Paul's Stuff

This is the first instrument that I built and I got it as a kit from Musicmaker's Kits.  I wanted to get something small to start with to see if this was a hobby that I wanted to seriously take up.  It is a 15 steel string diatonic lap harp (technically referred to as a plucked psaltry) and has a very sweet delicate sound.  It was a relatively kit easy to build and I would recommend it to beginners to the craft.  I had mine completed in just a couple of evenings.

A 6-string dulcimar with a guitar style neck.

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Completed January 2006.  Cardboard body, red oak neck, rosewood fingerboard and ebony bridge.  With a 23.5" scale length and mandolin fretwire, it is perfect for small hands.

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Built from the Folkcraft kit.

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Built from the Folkcraft kit.

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The first project that I built from Dennis Waring's book Cool Cardboard Instruments to Make & Play.  This is a really neat book mostly geared for children's projects that I am sure we will get alot of use out of as Julia gets older.  The soundbox is made from 3-ply cardboard and the tines are made from steel hinge pins.  The pins have a very 'plunky' sound that reminds me of the sound effects used in "Dr. Strangelove".  I think the sound hole is a 'bit' too big though.

My wife's father has always been interested in ethnic instruments, and he tried to run off with the cardboard kalimba when I showed it to him.  In order to keep the first one, I decided to build him a wooden one.  It is a basic box shape with aircraft birch top and back and walnut sides.  Strips of mahogany were used to brace the body.  This time, I elected to use strips of brass for the tines.  They are softer and not as brilliant as the steel rods, but their tone sounds better and more musical.   I still have a couple of more tines to complete on this project.

This is cardboard mountain dulcimer also from the Dennis Waring book.   Since this was my second project, I decided to deviate a bit and add the fourth string and additional frets.  The neck is made from an oak 1x3 from Home Depot and the body is 3ply cardboard.  I used Fender replacement fret wire and classical guitar tuners that I hack-sawed apart.   The bridge and nut were carved from mahogany and copper end pins were used for the string mounting.  Mother of Perl inlays completed the project.  Since this was my first time trying to build a fretted instrument, it has some minor intonation problems on a couple of frets, but the sound is very bright and it has a suprising amount of volume.

I am in the process of building a all wooden version for a friend.  Here are some of the plans I drew up when designing it (all in PDF format).
Overview - Peghead - Bridge

Work in progress.  Still in the design stage.

Here are the current plans.