Ugly Wood - Lacquer v Polyurethane Dulcimer Project

I am a sucker for straight grained clear lumber, so when I found two 4 x 4s that had some water and mold damage, but had straight grains and no knotholes, I bought them.  (Yes, I am a purist who believes that the best soundboards are quarter sawn with straight grains.)

A recent conversation on FOTMD.com convinced me to build four identical dulcimers to find out if I could hear a difference between dulcimers finished in polyurethane and those finished in lacquer.  Two were standard dulcimers and two were bass dulcimers.

The wood was cut into strips with the odd numbered strips going into one instrument and the even into the other.  This process was used for soundboard, sides, backs and internal bracing (see photos in my gallery on FOTMD.).  The soundboards and backs are fir, the sides are white oak.

Work from home and the whole COVID thing had pushed building out of mind, so I was not too surprised to find two half- finished projects that I worked on at the same time. 

Here is a rundown of the features in the dulcimers:

1. All have a floating fretboard that rests on a true bridge.
2. All instruments have an ox bone floating saddle.
3. All instruments have a quarter inch rounded belly.
4. All instruments have sides that taper ½” back to front.
5. The large tailpiece on the bass dulcimers is a built in wrist rest. When playing in jams, I mostly flat-pick the bass line and a wrist rest will help.
6. At body 8 by 26.625 by 2.875 overall length 38.75 vsl 27.125  and 10 by 33.25 by 3.375 vsl 24.2 overall 33
7. The instruments are wider and  deeper than most dulcimers.  For more on why,  google acoustic golden and bronze ratios.
8. The bass dulcimers are 33.25 long. Unfortunately this size stretched the fretboard and you can see I added a second bridge to support the fretboard.
9. No strum hollow, because who actually needs it?

 To hear my take on the difference between polyurethane and lacquer finishes, you need to listen to the following youtube video: