Wow, beautifully made!  It’s worth doing what Ken has suggested and if intonation is good (which I am sure it is having been built by a good luthier), this should be a great investment.

It is a beautiful mountain dulcimer!   With a bit of work from a luthier, it could be nicely set up to play.  

That's a very nice looking dulcimer and appears to be well constructed which I would expect from a violin maker. A concern I have 's the cracked sound hole on the treble side, lower bout. It looks like it needs to be repaired. Wittner tuners can be put on this instrument. If the holes are too large, they can be plugged and re-drilled. If too small, they can be made larger. The dulcimer does not have a 6 1/2 fret which is popular with finger pickers, but one can be added. I think it would be a good instrument for any player with a little attention to things I mentioned. It might need an adjustment to the action and I have no idea if it is fretted for equal or just temperament. Something I would do if it were my instrument would be to get rid of the current string anchor and replace it with four screws or brass plated nails, one for each string. That will make replacing strings easier.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hello,

I am considering purchase of my first mountain dulcimer (well second if you could the one I bought at a barn sale for decoration, cracked top...) 

I am new to the instrument. I currently play cape Breton style fiddle, and my primary violin was made by Canadian luthier Otis Thomas. 

I love his work, and the dulcimer I am considering was made by him as well. He thinks heade it about 50 years ago but doesn't recall who commissioned it.

Asking price is 300 plus shipping which seems reasonable I think. I'm not too concerned about the price.

I do want to make sure it's the right set up for a beginner. I'm interested in finger picking but more generally at working towards proficiency. My wife is also interested in learning but doesn't have much experience with stringed instruments.

I don't know much about dulcimers and the various set ups. Will this one work?

I'm not too worried about compression pegs though I do wonder if they can be changed to whitener internal time tuner pegs.

Thoughts and insights appreciated!

Warmly,

Michael