John is correct, and like him, I have no idea about the plexiglass strip.

Ken

"the dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Thank you for the recommendation, @john-c-knopf !

Congratulations!  What a beautiful instrument!  I don't know what the plexiglass strip is for, but I can help you with the second question.  I think the nut and bridge slots were cut so you could set it up for either equidistant spacing or for doubled-melody string setup:  String 1 stays in slot 1, string 2 goes in slot 2, string 3 goes in slot 4, and string 4 (bass) stays in slot 6.  Have fun!

Hello - I was happy to recently find a 2000 John Stockard dulcimer. Am hoping some of the experts here can help me answer a couple of questions. Hopefully my pix come through so it’s clear-ish what I’m talking about.  

The dulcimer was built with a plexiglass strip alongside the fretboard. What’s that about? I’ve seen it in photos of others Stockard built, so know it’s intentional (and possibly very useful!)

Also, right now the dulcimer is set up with four equidistant strings - a nice feature. I see how you can move the second string close to the first, but am not sure which slots the other two strings would occupy in a more traditional set up.

I’ve been looking a long time for one of John Stockard’s dulcimers - now that I have one I’m eager to learn more about these features. 

Thanks in advance for any knowledge you can share! 

Pam