thanks Marg for the encouragement to "go where no man has gone before" with the  heat gun and a light tap or 6!  the support and friendship here is wonderful  the best > abritabroad

Learning the dulcimer is an adventure & exciting. Part of the adventure is learning about the dulcimer; how to change strings, take the bridge out & sand it down a bit to lower the action, file a buzzing fret or put a temp 6+ in with a pin or paperclip & tape. Lots of help on this site to take you through the steps weather it's a strumming problem or heating up & tapping a bridge. Good luck, a little adjusting maybe is all that's needed but no matter what - great infomation

Oh thankyou. Still learning here. I think it is the "DLO" that I have. I was assuming that a fixed bridge equaled dodgy intonation. I will check out your dulcimers too; of course I did not know that you were a builder as well. Why would you build an instrument that had a tuning system that did not work?! After I have taken my DLO to pieces and messed with it I will be in a better position to buy a better one! thanks again for the reply...

Yes Robert, I totally get it. In fact the appeal of this instrument to me is the variety and interest it arouses. I was born in London way back!! but have an avid interest in music going all the way back to the Egyptians!!  the great thing about music is that it truly is an international language regardless of skill level.  I had a friend who was a brilliant pianist who coined this phrase which I never forgot.  "Hey mate, wouldn't it be great if we played the triangle; then we could put everything in ONE NOTE"  food for thought.  thanks again for the thoughts. 

MOST dulcimers, I would say, have a moveable bridge -- at least somewhat moveable and somewhat loose enough to move (although many builder put a drop of glue to hold thing during the initial string up).  Remember, too, that this is a folk instrument in transition, not a concert instrument with 500 years of development.  Also understand that there are a couple of "offshore" makers of dulcimers who haven't any real understanding of fret-spacing, intonation, etc.  and who seem to be building from unscaled photographs.  Like Robert, below, I think you unfortunately ran into a DSO.  

When that "Apple" company started, a number of years ago, they were horrendous  - 7 out of 10 instruments were mostly unplayable.  The instruments were dirt cheap, looked decent (unless you had a good eye) and sold like hotcakes.  They've gotten somewhat better (or at least a couple of employees have) over the years, but obviously not 100%.

Hi Robert.. lol I agree. I spend as much on a set of violin Strings as I paid for that dulcimer BUT the learning experience is awesome. My expectations for that instrument have already been met so now I am going to heat up the bridge with a heat gun and try and get the bridge out.  the intonation is passable fret wise but I HAVE to move the bridge. I had no preconceived expectations for that instrument but I knew I was in trouble when I noticed that the strings had been screwed into the block!!  I am learning and experimenting and will not lose any sleep if I loosing all the glue joints and I end up with some nice kindling! I still do not understand why more dulcimers do not have a movable bridge...  btw  thanks to everyone for chatting..made my day..  Richard aka abritabroad

Yes those Viols and their frets! I love all stringed instruments and try and play my violin and / or viola an hour a day after work. At my vintage of 68 I have become familiar with the alto clef, which was a challenge. What I am loving about the Dulcimer is, well, two things really. One..it is an instrument that you can tinker with without doing any lasting damage it seems LOL plus, it forces you to get to grips with modes.... and btw..I have a wooden alto Recorder but I could NEVER get it to not block up with the er....spit or mouth moisture. Not a cheap one and sadly not played too much. thanks for chatting!!

YES, I love music of all ages, just about, but not HARD ROCK...I took a class at U of H playing all the sizes of recorders, but loved the sounds of viole de gamba and other early instruments. These have moveable frets. and wow, that's some tuner.  aloha, irene

Thanks Ken!  Just the info I needed. What a great forum.....!

Generally we use a small triangular file to cut string notches -- much better than a saw; notches only need to be string diameter deep.  Try using a heat gun or hair dryer on the bridge/fretboard junction for a few minutes to soften glue, then use a small hammer and a punch (small length of wood or dowel) and a sharp tap to loosen the bridge.  If all else fails, you can (carefully) sand the bridge flat and make a floating bridge from a small split of chopstick or very hard wood with string notches.  Set it on top of the flattened bridge and angle the bass string end a few millimeters towards the tail as you begin tightening strings.

Awesome Irene...I would love to see an example of the bridges that you make. I am at a loss as to why any manufacturer would make a fixed bridge anyway. In writing that however, most acoustic guitars have a fixed bridge but they have a compensated bridge...  As an aside, I just purchased a Pono Octave Mandolin that has a fixed bridge but that is perfectly in tune. speaking on tune' ness that is a whole new thread. as a lover of early muisc and playing the violin and viola those instruments are tuned in perfect 5ths but do not have frets so you compensate with ones ear but with my Mandolins I use a "sweetended " tuning with is a kind of best of all worlds tempered tuning. I attached a picture of my tuner..MUCH more versatile than a tuner that tunes every thing to A440.  sorry to ramble but I noticed that you had an interest in other instruments as well as the dulcimer and early music as well! cheers!

Peterson tuner.jpg  •  14KB

I have found that some dulcimers just have to have a FLOATING BRIDGE.   Either take off the strings or loose them up and then get that bridge out or sand it flat.  Then make another bridge and move it and you'll be able to get all the strings in tune by that method.  your strings might be high too....so check that problem.  I make all my dulcimers with a floating bridge.  When I repair dulcimers and loan 'em out to others, I get rid of glued in or fixed bridges and ahhhhhhhhhhh, IN TUNE.   aloha, irene

Hello all, I am very new to the dulcimer but a lifelong musician. I just bought an Apple Valley dulcimer and the bass d string is very sharp at the octave. The dulcimer is virtually unplayable at this point. I have seen posts of people lengthening the string by cutting into the bridge so that the string sits on the back of the bridge, closer to the tailpiece. Among my questions are: Exactly what tool / size saw / file do you chaps use to cut the notches in the bridge? I was also considering changing the bridge but it appears to be glued in or it is a very tight fit?? Any advice here?...Ideally a floating bridge would be great so that I can make the compensations there. I play the violin, mandolin and earlier in life I played Pedal Steel as well so I could usually fix the intonation problem by moving the bridge a little. I searched for a compensated bridge but I think I will need to work with the bridge I have; however it does seem immovable at present. If I mess up I want to be able to replace it. so sorry for my long post....very happy to be a member of this community :)