Thanks for sharing those photos. I would say that the string spacing on that dulcimer is pretty unusual, which might make it extra difficult to play. If you look at the dulcimer in the 4th photo you attached, you can see that the two melody strings are usually close together, and the "course" of paired melody strings is equally spaced with the other two strings. I'm not sure if your father in law intended for it to be "paired melody strings" or "four string equidistant" but I think it would difficult to play in either.
Also, there are many different ways to hold a noter based on your preference, and I recommend joining the "Old Style Drone & Noter players group if you haven't already.
https://fotmd.com/strumelia/group/19/old-style-drone-noter-players

If these don't work let me know.  Lynn McSpadden was also doing C-G-cc Ionian.  I haven't checked online examples of using a noter, but I did not expect the thumb to be on top.  According to Lynn McSpadden in this book, the index finger is used to position the noter and prevent it from moving to far in.

1974 Kit 1.jpg  •  97KB

1974 Kit 2.jpg  •  91KB

1974 Kit 3.jpg  •  94KB

1974 Kit 4.jpg  •  105KB

Thats a very peculiar design in a few different ways. Could you please take a photo of the entire instrument, id be really curious to see it

The string rests in the bridge.  Another interesting thing about 1974 was that the bass and outer strings are located more toward the center and further from the edge of the fretboard.  So all strings are closer.  I don't have experience on any other type of dulcimer so it's no skin off my nose.  In the "four and twenty" book by Lynn McSpadden that came with the kit he recommends the strumming one beat to be toward the player.  The extra space at the edge of the fretboard might make that easier.  I play a lot of things with strings but I am starting from scratch on the mountain dulcimer and really looking forward to it!  BTW, the Dulcimer Shoppe told me the early 70's kit was about $37 dollars!

That's great! And one thing I didn't think of. Glad it was such an easy fix. Looking at the photo, do the strings rest in the nut or the slots in the tailpiece? I don't recall seeing that type of tailpiece on a McSpadden dulcimer kit. It's interesting.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Figured it out!  The bendover slot from the loop screw to the bridge is not deep enough.  It prevents the string from having a good breakover at the bridge, thus adding at least a 1/2 inch to the string length.  We pushed down with a pencil just behind the bridge, retuned the open melody strings position and the pitch is now perfect!

Dulcimer isssue.jpg  •  80KB

The first thing I would check is to see if the string is seated in the slot in the nut. If it is then I would check the slot itself. Does the string contact the nut in the same place as the rest of the strings? It is possible that in cutting the string slots the point of contact is farther back in that one slot. Is that string binding in the nut? It seems odd that all the other strings perform well and only the one string is a problem. 

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

We have pulled a 1974 McSpadden kit dulcimer (standard, 28.5", 1.5", zero fret, four string) out of long term storage.  My late father-in-law assembled it in 1974 and it was played a total of about 1 hour since then!  I tuned it D-A-aa.  The bass, middle and outer melody strings keep perfect pitch at all frets.  There is no fret damage that I can see.  The inner melody string can be tuned to match the outer when open but it is noticeably flat by the 3rd fret and gets worse up the neck.  Having the zero fret I don't think the problem is at the nut end.  I am going to replace the strings anyway but the originals were not stored in tension and look normal with no corrosion.  What could cause this string to behave differently than the other three?  Thanks!