Folkcraft® Cardboard Dulcimer Kit

Our corrugated paper or cardboard dulcimer kit is just what you've been trying to find! To build a dulcimer, all of the paper parts are cut out, and ready to glue. The fretboard is made of a solid hardwood, is slotted for nut, bridge, and frets. It also has holes pre-drilled to accommodate the machine heads. Our cardboard mountain dulcimer kits have a fretboard with a 27" VSL (Vibrating String Length).

Detailed instructions are provided, and this cardboard dulcimer kit should take you about two hours to build. You'll need the following tools: a small hammer (for tapping in the frets and anchor pins); a drill with #49 bit (for drilling the holes for the anchor pins and machine head screws); a small Phillips head screwdriver (for installing the machine head screws); a piece of sandpaper, either 120 grit or 220 grit (for fitting the nut and bridge pieces); a pair of wire cutters (for trimming the frets and cutting the strings to length); and a flat file (for finishing the ends of the frets). You'll also need to provide some white or yellow glue (for assembling the cardboard parts).

People ask us how our cardboard dulcimer kits sound. They are the best cardboard dulcimer builds we've ever heard. The Folkcraft cardboard dulcimers have a sweet mellow sound. They don't have the volume of a cherry or walnut dulcimer, though. If you want a loud instrument, choose something in solid wood.