Fascinating dulcimer! Obviously some care was put into designing it.
I suspect the lower sound holes were originally "f" style sound holes like on violins and cellos. Perhaps the lower parts of the cutout warped out or split off and someone just cut those ears off and neatened up the holes to match. I see that sometimes with sound holes that have curvy cutouts against the grain.
You can see an example of this here:
You may be right, Strumelia, but I see swan profiles in the shape of those holes.
I think the fact it's a little asymmetric adds to the charm.
Fascinating dulcimer! Obviously some care was put into designing it.
I suspect the lower sound holes were originally "f" style sound holes like on violins and cellos. Perhaps the lower parts of the cutout warped out or split off and someone just cut those ears off and neatened up the holes to match. I see that sometimes with sound holes that have curvy cutouts against the grain.
You can see an example of this here:
You could try contacting these guys in Roanoke to see if they could steer you in the right direction in case it was locally bought: https://fretmill.com
Good luck!
Wow, that's gorgeous. And from my home town!
But what a cool instrument!. I'll bet it has an interesting sound.
Dan is right-- there are many dulcimers that were made by novices that were never signed, for whatever reason. This looks to be one of them.
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