If the bridge is being held in place by string pressure, rather than being glued down or in a slot, then intonation could be almost completely fixed by simply sliding the bridge about 1/16" to 1/8" closer to the nut. 

If the bridge is fixed in place, then I would agree that it's not worth messing with.

If you are interested in making the simple adjustment to the bridge Id be happy to explain further or give more specific advice based on your VSL and string gauge, but really just scooting it about 1/16th of an inch closer to the nut should mitigate any intonation issues.

I agree with Dusty, though, that it may sound just fine as it is, and there is no harm in putting lighter strings on the instrument to find out.

Either way, its fun to have different dulcimers with different ranges, so whether you leave it or change it, you cant go wrong. :)

updated by @nate: 09/09/25 03:09:44PM

Thank you all. I think the bottom line from your comments is that it will likely make a difference in intonation but I can compensate with changes to the nut and bridge.  I guess I don’t want to start down that road.  I’ll just have to play more baritone.  Thanks for all your help. 

Karen, everything people have said here is accurate.  However, you cannot harm the dulcimer by putting on lighter strings for a standard tuning and trying it out. (In contrast, putting baritone strings on a standard dulcimer might do some damage.)  I would suggest that you try it.  See if the strings sit right in the grooves on the nut and bridge.  Test the intonation, both by ear and by using an electronic tuner.  It might be that the intonation will be slightly off but you will barely notice it.  If the strings wiggle around in the nut and bridge, though, you might get some buzz that will be off-putting.  In short, all you risk by trying it is the cost of three strings.  That's still less than a lavender latte at your favorite cafe.

--
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

Karen, due to the thicker strings used on a baritone, I suggest putting on a new nut and bridge. I don't remember if Dave spent a lot of time adjusting the slots in his nuts and bridges to create better intonation or just went with the VSL. I think people stress too much about attaining perfect intonation. Somewhere I read an article about a luthier building a guitar and making sure that the intonation on each string was perfect. Not being much of a player, he asked some well known guitarists to play it. The consensus was that it was dull and lifeless; not due to construction, but due to the lack of overtones or something like that due to the perfect intonation. I wish I could remember where I read that story.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

 
Hello Karen. Changing to lower gauge strings will affect the intonation. This could potentially require the saddle to be adjusted by more than 1/8" to compensate.
Is the bridge fixed into place, or can it be adjusted?
If not, the instrument will still be playable with lower gauge strings, but it will be slightly out of tune.

I have a folkroots I've turned into a baritone (A E a)...low A and E,wound,high a,some thick unwound string(017?)...it took a couple of months for it to settle in but it still has a few notes on the wound strings that are sharp on the first and second frets..I just work around that a little bit in my choice of melodies and fingering.. I'm pleased with the result but then I have 4 other dulcimers I can play while seeing if it works.It's pretty cool but I'll probably switch it back to Dadd after recording some music that lies well n AEa...I miss the jingle jangle.Others could explain this better than I but there is a correlation between body shape and string tension.

I have a beautiful David Lynch baritone dulcimer that doesn’t get much use.  Can I restring as a standard without affecting intonation? Thanks!