FolkRoots® D Series Dulcimer, Walnut Body, Butternut Top

After a few years now, I want to affirm that my beautiful red cedar bass dulcimer has a special place in my heart and song list. Certain ballads sound so smooth a sweet on it. Those same tones would sound great added into a jam session.

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.

I loved my new custom made dulcimer. I had a little problem with two of the frets. Richard was very responsive with my problem. He took care of it and got back my dulcimer real fast. I am very pleased with the result.

I'm not a musician and I can't read music only play songs that I know the how they sound and I do enjoy my new dulcimer

Folkcraft made me a gorgeous mahogany/spruce Folkroots D dulcimer years ago. It has held up great, even through multiple apartment moves, one of them cross-country. It plays beautifully, and is a joy to learn with (there’s always more to learn). I have a 25” VSL, so my dulcimer is pretty lightweight, and travels well. I didn’t try my Fishman pickup for years (didn’t feel confident), but the pickup works great, even with amp modeling software. Currently planning another (fully chromatic) dulcimer purchase. There’s a ton of options, so it’s difficult to pick and choose.