Need Help Identifying a Dulcimer

kcripper
@kcripper
4 years ago
2 posts

Thank you, everyone!  I appreciate your help.

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
4 years ago
2,126 posts

Yep mahogany; perhaps ply which was common, or a mix of ply and plank.  J. Titus, builder.  Sort of "in the style" of Hughes Co. dulcimers out of Denver back in those days.  

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
4 years ago
1,090 posts

The wood appears to be a type of mahogany used by many builders of inexpensive dulcimers in the late 1960s and 1970s. I can't tell if the top and back are plywood, but I suspect that the sides are. If the peg head and fret board are a single piece of wood the that is mahogany. The side view of with pegs definitely shows a piece of mahogany.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

John Gribble
John Gribble
@john-gribble
4 years ago
124 posts

I'm going to guess that the label reads. "J. Titus" and that 1970 is the year it was made. It is typical of a lot of amateur, kit, and crafts fair artisan instruments of the day. It isn't a fancy instrument, but looks to be nicely made and in pretty good condition. That is, except for the nut where the strings rest near the tuners. It has come unglued and slipped to one side. An easy fix. Without seeing the edge, it is hard to tell if it was made of plywood or not. 

It doesn't have any great value, except sentimental. Assuming there aren't any cracks or loose braces, it could easily be made playable. 

kcripper
@kcripper
4 years ago
2 posts

I inherited this piece from my mother-in-law when she passed away.  She's had it for decades and I'm going to sell it but I don't know anything about it (style, finding the brand, etc.). She lived in the Denver area for the last 30 years and likely got it in that area or in her regional travels.  Any help would be appreciated.

There is a maker mark inside that I can't decipher. (see photo). It looks like a Pi symbol with "itus" after it.  Or it could be S.Titus where the S and T are running together, or possibly a JTitus.  I can't tell and I've done searches for all of them with no results.

It also has the date 1970 underneath it (or possibly this is a model number??)

Approximately 33" long x 8" wide x 2 3/4" overall.

The fretboard is 1 3/16" wide by about 1/2" thick.

I don't know if this is walnut, spruce, cherry or what type of wood.

Again, any help is appreciated.