Changing setup from left to right handed

Dusty Turtle
Dusty Turtle
@dusty
4 years ago
1,719 posts

On my MMD the bridge is definitely compensated:

MMD bridge.jpg

I would suggest just contacting David.  He'll know what to do.




--
Dusty T., Northern California
Site Moderator

As a musician, you have to keep one foot back in the past and one foot forward into the future.
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Banjimer
Banjimer
@greg-gunner
4 years ago
141 posts
If my MMD is typical of David McKinney's work, his nut and bridge should be able to be rotated 180 degrees to convert a left-handed set-up to a right-handed set-up. Neither the nut nor the bridge has been modified for intonation purposes. The nut has a flat top with slots for the strings. The bridge rises to a peak where the strings pass through the string slots. Rotating both 180 degrees should not change the VSL.

Of course, my experience in playing a MMD is limited to the single instrument that I purchased used. However, both nut and bridge appear to be original to the instrument. If my instrument is representative of all MMD, there is no reason the nut and bridge should need modification. Simply rotate both nut and bridge so the bass string slot is reversed.
Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
4 years ago
2,113 posts

Yeah... unless you've made nuts/bridges from scratch, this is not a good time to start learningshrugger babycrawl    

MMD can probably just send you a couple Of blanks with appropriate grooves already in place.  Then all you'd have to do is use a piece of 100 grit sandpaper to sand the bottoms off a bit to get the action height adjusted to what you want.

The Nickel & Dime action is a good place to start.  That's dead easy and we can walk you through it when you're ready.  Could even set up a zoom session if you need some virtual hands-on.

Paula Brawdy
Paula Brawdy
@paula-brawdy
4 years ago
53 posts

Thanks Ken, I was thinking that may be the case... and probably not something I can do.   I will contact Modern Mtn and see if they can send them if they are really all precision made and don't vary, then maybe it's possible to get the nut and bridges...  

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
4 years ago
2,113 posts

Basically you just change the nut and bridge to ones designed for right-handed stringing.  Simpler to change them than muck about filing slots...

Paula Brawdy
Paula Brawdy
@paula-brawdy
4 years ago
53 posts

I am considering a used modern mtn Dulcimer that was set up as a left handed Dulcimer.  To change it to right handed  how much to you have to change on nut and bridge?  Is it easy to do?