the heavier the string the better and louder the tone. Tom's string gauge calculator is a great resource. But I usually add 2 to whatever it tells me. Currently my string gauges are 12-16-28. That's on my two Papaw Dulcimers which have 26.5" VSLs.

Ken H., thanks for string guage calculator idea. According to that, CGG on my 27"VSL would need a 22 on the bass and 15's on the rest, rather than the 14's I have on now. Even with the wrestling match involved, it's worth a try.

I use an unwound bass on a couple of mine: a Keith Young hourglass and a John D Tignor large hourglass. Keith Young and the Schillings (Jean & Lee) sold and McSpadden at least sell "squeakless" strings with an unwound phosphor bronze bass string. True, you lose a little sustain, but it is an interesting sound.

I am about to switch to .011 on my melody string, .013 on my middle, and .024 from .012- .014- .024. My VSL is 27, but I will stay with DAd (probably spelled that wrong) as I am playing with so many other players who are in that tuning. These string gauges were recommended to me by a respected instructor at a recent workshop I attended. He played my dulcimer, appeared thoughtful, then told me to try those gauges. He's either a genius, or well, not. We'll see!   

I play N/D and flat picking. I like both styles. I don't do fingerpicking very often, but I have done it.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Hi Ken L., thanks, are you playing N/D?

On my Folkcraft I have 0.011s on my melody strings. I have no problem playing in Cgg with this configuration. The Folkcraft has a 27 inch VSL.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Oh sorry, all,I see I put a typo in my post. I meant CGG, not CGC. Not enough coffee...

Hi Ken.Thanks, but I want to go from DAA to CGG, ( or is that Daa/ Cgg?)  just one step down. The melody strings I have on there are 14's, but I find them just a bit loose/slack/flat. Tune to DAA and this dulcimer is heaven, but I need one I can sing with more easily in my alto range.

Annie -- you can use the Strothers String Calculator, here http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm  to find out which strings are appropriate for a given tuning and VSL.  For CGc (not CGC which would have two bass strings) and a 27" VSL, you'll want:

C = 22 wound

G = 15 plain

c =  11 plain

C is the C below middle C;  c is middle c itself.

Hi Robin, what string length is needed for playing CGC, please? Switching to heavier strings on my 27"inch dulcimer has not worked out, and I want that lower tuning for singing...thanks.

Regarding an unwound bass string - Noter drone players may use an unwound bass string of 18-20 gauge plain steel (guitar, banjo or piano wire).  This string is never fretted but used as a drone.  And used this way a plain bass string produces the high silvery timbre many noter drone players want from certain instruments in their collections.  I use plain gauge bass strings on some of my noter drone specific instruments (usually made from piano wire).  If you do intend to fret a thick plain gauge string at a relatively low tension then the intonation will be poor to awful   Thick plain gauge strings also have reduced sustain compared to their wound counterparts - so if you intend to fret the string up the fretboard you'll tend to just get an out of tune 'thud'.

Regarding back fretting noise:  A slightly higher action at the nut or using a dampening finger kills this.

Regarding an octave lower bass - You can do this but will need quite a thick string (around 0.054) and higher action, plus wide nut and bridge slots.  However, the dulcimer body itself is not capable of producing the fundamental low frequency D2 (or D3 for that matter!!!!)  So the string will sound 'boxy' rather than rich.

Basically, the mountain dulcimer, at the body size, shape, VSL and pitch we use today was never designed for playing chords in DAd or CGc.  Our modern instruments are based on the size and shape of older instruments that were played in noter drone style with a different set-up, tunings and strings (for which the box size and shape sonically work well).  So contemporary chord melody playing is always going to be a compromise.  As you say, it is not expensive to play around with string gauges and set-ups so it is well worth you experimenting to find out the set-up that will suit your style of playing the best.

Thanks, Kevin. Saved me a trip to the cellar.

Ken
"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

The strings that I use on the Prichard dulcimer and others are , .013 melody and middle and .020 on the bass . These srtings are hand made plain steel piano wire. That's what I sent to Ken also.

Thanks for the clarification. On the CN Prichard reproduction dulcimers that Kevin Messenger and I build, the bass string is an unwound string. I need to check what gauge that is. Like KenH said on the tuning: "Sure. Why not."

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

I play unwound bass strings.  I find they help me get the 'high silvery' old time sound I prefer, rather than the more mellow modern sound.  Most of my dulcimers have a 27" VSL and I find that a .018 plain steel string works pretty good for the range of tunings that I use.   I you like that mellow 'guitar-like' sound then use a wound bass string, IMHO.

D2-D3-A3-A4 equidistant  -- Sure.  Why not.  I've not seen/heard anyone do it, but don't let that stop you if you're looking for baritone/bass sound.  You'll probably want a new nut and bridge set up for 4 strings rather than filing a bunch of notches on the ones you'll have. 

re - vibration on the back side of the fret.  I'd say that you're not fretting quite hard enough.  It could be the low tuning with the strings you have, but it sounds more like not fretting firmly enough.  The sort of 'standard' action height is what we call "nickel & dime".  That is strings just touching a dime placed next to the first fret, and also just touching a nickel set on top of the 7th fret.  You can lower the action more if it suits you, by sanding tiny amounts off of the bottom of the net and bridge.

The string gauge calculator many of us use is at http://www.strothers.com/string_choice.htm   It is noticeably light , however, and you can generally go 1-2 gauges heavier.

The strings gauges used on the Sweet Woods instruments are for playing in DAdd. There is no reason they can't be used for C - G - C, but will be at lower tension when tuned to pitch. The "ideal" string for the "C" bass would be a 0.023. Wound strings have an inner core that is a smaller gauge. If you tried to tune up a 0.023 to the C bellow middle C you might break it. In the usual DAd tuning the Ds are an octave apart. The high d being a note above middle C and the low D below middle C. Do you want to go an octave below that?

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."