Adrian, I can only compare my McCafferty with the other fine dulcimers I own: Blue Lion, Modern Mountain Dulcimers, and Probst, the latter of which I currently have strung as a baritone. 

My 25" McCafferty has a superior balance, very warm tone, and exceptional volume.  It is not as bass dominant as my Modern Mountain Dulcimer, but is better balanced.  Compared to my Probst, the McCafferty does not have as much sustain, but don't get me wrong; the sustain is very good, just not quite as infinite as the Probst. And the sustain might be a function of the shorter VSL. I have a feeling that the sustain of a 28" McCafferty would be just as remarkable as the Probst.

The action is also wonderful. It takes very little pressure from your fingers to fret a string.  I also find it equally beautiful flatpicked or fingerpicked.  Prior to buying the McCafferty, I used my MMD for flatpicking and my Blue Lion for fingerpicking, but the McCafferty excels in both.  However, I found the strings a bit too far apart for fast flatpicking and moved the melody and bass strings in a little bit so that they are about 1" apart.

I don't know much about electronics, but I love the pickup Terry uses. It is a Twin Spot pickup by K & K Sound.  I plug right into my Fishman Loudbox mini with no pre-amp and no equalizer and the sound is just what you'd want: an amplified but warm, acoustic tone. 

I bought my McCafferty before Terry started making radiused fretboards, so I can't speak to that feature.

In general, I cannot imagine a competent player looking for a high-end dulcimer with a big, round, warm sound being dissatisfied with a McCafferty instrument.  There might be a detail or two (such as the distance between strings) that would have to be customized, but Terry knows what he's doing.  His dulcimers are really nice.  Two members of my local dulcimer group contacted him for their own the first time they heard mine.   A few days after I received my dulcimer from Terry I played in a kind of round robin on a stage with three other dulcimer players. We took turns playing tunes.  Afterwards, a professional player in the audience (he was actually the main act who followed us) told me that the tone of my dulcimer really stood out among the others.  He didn't say my playing stood out, but was only talking about the tone of the dulcimer!

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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

As Dusty says, there's no way to answer that question.  Too many variables, not the least of which are YOUR eyes and ears, not Dusty's, not mine …. yours.

Adrian, there is no way to really answer that question.  I have a McCafferty dulcimer and love it.  Obviously, it was worth it to me.  But I don't know how anyone can quantify the variables that add value to a dulcimer. Sound is one issue. So is comfort.  And the visual appeal might be another factor.

My advice would be that if you have to ask if it's worth it, you should probably play for a while before making an investment in your dream dulcimer.  With a McCafferty dulcimer you are paying for some variables that might not be important to you.  Do you want an ebony overlay on the fretboard?  That adds significant cost.  Do you want an internal pickup?  Do you want a radiused fretboard?  Those options probably amount to a third or so of the cost of the instrument. If you don't want those, then you should not buy a dulcimer with them.  If you don't know if you want those options, then wait.

It took me several years of playing to determine my own preferences.  If you are a beginner or have only played a couple of dulcimers, I would suggest not even thinking about spending more than a few hundred dollars for a dulcimer until you have played long enough to know exactly what you want.  (That is, unless you have loads of cash. If you have loads of cash, go ahead and buy a McCafferty.  In fact, buy two, and send me one!  And I'll take a David Beede dulcimer, too, while you're at it.  )

Seriously, though, there is no rush.  Attend some dulcimer festivals and pay attention to the dulcimers that sound good to you. Ask if you can try them.  You will have the opportunity to try some nice dulcimers and you'll have a better sense of how they differ, what your personal preferences are, and what dulcimers might be best for you.

And don't forget to check the For Sale forum here.  McCafferty has sold a lot of dulcimers over the past couple of years. I bet we start seeing a few used.

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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