(Belated) Happy New Year!

With all the talk about New Years resolutions involving losing weight, I got thinking about how much my dulcimers weigh. I currently own 18.4 lbs of dulcimers with a total VSL of 151.5" This amounts to about 1.95 oz/inch. Here is the breakdown:

-McSpadden (kit): 2.5 lbs, VSL 28.75", 1.5" deep, or 1.4 oz/inch of string length.

-Folkcraft (kit): 2.5 lbs, 27.0" VSL, 1.5" deep, or 1.5 oz/inchof string length.

-Baritone (home brew): 4.25 lbs, 28" VSL, 2.5" deep, or 2.4 oz/inchof string length.

-Banjomer (home brew): 3.8 lbs, 26.75 VSL, 1.5" deep, or 2.3 oz/inchof string length.

-CBD (home brew): 3.3 lbs, 20.5" VSL, 1.75" deep, or 2.6 oz/inchof string length.

-Cedar soprano (my latest home brew): 2 lbs, 20.5" VSL, 1.75" deep, or 1.6 oz/inchof string length.

My conclusion is that my home brew dulcimers are too fat!! I have been making the headstocks, heel and fretboards out of Brazilian cherry because I got a bunch of this stuff for free from a friend who installed it as flooring and I got the left-overs. The various woods used for tops, sides, and bottoms have all been ~1/8" thick, so it must be the other stuff! What do folks use for the "hidden" woods (head and heel)?

I'd be interested in finding out what others' dulcimers weigh (in relation to VSL and depth), to see if my building habits need to go on a diet!

Ed