderness, and we all understand the symbolism.
But it's also the case that the period of history when the railroads were built (1860s-WWI) corresponds exactly to what is known as the "golden age of folklore" when professional folklorists went around collecting popular music and stories, often precisely because they had a sense that as the railroads and other agents of modernization were transforming society, an effort was needed to capture that "folk wisdom" before it was gone forever. Very simply, a lot of folklore collections were made during the period when a lot of people got jobs on the railroad. 
Working on the railroad, dollar and a dime a day/Give my woman the dollar, and throw the dime away
American music of a later period would have more songs about cars than about railroads. Riding around in my automobile/My baby beside me at the wheel
Welcome to the dulcimer community, Jane. Online, we can communicate faster than they could during the age of ships, the age of railroads, and the age of automobiles.
I have several wonderful dulcimers, and they serve different purposes. A tune that shines on one does not necessarily work so well on another. However, at any given time I usually consider one of them my "numero uno." Right now that would be my cherry/redwood McCafferty with a 25" VSL. It works equally well for fingerpicking and flatpicking. But ask me in a few months and my answer will be different.
Playing only one dulcimer is like drinking only one kind of wine.
There's no way I can choose one. I have to choose two. My Doug Berch is my go to dulcimer for plugging in, and my Folkcraft Custom with a galax back is my go to dulcimer for when I'm unplugged (generally speaking). It's like having to choose your favorite child. 
I always refer to mine a 'collection' of dulcimers.
By the way, that's a nice display. I like the shelf with Shaker Pegs as a hanger (got me thinking now !)
Come on Y'all............ everyone knows that it's only proper to call 'em a "Mess of Dulcimers" or if you're talk'n and trying to be a bit highfalutin it would be a bit more polished to speak of 'em as a "Pile of" or "heap of" Dulcimores.
A troupe, a heap, a batch, a fleet, or maybe just y'all if I am speaking to them rather than about them. 
Hmmmm. I was going to suggest we vote, but this is going to be hard to choose. A choir? I also find myself liking Exaltation, Embarrassment, and Medley. Of course to an accountant or tax official it's Inventory or Supplies.
If my requests for commissioned, and donated to charities, dulcimers drops off, my other half will call them an 'excess'. 
A 'medley', [pun intended]. Have a 'medley' party, hand out MD's and play a bunch of tunes one after another, without a break in the music. That's a medley of people with a medley of md's playing a medley of tunes!
Mine are birds of a feather which flock together. :)
Thinking a little more about this, I have been known call them a "herd." A friend of mine, an autoharp player, would walk out on stage with about ten or so harps to give a concert. I believe he called them an "embarrassment" of autoharps. We could probably appropriate that for dulcimers as well.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Hmmm, that's a real hard one. I have two wonderful mountain dulcimers and two wonderful little epinettes (which i kinda think of as small scale dulcimers)
I've often thought of getting another dulcimer, and have been sorely tempted a few times but somehow I resisted. So... because i don't actually know what it'd be like to have other dulcimers, I'm going to choose one of those four I already have and am familiar with playing.
Of the four instruments above, if I could only keep ONE (oh what a terrible choice!)... I'd probably choose my sweet mahogany epinette that @john-henry Crocker made and sent to me as an amazing surprise gift the Christmas of 2011. It's got a beautiful voice and it's so precious to my heart... two of the best reasons to choose it! 
A 'gaggle' of dulcimers (as in a gaggle of geese, with a nod to Aunt Rhody's old grey goose) ?
A 'murder' of dulcimers (as in "a murder of crows"/The Blackest Crow/murder ballads) ?
An 'exaltation' of dulcimers (as in an exaltation of larks/joyful singing) ?
Probably not what you're looking for but I just say "collection"... though agglomeration and arsenal come to mind as well.
Well, Dan, I've never really thought about this. I usually just say I have "a lot" of dulcimers or sometimes a "bunch." All I know is that I keep enlarging the "herd" despite trying to thin it from time-to-time.
Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."
Yesterday alone I played three different dulcimers and two different guitars. 
