Back in the mid-1970s while visiting International Violin Company in Baltimore, the owner talked me in to trying some "marine" grade plywood he had on hand for a dulcimer. It was mahogany on the outer layers. It worked well for a teardrop dulcimer. I did not to try doing an hourglass bend with it. I did not weigh it, but I thought it was a little heavier than my solid rosewood dulcimers of the same pattern. I also made a courting dulcimer using the plywood for the back and sides. It seemed to work well.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Baltic birch plywood is of very high quality, and I've used it a couple of times with great results.  It's relatively expensive.  I got mine at my local Woodcraft store.

You cannot tell the type of wood by the mass of the instrument.  Only a visual examination of the edges of both the side strips and the top & bottom boards can give you a definitive answer.  

(If you can see the edge, )

Edge as inside the sound hole or on the side where top meets sides

Solid wood and plywood can weigh about the same.  If you can see the edge, you can see the plys in plywood.

Plywood in a dulcimer is not always a bad thing, except in cases of the use of inferior pieces of cheap plywood.

One would need to see the wood to determine; weight along won't do it. 2 lbs is not an unusual weight. 

 

Can you tell if a dulcimer is wood or ply by it's weight?

If a dulcimer is 36" x 8" x 3 or 4" & weights about 2 lbs, can we tell by that if it's wood or only partly?

updated by @marg: 07/10/18 01:36:37AM