Information from the owner of this dulcimer: it is believed it was madec. 1910. It belonged to to Luther Lee of Steubenville, OH. Mr Lee was born c. 1900. Present owner bout it from a relative of Mr. Lee. Any help identifying the maker is welcome.

I do not think that the dulcimer that is supposed to be a Prichard is a Prichard. It does not match any of the Prichards I have seen.

Mike, here is Ralph Lee Smith playing the Prichard, http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/group/oldstyledronenoterplayers/forum/topics/original-charles-pritchard-dulcimer-1890-ralph-lee-smith-sourwood

The scroll head was made by Keith Young because it was missing the head when found. I got that information from Ken Longfield. I saw the Prichard at the Shenandoah U. festival last May. You might want to send Ralph a picture of this or post it on his discussion group. He can give you his opinion. He's seen plenty of these old dulcimers.

Ah, I hadn't run across him yet, but I'm pretty wet behind the ears. There are certainly elements which seem more NC or VA. The tracing Prichard pattern is interesting, the sides & back do appear to be finished using "grain painting".

I posted the other picture I took today (in a hurry) in an album here: http://mountaindulcimer.ning.com/photo/albums/prichard .

I can't argue that it doesn't look like a Prichard, but I'm not in a position to argue the point with the owner, especially after he just dropped of 22 vintage instruments for us to study and display (gift horses, ya know ;) )

No Mike I am speaking of Eli Presnell, He traced a pattern from a Prichard to make his dulcimer Late 1800's

Rob also the lower bout is too long of a curve . Too even on the waist side to the tail. . Prichard 's was shorter on the waist side and longer on the tail side. Would like to know it's identity .

Kevin, Rob, I think you're right. Here is a picture of the real deal:

We barely had time to unbox and put number tags on the instrument today before the owner had to leave. I'm looking forward to hearing more about it, also. If you mean Edd Presnell, what little I've seen about him indicates that the peghead, fingerboard, & tailpiece on his were one piece. This one is definitely three distinct pieces.

Kevin, IMO, you're right. Not only are the hearts not right, but the upper bout curve doesn't look right from this angle. The heart sound hole in the strum hollow would be an interesting thing.

It Looks to me in my opion that it is more likely an instrument made by Eli Presnell of NC . There are other aspects of this dulcimer that don't match the 8 other verified instruments, all of which are of indentical shape, size and design. It will be interesting to find out more about this instrument.

I figured you'd be interested. The owner seems pretty certain of the provenance and has been collecting for a long time. I do have more pictures that I can share after I get home. Label has fallen out, I'm afraid.

I really don't think it is a Prichard, the shape is not right. The hearts are not of the type he used. Does it have a label? More pictures could better identify this on. Looks like one of the make copies of his shape, Maybe NC made.

Im not saying that it could be ,but, I don't think so JMO