Essential Serenade - Includes a hardwood top that match the back.

Premium Serenade - Hardwood or softwood tops are available on the Premium Serenade. By default, the top wood will be the same as the back and sides, without purfling. However, you can also select optional softwood tops, like spruce, cedar, or redwood (which include purfling).

Hardwood tops will generally produce a brighter tone with more brilliance and sustain than a softwood top.

Spruce tops will normally provide a bit more overall volume but with a quicker attack and quicker decay. Some call it a "punchier" sound, which is perhaps best suited for fast fiddle tunes in a bluegrass style.

Redwood tops tend to favor the lower end of the dulcimer's voice and are superb for fingerpicking styles.

My personal favorite is Western Red Cedar, which tends to provide the most balanced sound, landing somewhere between the brightness of the hardwoods, and the more mellow sound of the redwood and spruce.

For aesthetic reasons, all softwood tops are also trimmed with what is referred to as "violin purfling" (labeled as such due to it's common use on violins). This purfling resides between the edge of the top and the bindings on the corner. It is composed of 3 very thin layers of wood in a black/white/black configuration which provides a very nice visual separation of the plain grain and uniform color of the softwoods and the typical curly maple bindings. Several of the dulcimers on this website are good examples of this visual appeal.

I know that was a lot to absorb, so please don't hesitate to ask me any questions.

Essential Serenade - Includes a Bolivian Rosewood (aka Morado) fingerbaord and tailpiece. The mahogany headstock has no overlay.

Premium Serenade - includes Bolivian Rosewood (aka Morado) for the headplate, fingerboard, and tailpiece. This wood not only provides a very durable surface for the fingerboard, but also a great background "canvas" for all manner of inlay work. It is typically a very dark purple-ish brown color, which complements a wide variety of woods.

For the additional upgrade cost as shown, you can select Macassar Ebony for these three elements. It is typically jet-black with a few slightly lighter brown streaks that give it some character. Ebony has been the top choice for stringed instrument fingerboards for hundreds of years, and looks fantastic with just about any inlay.

Essential Serenade - includes an engraved "Tindle" script logo on the mahogany headstock.

Premium Serenade - includes a pewter metal powder inlay of the "Tindle" script logo on the headplate.

For the Premium Serenade, there are also several options for headplate inlays to personalize your Sonata dulcimer. These include a few choices of metal powder inlays, or Mother-of-Pearl and Abalone Cherokee roses. More designs are in the works. I can also do custom designed inlays...just let me know what ideas you may have and I'll see what I can do!

Metal Powder Inlays - these inlays are created by first laser engraving the pocket(s) in the wood. Those pockets are then packed tightly with extremely fine metal powders of various colors and then flooded with very thin super glue. Once sanded back flush with the surface, they reveal amazingly fine detail with a bright metal "shimmer"!

All fret position markers are a single inlay at the 3rd, 10th, and 14th frets, and a double inlay at the 7th fret.

Essential Serenade - base price includes hardwood Dots for the fret marker inlays. You may also choose to upgrade to several other designs.

Premium Serenade - base price includes your choice of hardwood inlays of Dots, Rings, Diamonds, or Signets.

Optional maple leaves are metal powder inlay upgrades available in either copper or brass.

Optional Trinity knots are metal powder inlay upgrades available in copper, brass, or pewter.

Metal Powder Inlays - these inlays are created by first laser engraving the pocket(s) in the wood. Those pockets are then packed tightly with extremely fine metal powders of various colors and then flooded with very thin super glue. Once sanded back flush with the surface, they reveal amazingly fine detail with a bright metal "shimmer"!

Today, the most common fret arrangement on the mountain dulcimer is the traditional diatonic scale with the addition of the 6-1/2 and 13-1/2 frets. Other very popular but not universal extra frets are the 1-1/2 and, perhaps for some folks, the 8-1/2 fret.

I am happy to include any of these extra frets for your dulcimer at no additional charge, however, if you want some other configuration than what is listed here, please just let me know your preferences.

I can also do a fully chromatic fretboard for the additional cost as shown.

Vibrating string length, or VSL, is the length of the strings from the nut to the bridge.

Longer VSLs typically provide a little fuller and richer quality to a dulcimer's voice, but can be more challenging to play for some folks.

Shorter VSLs may be easier to play, but at the expense of a bit of tone quality.

In order to achieve what I believe to be the optimum balance between tone and playability, my go to VSL is 27". However, if you have smaller hands and need a shorter string length, I offer a 26" VSL as a no charge option that will have only a barely discernible affect on the tone of your dulcimer.

Essential Serenade - Standard hardware includes chrome finished tuning machines and strap buttons. You may also choose to upgrade to black hardware.

Premium Serenade - Standard hardware includes black tuning machines and strap buttons. You may also choose to upgrade to gold hardware.

Most dulcimer players prefer a flat fingerboard surface for ease of playing. However, if your playing style includes a lot of barre chords using your little or ring finger, you may prefer to have a radius fingerboard.

This radius fingerboard provides a 10" radius curve across the top surface of the fingerboard (much like on most steel string guitars) that some players feel is more ergonomic for this style of playing.

This option is for an LR Baggs brand bridge saddle pickup to be permanently installed and internally wired to a 1/4" cable jack that replaces the tailpiece end strap button. All you see is the cable jack / strap button.

If you ever want to play your dulcimer through an amplifier, or plug it in directly to a live sound system or recording interface, then this is a smart option. While this pickup can be installed at a later time, it is best to include it within your initial order to save you the cost of shipping your dulcimer both ways.

I have these pickups made to my specifications for string spacing, and they sound wonderfully natural with minimal audio processing. The best advantage of using a pickup in a live sound situation is being able to be heard in a large room without the typical microphone feedback problems.

Protecting your investment is of utmost importance to us. When shipped, your dulcimer will travel safely within its hardshell case, which is then carefully wrapped and generously packed inside a sturdy cardboard box.

DOMESTIC USA - Fully insured domestic USA shipping by UPS is provided to any location within the continental US for one flat rate fee.

INTERNATIONAL - For all other shipping addresses, fully insured international shipping is provided by UPS or USPS. Rates will be calculated at checkout and can vary greatly based upon your location. Tindle Music Co. does not mark up these carrier rates at all, but includes a small handling fee to package your dulcimer for safe shipping. (Please note you will also be responsible for any and all taxes, custom fees, etc. when your dulcimer arrives in your country).

CUSTOMER PICKUP - You may also choose to make arrangements to pick up your dulcimer from me, either here in Tulsa, OK or at a festival I attend.