Thank you for letting us make it for you - happy playing! Richard

Me too!

Absolutely. We'll offer chromatic, plus baritone and bass options. About the only limitation to start with (until we can prototype other fretboard lengths) will be the VSL. We went with 25" for the early models, but we'll absolutely offer longer VSLs in the near(ish) future.

Yes, absolutely!

I want 15, 15.5, 16, and 17! But my personal dulcimer in this style will stop at 14. If I was a better player (a lot of the people I build for are AMAZING players) I could probably do fine with 15 - 17, but I don't have the right hand control to make it work right now. Maybe when I retire, and have more time to practice, though!

We've experimented with a larger sound hole, and found no benefit for the tone. That leaves looks/appearance, and I really appreciate the understated appearance of the Classic F sound holes. We're still playing with the size and location of the F holes, though!

We're experimenting with different woods, and starting to make some estimates of time required to do each step of parts-making and assembly. We'll probably to a two-tiered system (like with our LAP-JOs - a standard version and a pro version), with ebony and pickup included with the pro version. And for now, it'll be strictly 3 or 4 strings, and strictly 25" VSL. As we prototype more variations, we'll add 5 string (MaxDAD!) and longer scale lengths. But for now, most likely two (as yet undetermined) price points.

The dulcimer/guitar hybrid will be $1195 (the standard version). The pro version will be $1495. The pro version will have the ebony fingerboard veneer and a passive Fishman undersaddle pickup. We'll have options for head shape (our traditional head, two tuners each side is shown here), for Galax back (which is not on this prototype), on pickup type (we can upgrade to the active Fishman pickup system with onboard preamp, and on scale length (currently the only offering is 25", but we'll add a longer VSL or two in the coming months).

.012, .015, .024rw. We can definitely go heavier (for more fundamental in the tone) or lighter (for easier playing).

Yes! We'll go with 3 bridge pins, like you see, but double up the center bridge pin to hold two ball ends. Common practice with 12-string guitars, so it'll work beautifully on a 3 (or 4) string dulcimer.

This bridge setup might actually work for nylon strings. I'll experiment with that as we get going on production of the steel-string version. Nylon doesn't work well (at all!) on a standard dulcimer, but the top on this is so resonant, it might be just fine.

@@FolkcraftInstrumentsSince1968 thanks for the replay. I'll watch for updates!