Folkcraft Instruments has been crafting handmade mountain dulcimers since 1968. We've been providing the best dulcimers, plus the dulcimer cases, tab books, dulcimer string sets, and everything else a mountain dulcimer player needs. We even provide dulcimer parts - machine heads and wood parts - for builders of all skill levels. We're happy to build a custom mountain dulcimer for you, make you a custom instrument case, or make you a custom string set. All of our dulcimers are handmade in the USA.
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Folkcraft customers speak out!
from 2746 reviewsI am going to include my review of the DulciVox that I posted on the Everything Dulcimer Facebook page. IMHO, it is quite the instrument! The volume is definitely louder than my other dulcimers but any tune, loud or soft, sounds great. The resonance and sustain of the instrument are impressive. I read somewhere a comparison of the sound of this new dulcimer to a tenor guitar, and in my very limited experience with tenor guitars, I can understand the comparison a little bit. The clarity when playing the melody on the bass string is notable. I ordered my DulciVox set up as chromatic and glad I did as I am a chromatic convert. My feeling is that this a great leap forward in the evolution of the mountain dulcimer! That is my non-professional review and looking forward to making a lot of music on the DulciVox!
We are enjoying playing from this book--lots of nostalgia, great arrangements!
I purchased dread naught plans through another website, which provided the plans via PDF. After several hours and major frustration of trying to determine what scale to print these PDFs, I finally gave up. After searching the Internet to find a website that will provide a hard copy of the plans, I landed upon folkcraft instruments. I was able to find what I was looking for with ears placed the order and the plan showed up within two days. Thank you for providing such a wonderful website with easy to follow paths to find exactly what you’re looking for. I am 100% satisfied with the product. It was delivered and the entire process of ordering them.
This book by Shelley Stevens is a wonderful collection of songs that are easy to play. Shelley has done such a nice job on the tabulature and the songs flow so nicely sound so sweetly to the ear on mountain dulcimer. I definitely recommend her books! Cynthia
Ordered Mountain Dulcimer plan. It came right away. Service great!
Thanks for a great plan.
Excellent workshop and concert. Always enjoy jamming with the group. The Ash’s are always the best host.
The carrying case embroidered with the Folkcraft logo is lightweight and convenient, spacious enough for essential accessories and sturdy enough for basic storage purposes and transport.
This is my second order of these picks. I like them because I get three different thicknesses. I like the yellow for my softer music. I like the red for my baritone dulcimer. I like the blue on my lap-jo. I haven't worn them out. I just get them dirty or loose them.
This series of books has great tunes arranged for two or more dulcimers in a variety of styles - block chord, arpeggio / pick, fingerstyle. I'm a beginner/intermediate player and find the books both challenging and rewarding.
This came with my MaxDAD and fits it perfectly. I was pleasantly surprised by the build quality. The zippers are heavy duty as is the material the case is made from. There is soft padding that protects the instrument and the pocket has plenty of space for strings, capo, tuner, etc.
This is a very solidly built jack. It can double as a strap button, making for a slick way to add a pickup into a build. I am very thankful they sell the tap as well, making it very easy to install.
It is a solid machined tap for the end pin jack. I am grateful they sell this so I don’t have to go find one to work with the end pin I bought.
I ordered a custom walnut MaxDAD with a Galax back and Fishman pickup. It has an excellent action allowing for fluid changing of chords or quick scale runs. I was amazed at the volume and sustain. It is beautiful too. You can tell great pains were taken to make sure it looked perfect. The side panels were matched. The Galax back looked like it was from the exact same board as the actual back, matching each other perfectly. They chose some beautiful walnut with great figure on the back and sides. The grain direction on the fingerboard will make sure the wood doesn’t swell vertically and change the action. Every little detail was addressed. There was great pride taken in building it both for form and function. On the electric side, the preamp is excellent. I barely need any gain on my Fishman Loudbox Mini. It sounds great through the amp, and I love the ability to blend the mic and piezo pickups. Yes, there are two pickups in one for this particular pickup option. There are so many possibilities to play with the sound. The bass sounds amazing through the amp. You really need a pickup system to get the most out of the bass of the MaxDAD. With the preamp settings, the chromatic scale, and the two extra strings, I have so much more I can do now. I will be playing and learning quite a lot with all the extra features packed into this beautiful instrument.
Through the past twenty Five Years Folkcraft Instruments has supplied me exellent quality Dulcimer Strings. They give a nice sound and outlast other string suppliers. Doug Thomson Rancho Cucamonga CA.
It's going to be fun learning to play this banjo style lapjo! It looks just like a banjo and is fairly heavy! Finger rolls here I come!!