Thanks Ken... I fixed Rob's link.  :)

The link Rob posted didn't work for me. It is missing the "l" at the end. This one works: https://www.orpingtonfolkclub.org.uk/Interviews_&_Articles/Interviews/001.html

Good article and interview.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

https://www.orpingtonfolkclub.org.uk/Interviews_&_Articles/Interviews/001.html

Here’s an interesting article about the most famous player of Frank Bond dulcimers. If you haven’t listened to him, you should!

There is also the possibility that the builder cut the fret slots too wide and those frets eventually worked their way out. As one hammers in frets the slots in toward the center of the fret board tend to compress a little bit which may be why the ends came out while the middle frets stayed in.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

On a serious note though, I am quite curious about what would compel someone to remove frets from the fingerboard...it strikes me that the frets are removed from the outer ends of the instrument. Is the dulcimer 'bowed' downward such that the bridge and nut are lower than the center of the fretboard? Maybe the frets were removed to prevent buzzing? If so, the repair might be a touch more complicated. Is the fretboard level for it's full length?

Haha I found the misunderstanding about 'missing frets' amusing. Surely you guys must be aware that a  truly traditional dulcimer only has 3 frets to an octave. This was increased to 7 during an early surge in popularity known as the "vival" hundreds of years before the 1.5 and 6.5 were later also added during a period called the "re-vival."

John and Ken gave you the advice I was going to offer. You don't say where you are located in British Columbia but if you are near a shop that works on fretted instruments (guitar, banjo, mandolin, dulcimer, etc.) you should be able to have the proper frets installed. Good luck.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Lovely dulcimer.  As John says, measure the width of the fretwire where the "mushroom cap" touches the wood, in millimeters or 1/100ths of an inch.  A caliper will do the job.  Thenyou can (hopefully) acquire some appropriate fretwire and either insert the frets yourself, or have someone do it for you.  Look for fretwire on sites like Stewart Macdonald (stewmac.com) or other places that sell luthier supplies.  To replace those 5 frets you'll need less that 2 ft of wire (but may have to buy 10 ft).  Find the wire, and we can probably find you someone to put them in for you for less than two arms and a leg...

Yes, you're correct, you'll need those slots filled with frets.  Frank didn't put any "extra" frets in on this dulcimer.  If you can measure the size of the fret-wire on this, you may be able to have the missing frets added back in.  You could also just replace ALL of the frets at the same time, practically guaranteeing an accurate fretting job.  That's an attractive dulcimer you have!

The other missing/empty frets are down near the tail end. 

Closeup of one of the missing frets

Label inside the sound hole.

Thanks for the welcome and advice! This is the instrument in question.  It measures about 28" from nut to bridge, and has 17 frets but 5 are missing the wire. If it was modified to have a non-traditional tuning, I'd like to restore it to traditional  number of frets.

Hi Lyssa; 

Welcome to the world of dulcimers!   We can probably help you, but we're going to need to see what's what.

You may not, in fact, be "missing" any frets.  Older dulcimers -- what we call "pre-Revival" and dulcimers from the early Revival period of the 1960s, '70s and even some today, have what is known as a 'true' diatonic fret layout.  More modern dulcimers have two and sometimes more frets not found on a diatonic fretboard -- but that does not mean the instrument is "wrong" or "broken".

Frank Bond was a "fashionable" and popular dulcimer builder in London in the late 60s and 70s.   He built a number of different styles/shapes/sizes of instruments with fairly long VSLs (distance between nut and bridge).  He also built diatonic and "diatonic-plus" fret layouts.  His instruments are highly regarded by dulcimer collectors, especially on this side of The Pond, as they are few and far between.  IIRC, there are a couple folk who are members here who own one or more Bond dulcimers.  

We're going to need to see clear and relatively close up pictures of the instrument, particularly the tuning head area, tail area, and the fretboard itself, so we can determine whether there are indeed any frets missing.  

New strings are simple, cheap, and easy to come by at a local acoustic music shop or online, and given the distance between the nut and bridge we can tell you what strings to buy and how to go about changing them.  

Looking forward to seeing your Bond, Frank Bond (not James)!

Replacing missing frets is a straight forward easy task. You can order fret wire from various luthier supply companies. Note: fret wire comes in various sizes and materials, so examine and measure the existing frets before buying new fret wire. Otherwise you will need to replace all the frets to make it look better and play better. Luckly that task is usually not difficult. Good luck. 

Hi folks, 

I know very little about dulcimers, but I've always liked the sound and couldn't resist buying this one to learn to play. 

I'm told it is by Frank Bond. The fella I bought it from inherited it from his dad, who did some travelling around England and Europe and apparently had quite a collection of instruments, but this one doesn't look like it has been touched in decades. Researching the makers mark brought me here to you all.

It looks like it is missing a few frets and needs new strings, but looks otherwise intact. Is replacing frets an easy enough job for a crafty handy person? I live in a small town in British Columbia,  so getting it to a knowledgeable luthier is not so easy. 

Thanks, 

Lyssa