Scalloped Fretboards - It's What We're Talking About

October 23, 2026

Good Morning, Y'all - Happy Friday!

I get asked about this a lot, so I'm going to cover it here, today... Scallops on a fretboard. Here's what we're talking about:

Close-up of a Folkcraft dulcimer rosewood fretboard with a scallop cut between frets 4 and 6 1/2

See the arch cut into the rosewood fretboard pictured above, going from fret 4 to fret 6 1/2? Compare that to this fretboard:

Close-up of a FolkRoots dulcimer fretboard without scallops

Which has no arch. See the difference? We call the arches "scallops." I don't know why - the arches are totally unrelated to sea creatures. I've heard people call them "fretboard reliefs," too.

The fretboard with scallops (two or three, depending on the VSL) is what we use for Folkcraft-branded standard dulcimers. The FolkRoots dulcimers we make have a non-scalloped fretboard.

The Benefit?

More of the dulcimer top isn't touched by the fretboard, so you have more top vibrating freely, and (in theory) get more power and better tone. It is a subtle benefit. On the Folkcraft fretboards, we have a brace running the length of the top, same width as the fretboard. This brace actually stiffens the top and fretboard a bit, and ends up taking away some of that (theoretical) benefit.

But (this is the big one) the brace also makes the instrument's sound more focused and refined. The Folkcraft Custom Series instruments:

all have the scalloped fretboards with the hidden brace underneath. The difference in tone between the Folkcraft and FolkRoots dulcimers? The FolkRoots are a bit more powerful in the middle frequency range, which can be described as "boomy." Our available adjectives, used to describe sound, are pretty inadequate, for sure.

The Folkcraft dulcimers, even with the exact same body shape and size as our California-body FolkRoots dulcimers, are a bit more even across the strings, and up and down the range of the instrument. They're not as free or open, but they have a smoother sound. (Inadequate adjectives, again. Grr.)

Think Of It Like This

Think of a great folk singer, maybe Neil Diamond - fine voice, not trained to opera singer standard, but a good, solid vocalist. (See footnote 1 below)

Compare Neil's voice to opera singer José Carreras's voice. José effortlessly glides from one note/octave to the next. His voice is definitely more polished and refined. (See footnote 2 below)

Both are amazing, excellent singers, just in different styles. If I were to apply a dulcimer's sound (scalloped, non-scalloped) to each of them? Neil Diamond is a FolkRoots singer, while José Carreras is a Folkcraft singer.

That's the long answer for the scalloped fretboard question. Now you know.

New Music @ DulcimerDownloads.com

On a different note - since last week, I've added (or seriously edited) a good number of new PDFs for the DulcimerDownloads.com website. New/edited titles? Here you go:

Butch Ross - A Long Way From Shady Grove (edited)
Jim Miller - Beyond "D" (new)
Butch Ross - Songs For Work And Play (new)
Jim Miller - Music Theory For Mountain Dulcimer (new)

Butch Ross - The Dulcimer Christmas Songbook (new)
Dana Gruber - The Wedding Book (edited)
Mike Anderson - Hugo's Sing-A-Long Dulcimer Christmas Book (edited)

All of these books are available at both Folkcraft.com and at DulcimerDownloads.com. Some of them got new covers, and Folkcraft.com won't show the new covers until the copies with the old covers are all sold.

Fingers Of Steel Has Its Own Website Now

And for a fun side project? I made a website exclusively for Fingers Of Steel, Folkcraft's "publishing division" (aka Richard on Saturday afternoons). Fingers Of Steel now has 111 books in print, from a BUNCH of really great artists and arrangers. We've commissioned some of the books, and purchased some of the others after they were already in circulation.

Fingers Of Steel is not really (ever!) going to be a money-making project for me. But one of my first businesses ever was a company that grew to become the third-largest retailer of sheet music in the USA. I stocked tens of thousands of books, published by the biggest publishers, and by a lot of pretty obscure publishers. We were big enough that Warner Bros. sent a sales rep to our shop in Woodburn on a regular basis.

I'm happy making dulcimers, now, and don't regret closing down my sheet music company. But I still love sheet music, and Fingers Of Steel is my way to keep lots of dulcimer sheet music in circulation. The new website? You guessed it - FingersOfSteel.com.

I like the logo that we drew up for the company, too. A dulcimer fretboard, with four strings. But the strings are barbed wire. So there.

I'm heading back to the shop - there's still sawdust to make this afternoon.

Thanks for reading, Y'all - have a great (dulcimer-filled!) weekend.

Richard Ash - luthier-who's-going-to-play-his-dulcimer-arrangement-of-"One-Hand-One-Heart"-this-weekend

Footnotes

(1) My wife (Aly - a lot of you know her personally!) took me to a Neil Diamond concert, before she was my wife. She would argue that Neil Diamond is the absolute best singer on the face of the planet, possibly in the galaxy, or even the universe.

(2) I'm not usually a fan of José's work. The operatic style has never really done anything for my brain. But his duet work with Kiri Te Kanawa, when the two of them recorded West Side Story with Bernstein himself conducting, back in 1984, really made me appreciate his amazing vocal control.

This Week's Featured YouTube Video:

This week Mandy shows the beginners another fun and easy song in DAA tuning. She will walk you through it step-by-step and even puts the fret numbers up on the screen for you. Have fun with this, no tabs needed. Click on the image below to listen and learn.

We have a slew (that's a fancy luther word for "bunch") of videos for you to watch on our YouTube channel. Click here to see the full list. Be sure to comment on a video, and subscribe to the channel - either action helps us a LOT with YouTube's suggestion algorithms.

FOLKCRAFT® DULCIMER PLAYER OF THE WEEK: JOYCE WILSON

Folkcraft: How long have you been playing the dulcimer?

Joyce: I have been playing the dulcimer since the 1970s, but I really got back into it during the pandemic.

Folkcraft: When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?

Joyce: I bought my first Folkcraft dulcimer in 2022. I like the extra frets and accurate tuning pegs, plus the many designs and options, and the beautiful hardwoods.

Folkcraft: Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?

Joyce: I found a congenial group in Manomet (part of Plymouth, Massachusetts), a half-an-hour away, that urges acoustic instrument players to come to their Saturday jam every month. My dulcimer holds its own with guitars and mandolins. This walnut dulcimer gets a sweet sound that...

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF JOYCE'S INTERVIEW AND READ ABOUT OTHER FOLKCRAFT PLAYERS LIKE JOYCE & YOU

FOLKCRAFT® PLAYERS - WE LOVE HEARING FROM YOU!

While we don't have a new player (Alas!) to welcome to our online dulcimer community today, we are still glad to re-feature Joyce Wilson, who's been learning fiddle tunes up in New England.

There's still plenty of room for more of you, folks! Maybe we could feature you and your Folkcraft dulcimer(s) next week?

Who's Going To Write In Next? Keep The Family Growing?

It really is super-easy to join our online dulcimer community. Just three easy steps:
1) Send an email to: newsletter@folkcraft.com
2) With the answers to the four questions below
3) Attach a photo of yourself with your Folkcraft dulcimer(s)

We look forward to receiving your submission & featuring you in our newsletter real soon!

1. How long have you been playing the dulcimer?
2. When did you get your first Folkcraft dulcimer?
3. Where do you enjoy playing your dulcimer?
4. What other hobbies, or interests, do you have besides playing dulcimer?

WE'RE OFFERING A $25 FOLKCRAFT GIFT CARD TO ANYONE WHO ANSWERS THE FOUR EASY QUESTIONS LISTED ABOVE, AND SENDS IN A PHOTO (OF YOU WITH YOUR FOLKCRAFT DULCIMER). IT'S REALLY SO EASY TO DO! WE JUST LOVE HEARING FROM Y'ALL!

We've got a couple of books (both with blue covers for no real reason) which are bursting with old-time tunes for jamming. The Flatpick and Low Octave book will add a little different flavor to the musical mix, while the Old Time book is a little simpler, but still full of great repertoire-building tunes. (Just click on either cover to find out more.)

JOIN THE JAM - FLATPICK AND LOW OCTAVE EDITION
by Stephen Seifert

Experience the versatility of the mountain dulcimer with this volume in the ever-popular "Join the Jam" series from Stephen Seifert. Exploring all facets of the dulcimer is a skill that the pros utilize every day and now you can, too, with the help of this book. (102 pages)

A few of the songs included: Angelina Baker, Black Mountain Rag, Cold Frosty Morning, Dixie, Fisher's Hornpipe, Golden Slippers, Hangman's Reel, June Apple, Kitchen Girl, Liberty, Nail That Catfish To A Tree, Red Wing, Seneca Square Dance, The Fiddler Has Played His Last Waltz For The Night, Yellow Rose Of Texas

Not available in book form

This book is published by Stephen Seifert, and is made available here as an authorized, licensed download.

BAKER'S DOZEN #3 - OLD TIME SONGS
by Shelley Stevens

Discover the secret gems of old-time music with Shelley Stevens' "The Baker's Dozen, Volume 3: Old Time Songs". This collection features 13 great tunes, including "Poor Ellen Smith" and "Bury Me Beneath The Willow." Arranged with passion and skill, these hidden treasures are perfect for any mountain dulcimer player. Add them to your repertoire today!

All songs are in DAD tuning, and include standard notation, dulcimer tablature, and lyrics. (25 pages)

The 13 songs included: All Good Times Are Past And Gone, Beautiful Brown Eyes, Bury Me Beneath The Willow, Home On The Range, My Mother's Bible, The Old Oaken Bucket, The Old Spinning Wheel, Poor Ellen Smith, The Prisoner's Song, Shoo Fly (Don't Bother Me), The Sunny South, There's Music In The Air, The Wabash Cannonball