When I bought my Terry McCafferty dulcimer, he was offering 3 VSLs from which to choose: 25", 25.8", and 27", though I could be wrong on that last one.  The boxes are all identical, with the difference just being the length of the fingerboard and the placement of the saddle.  So his instruments would be good ones to choose from to gauge the difference VSL makes.

I am convinced that there is little-to-no difference in tone, although the differences in VSL in these cases are minimal.  

However, I believe the 25.8" has a bit more sustain than the 25", and the difference is less than an inch! (I opted for the 25" model anyway, just for the comfort of my chording hand.)

(If you visit Terry's website, click the "Cool Stuff" page. You might see someone you know playing a tune or two!)

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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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Hypothetically, one could make two identical boxes with different VSLs and choose two string gauges which would produce an equal amount of tension at the two lengths. for example, if both were tuned to D4, you could have a 22" VSL with a 0.010 string and a 31" VSL with a 0.007 and both would have about ~10.5 lb of tension.

Of course youd never be able to perfectly account for the difference in the actual fingerboards. I guess one possibility would be to have both fingerboards be 31" long, and the "shorter" scale just doesn't reach the end of its fingerboard.

It really is too many questions rolled up into one.

updated by @nate: 03/11/25 01:50:24PM

 

And also, having the correct amount of tension to complement the thickness of the box. Thicker wood can need more string energy to get excited, so an instrument intended for high tension can sound more hollow with low tension. Kind of like when you put nylon strings on a steel string instrument.

Does a longer instrument simply have more tension because the players choose to use higher tension strings?
When I string up longer dulcimers, I use smaller gauge strings or lower pitch tunings to compensate. Similarly, when I string up shorter dulcimer, I use thicker strings or higher tunings to compensate. I prefer the tactile experience of having thinner strings, and I also notice a difference in sustain with longer strings, even when they are not at a higher tension. 

Perhaps over simplification, but if the only variable is the strings, Longer and thicker gauges [and therefore higher tensions] will vibrate longer on any given length for the same tuning. As an example a .024 tuned to D3 on a 22 inch VSL [about 12.5 pounds of tension] will not vibrate as long as the same string used on a 36 inch VSL with the same tuning [39.2 pounds].

In the proverbial nutshell, longer dulcimer strings [VSL] usually mean a longer "sustain" of each note played. You can coax a bit more out of a shorter scale by going thicker on the strings , but only to a point. Finger comfort and tension on the instrument can get excessive.

Yeah, to actually measure the difference, we would need to hold all the other variables constant.  We would need the same builder to make identical instruments with the exception of the VSL.  Same box, same bracing, same wood types, same wood thickness, same amount of glue, etc.  And even then we would have to decide what string gauges to use.  Would you choose the gauges most appropriate for the longer VSL or the shorter?  Would you cut the difference in half to measure? Either way, you are not really hearing the way at least one of the dulcimers would normally sound.

I guess what I'm saying is that we could never measure this accurately.  But the good news is we'll be able to discuss it forever! 

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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.
-- Dizzy Gillespie

Adding to what Dusty said, tone can also be greatly effected by the wood thickness... not simply by the size of the sound box and its scale length.

@Dan ...what note and what string gauge do you use for a 36" scale? Surely not the usual high d note... you must be tuning to lower keys/notes?

Perhaps simply comparing the sound/tone of a shorter 23 5/16" scale McSpadden Ginger to a regular 29" scale McSpadden would answer TonyG's question. However, the Ginger is described as being tuned to the key of G, several steps higher than the standard DAA or DAd.
So, Tony asks if a different scale will effect the tone or sound... I guess part of the answer would also depend on whether you specify tuning both scales to the same notes or keys.

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Sustain.  I think longer VSLs have more sustain than shorter ones.

Remember that modern instruments often have much larger boxes than do traditional instruments, so some of the generalizations here may not accurately describe the difference between a traditional instrument with a long VSL and a modern instrument with a shorter one.

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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.
-- Dizzy Gillespie

Dulcimore Dan is an I.D. Stamper fan!   I.D. used those long, jangly, low-pitched strings on his dulcimers.

If you tune a 26 inch and 29 inch Dulcimore the same, the longer scale will have more tension and usually have a little better "punch" to it. I also prefer the longer scales, 36 inch is my favorite!

One thing to note is that a longer scale length/VSL usually means a physically larger instrument, which can affect tone and volume.

This is just an observation and I might be wrong about this, but to me, when tuned to the same note with the same tension, thinner longer strings seem to have a fuller tone than thicker, shorter strings.

I know the trend has been toward shorter scale lengths, which I suppose makes sense for chord melody style, but being a drone player, I prefer a longer scale length which for some reason sounds better to my ear.  But I was wondering what the reason is, and basically,  how does scale length affect the sound of a dulcimer?