Epinette des something something... and Questions

Hi all!

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or over in the building forum, but here goes...

With some of the left overs from my first dulcimer, I got in mind that I wanted to try a little Epinette des Vosges, for honestly no other reason than I liked the way some of the originals looked, and I was curious about the sound it might make. I was working from a collection of Google translated pages, photos, and some of Michael Kings notes on the subject, which included the observation that older instruments were small, maybe only 40-60cm, with only 14 frets. I ended up at 26 1/2" by 2 7/8" by 2 1/4", with a VSL of about 20 1/4". It will have 14 frets when its all done (I still have to drill and set the staples and set the string height). Ash for the main panels, maple for the ends, apple for the feet, and maple for the nut and bridge (at least for right now), all scrap from other projects. It isn't quite what I'd call a pretty little thing (certainly no Ame Lambert!), but it does seem to make a decent sound, so far, quieter than my big blue dulcimer, but not dead sounding.

So here's my questions. I string this with .012 for the two melody strings and .014 for the three drones, partly because I have the most bulk string in those sizes and I need the practice making end loops (it's a good thing my camera can't zoom in that tight, these first five loops were twisted around an ugly stick), but also because this little thing didn't seem like it need too heavy a string. Is that true? What string gauge would you suggest for something like this?

And, how would you tune it? Right now it's (sort of) following my dulcimer (DD A dd, is that noted right??), but it doesn't sound right to me.

Thanks!

Tony