New Oak Dulcimers In Progress

I came across some white oak at the lumberyard a few months back - with bark "inclusions" throughout the board. Somehow, the tree grew wood on top of the bark, at least in places, and ended up with bark "voids" all through the core of the tree. Hard to explain, but it looked neat, so I bought some of the boards.

We're making ten instruments total, all FolkRoots Custom series. A variety of scale lengths, some with Fishman pickups, some with Galax backs, all with ebony veneers, 1 1/2 and 8 1/2 frets, and all with NO TONE HOLES cut into the tops. The natural tone holes provided by the "bark voids" will be plenty. Here are a couple of photos of some "in progress".

Four white oak bodies being glued up. We'll use the same material for the back, top, and head.

Side view. You can see light through some of the bark areas - with small holes already in place throughout the back, top, and sides, we won't be cutting any additional holes.

I hope to have a couple of these done in time for Dulcimerville, KMW, and Coshocton Music Days. Richard