First Time Mountain Dulcimer Buyer's Guide
So you want to buy a mountain dulcimer! You won't regret it if you take the time to consider things like:
Is this your first experience with a stringed instrument? What do you expect to do with it? Where should you go to buy one? What physical characteristics of dulcimers make the difference between a good choice and a bad choice? How much money do you have to spend? Are you familiar enough with the sounds of mountain dulcimers to know what sound you prefer in a mountain dulcimer?
Something
I often hear from
people who have never played a stringed
instrument, or maybe any instrument, is; I don't want to spend very
much, because I don't know if I will be able to play it. We can clear
that one up right now. If it's something that you really want to
do
because the mountain dulcimer sound really grabbed you, or if you
thought you'd never be able to play an instrument, but someone showed
you how easy it is to play simple tunes on a mountain dulcimer, and
you've always wished you could make your own music, you can do it! If
you can afford it, don't get a bargain basement dulcimer, or settle on
one that seems to
be less of an instrument than the one you really like or wish you had,
if you just had a bit more confidence in yourself. If you get a
cardboard dulcimer or a serviceable plywood dulcimer, when you had your
eye on a better one that you could easily afford, you are likely
to
regret that you didn't just go ahead and get the one you liked. But, if
all you can afford
is a really inexpensive instrument, there are some out there that are
very good to learn on. Even some dulcimers with a cardboard body, play
well and sound surprisingly good.
On the other hand, if a friend wants to play mountain dulcimer and talks you into going along for the ride, but you're not sure that it's going to be something you're really going to stick with, you may just want to get an inexpensive instrument to play until you know if it's really something you will enjoy doing for yourself. Likewise, if you're buying for a child because it's something you think they ought to learn, or because it's their new interest of the month, but you know that particular child goes through new hobbies or interests in short order, then you might want to go the budget route, as long as you get a good playable instrument. Unfortunately, there are instruments in almost every price range that aren't good playable instruments.
If you can go to a shop or festival where there are a good number of dulcimers from several makers (or more), this is your very best option. If you go to a festival or shop where only one builder is represented, even if you can play some tunes or can get someone else to play, if it's your first time looking at dulcimers, the one that seems to be the best one, could actually be a fairly poor choice, when you get the full picture of the range of sounds and choices available. I made a serious mistake, buying my first one at a general music store that only had two dulcimers to choose from. Though it was the better of the two, it only took me a couple of days to realize that it was junk. Two weeks later I went to a shop that specialized in dulcimers and bought my first 'real mountain dulcimer'.
If you can't find any place near you where there is a good selection of mountain dulcimers for comparisons, but you know someone who plays mountain dulcimer, find out how they feel about their dulcimer, listen to them play it, and try it out yourself. They'll probably be happy to show you how to play your first simple tune on a dulcimer. If a dulcimer similiar to theirs will meet your needs and expectations, and you can get one with similiar features made by the same builder, you would know what you're getting. If that isn't possible, find out if they have experiences with trying other dulcimers that they can recommend, maybe at festivals they have attended. If you need to order one from a mail order or internet supplier, and you have no recommendations from anyone knowledgeable as to what make or supplier you should look for, absolutely don't just pick one based on a picture, price, and vague description in a catalog or on the internet. Unless you plan to hang it up to look at, rather than to play it, choosing an instrument by appearance alone can be a really bad mistake.
If you plan to buy over the internet and this will be your first dulcimer, check out several places that have a real address, not just a P.O. Box. Ask them about the things in this guide and other things that concern you, and have them play some of their dulcimers over the phone so you can compare the sounds. There are lots of shops and some builders who don't play the instruments they sell or build. If you don't have some solid references from people you know as dulcimer players, you'd be better off not taking a chance that you might be putting your money into a first instrument that's difficult to play or to learn on. Also, for a first instrument, I advise people that it's best to be able to hear the specific instrument you are thinking of buying, because the same model dulcimer, made with the same woods, won't necessarily sound the same as the next one. Many shops have no inventory of dulcimers, but order them from the builders after they have a confirmed order. They certainly won't be able to accurately tell you anything about the specific dulcimer you would get from them. If you don't really have an idea of just where you're going to go with your dulcimer playing, ask whoever is playing dulcimers for you, to play songs, or parts of them, in several different styles, if they can. You don't yet know what your style will be (heck, I can't tell you what my style of playing might be a few years from now), so hearing the dulcimers played in traditional drone style, chord and melody style, and flatpicked or fingerpicked style, is good because some dulcimers that sound great played in one style, don't sound too good played in other styles. What you need for your first dulcimer is an all around instrument that can eventually take you in the direction that is right for you, and sound good whatever style that you decide to play in. Later, if you end up specializing in or playing mostly one style of music, you can buy that special purpose dulcimer that will really make the way you play sparkle.
Very important for online internet orders: People who specialize in dulcimers are usually not doing it just for the money, but for the love of it, and most are operating on a shoestring budget, cutting expenses wherever they can. If, for whatever reason, you plan to place your order on an automated page, when it gets to the page that asks for credit card numbers, check that it is a secure page. Don't assume it is. Some folks have decided it is not worth investing in a secure page to protect your information. If you don't get a message in your browser stating that it is a secure page, check the security info. This may be under 'File' and then 'Properties', or you could be looking for 'Page Info' under a 'View' or 'Tools' menu heading on your browser, or something similiar. Then look for security info. If it doesn't tell you it is an encrypted page, quit what you're doing and call in your credit card info.
If your resources are limited, and you have the choice of getting a very inexpensive instrument now, or waiting as long as, maybe next year for the insrument you have your heart set on, do it now! Things put off 'til next year often never happen, or if it does, there's something else that burdens us which still makes that ideal instrument out of reach. Music can ease stress just because of the nature of it, and by taking our minds off of our troubles, so do it now! you owe it to yourself. There are decent playable cardboard and plywood dulcimers available for $60 to $100. It's your money. You have the right to hear even an inexpensive dulcimer played for you and have your questions answered. Have the person playing it, play scales up all three strings, as I describe later. There are plenty of cheap dulcimers out there that won't play accurate scales on all three strings, and a few expensive ones, too. There are a number of inexpensive dulcimers and even some moderately priced ones that can only be noted on the melody string(s), and the other strings must be played as drones, because the fretscale and bridge placement is only accurate for the treble, 'melody string' or strings. Have them play or fingerpick a tune using chords, so you know that the strings are in tune with each other as they play up the fretboard. Don't pay more than $100 for a plywood dulcimer. There are some fancy looking plywood ones available that certainly have more time and material put into them, but their sound will likely be no better for it(and may be worse). They are not likely to retain their value as well as a decent playable $100 one will.
On the other hand, if a friend wants to play mountain dulcimer and talks you into going along for the ride, but you're not sure that it's going to be something you're really going to stick with, you may just want to get an inexpensive instrument to play until you know if it's really something you will enjoy doing for yourself. Likewise, if you're buying for a child because it's something you think they ought to learn, or because it's their new interest of the month, but you know that particular child goes through new hobbies or interests in short order, then you might want to go the budget route, as long as you get a good playable instrument. Unfortunately, there are instruments in almost every price range that aren't good playable instruments.
If you can go to a shop or festival where there are a good number of dulcimers from several makers (or more), this is your very best option. If you go to a festival or shop where only one builder is represented, even if you can play some tunes or can get someone else to play, if it's your first time looking at dulcimers, the one that seems to be the best one, could actually be a fairly poor choice, when you get the full picture of the range of sounds and choices available. I made a serious mistake, buying my first one at a general music store that only had two dulcimers to choose from. Though it was the better of the two, it only took me a couple of days to realize that it was junk. Two weeks later I went to a shop that specialized in dulcimers and bought my first 'real mountain dulcimer'.
If you can't find any place near you where there is a good selection of mountain dulcimers for comparisons, but you know someone who plays mountain dulcimer, find out how they feel about their dulcimer, listen to them play it, and try it out yourself. They'll probably be happy to show you how to play your first simple tune on a dulcimer. If a dulcimer similiar to theirs will meet your needs and expectations, and you can get one with similiar features made by the same builder, you would know what you're getting. If that isn't possible, find out if they have experiences with trying other dulcimers that they can recommend, maybe at festivals they have attended. If you need to order one from a mail order or internet supplier, and you have no recommendations from anyone knowledgeable as to what make or supplier you should look for, absolutely don't just pick one based on a picture, price, and vague description in a catalog or on the internet. Unless you plan to hang it up to look at, rather than to play it, choosing an instrument by appearance alone can be a really bad mistake.
If you plan to buy over the internet and this will be your first dulcimer, check out several places that have a real address, not just a P.O. Box. Ask them about the things in this guide and other things that concern you, and have them play some of their dulcimers over the phone so you can compare the sounds. There are lots of shops and some builders who don't play the instruments they sell or build. If you don't have some solid references from people you know as dulcimer players, you'd be better off not taking a chance that you might be putting your money into a first instrument that's difficult to play or to learn on. Also, for a first instrument, I advise people that it's best to be able to hear the specific instrument you are thinking of buying, because the same model dulcimer, made with the same woods, won't necessarily sound the same as the next one. Many shops have no inventory of dulcimers, but order them from the builders after they have a confirmed order. They certainly won't be able to accurately tell you anything about the specific dulcimer you would get from them. If you don't really have an idea of just where you're going to go with your dulcimer playing, ask whoever is playing dulcimers for you, to play songs, or parts of them, in several different styles, if they can. You don't yet know what your style will be (heck, I can't tell you what my style of playing might be a few years from now), so hearing the dulcimers played in traditional drone style, chord and melody style, and flatpicked or fingerpicked style, is good because some dulcimers that sound great played in one style, don't sound too good played in other styles. What you need for your first dulcimer is an all around instrument that can eventually take you in the direction that is right for you, and sound good whatever style that you decide to play in. Later, if you end up specializing in or playing mostly one style of music, you can buy that special purpose dulcimer that will really make the way you play sparkle.
Very important for online internet orders: People who specialize in dulcimers are usually not doing it just for the money, but for the love of it, and most are operating on a shoestring budget, cutting expenses wherever they can. If, for whatever reason, you plan to place your order on an automated page, when it gets to the page that asks for credit card numbers, check that it is a secure page. Don't assume it is. Some folks have decided it is not worth investing in a secure page to protect your information. If you don't get a message in your browser stating that it is a secure page, check the security info. This may be under 'File' and then 'Properties', or you could be looking for 'Page Info' under a 'View' or 'Tools' menu heading on your browser, or something similiar. Then look for security info. If it doesn't tell you it is an encrypted page, quit what you're doing and call in your credit card info.
If your resources are limited, and you have the choice of getting a very inexpensive instrument now, or waiting as long as, maybe next year for the insrument you have your heart set on, do it now! Things put off 'til next year often never happen, or if it does, there's something else that burdens us which still makes that ideal instrument out of reach. Music can ease stress just because of the nature of it, and by taking our minds off of our troubles, so do it now! you owe it to yourself. There are decent playable cardboard and plywood dulcimers available for $60 to $100. It's your money. You have the right to hear even an inexpensive dulcimer played for you and have your questions answered. Have the person playing it, play scales up all three strings, as I describe later. There are plenty of cheap dulcimers out there that won't play accurate scales on all three strings, and a few expensive ones, too. There are a number of inexpensive dulcimers and even some moderately priced ones that can only be noted on the melody string(s), and the other strings must be played as drones, because the fretscale and bridge placement is only accurate for the treble, 'melody string' or strings. Have them play or fingerpick a tune using chords, so you know that the strings are in tune with each other as they play up the fretboard. Don't pay more than $100 for a plywood dulcimer. There are some fancy looking plywood ones available that certainly have more time and material put into them, but their sound will likely be no better for it(and may be worse). They are not likely to retain their value as well as a decent playable $100 one will.
Things to Look For
The
bottom end of the
dulcimer will have either metal pins or small
nails on or near it, that the strings hook to, or will have a wooden
'foot' with holes the strings go through, with the ends of the strings
being held in place by tiny brass barrel-looking things on the end of
the strings that are too big to go through the hole. Those things are
called the 'ball end' of 'ball end strings'. If the dulcimer has small
pins instead of nails with heads, it may also have ball end strings.
Make sure the strings at that end look like they're held securely in
place and that none of the nails or pins are bending from the pressure
of the tight steel strings against them. On the other end of the
dulcimer is the peghead, with some kind of tuners.
There may be three strings, or four on a typical
dulcimer. If there are four strings, the two nearest your body, as you
look down at the dulcimer with the peghead
to your left, should be right next to each other.
If the tuners where the strings attach are wooden tuning pegs that you
turn in holes to tighten the strings, you probably should avoid those
dulcimers, unless you have to get one like that because you need an
authentic looking old time instrument for historic re-enactments. They
are difficult to tune, and can't generally be relied on to hold strings
in tune, especially in somewhat lower humidity situations, like indoors
in the colder parts of the country during wintertime, or in
air conditioning, or in the dryer, more arid, parts of the country.
There
are also metal friction pegs, which look more or less like a straight
metal shaft going through the side of a peghead from the knob on the
end to where the string hooks on. They hold better, if the screw on the
end of the knob is tightened ocassionally, but are still difficult to
fine tune because there is no gearing. There are planetary gears,
which look sort of like metal friction pegs, except there is what
appears to be a little can on the shaft right where it goes from the
knob into the peghead. That little can holds the gears, which usually
have a 4 to 1 gear ratio. These are better for tuning and lets you have
gears and still get close to having a traditional appearing dulcimer.
The best gears for fine tuning a dulcimer, if you don't mind a less
traditional appearance, are guitar type geared tuners. These have two
distinctly separate shafts at a 90 degree angle to each
other, one from the knob to the gear, and the
other from the gear through the wooden peghead to the string. They may
have exposed gears, gears with covers that go over the gear, or sealed
gears. The open, or covered gears are usually not quite as good quality
as the sealed guitar gears. Guitar gears generally have 12 to 1, or 14
to one gear ratios. A dulcimer with guitar type gears may have
either a slotted peghead or a flat guitar style peghead, which has the
ends of the shafts where the strings connect sticking up through the
peghead, instead of being in a slot in the peghead. String
replacement is easier with a flat peghead.
String length, or the 'tuned length' is the distance from the nut (located at the '0' on the fretboard diagram), to the bridge, the piece that holds the strings up and in position near the bottom of the dulcimer. A long string length is a tuned length over 27", a medium string length is one from 25 1/2" to 27", and a short string length is one from around 23 1/2" to 25". Longer string lengths mean longer spaces between frets, so a longer reach will be required to form chords with a longer string length, and a short tuned length, sometimes called a short fret scale, will make it easier to reach chords for people with shorter fingers. Quite tall people can reach chords with any tuned length up to around 30" generally the longest length found on most dulcimers. People with very small hands, or from around 5'2" and shorter, will probably be most comfortable with tuned lengths near the lower ranges. Longer length strings often give more sustain and volume, shorter strings often yield less of both. As with everything else, there are definite and notable exceptions.
Dulcimer bodies may be a number of different shapes, that vary from rectangular box shaped or trapezoidal shapes with one end wider than the other, to elliptical(boat shaped) bodies, teardrop (resembling a pear shape) bodies, and the hourglass shaped dulcimers that are the most prevalent today. There are many exceptions for every generality, but you can usually expect hourglass dulcimers and box shaped dulcimers to have a somewhat fuller sound overall than what you might expect from the other shapes, the teardrops to have a very solid sound that emphasizes lower mid-range tones, and the elliptical, or boat shaped dulcimers to have the most traditional, higher pitched, somewhat twangy, mountain dulcimer sound. Keeping those general characteristics in mind, the larger the dulcimer, the bigger the internal air space, and the deeper the sides, the fuller and deeper the sound is likely to be. The opposite usually is true. The smaller, narrower, and thinner, the dulcimer, the likelihood is that it will have a smaller, twangier sound. Internal bracing, bridge design and placement, the woods used, and a myriad of other possible design changes, means there are many exceptions, but those observations generally apply when size, depth, choice of woods, and other design features are more or less much the same. There are many different types of wood that work well for dulcimers. The woods and combinations of them that work well are different for different designs and bracing systems. Some builders have great successes with woods that others hold in disdain, so I'm not going very far into that. Generally, the bodies should be hardwood, and the soundboards may be made from various hardwoods, or softwoods, such as redwood or western red cedar. There are some good, moderate to high priced dulcimers, that have laminated backs made of special instrument grade plywood, as do some well respected guitars. Any dulcimer over $100 should have a solid wood (rather than laminated) soundboard though, as the full length grain generally gives a better sound with nicer sustain than cross-grained laminates do.
String length, or the 'tuned length' is the distance from the nut (located at the '0' on the fretboard diagram), to the bridge, the piece that holds the strings up and in position near the bottom of the dulcimer. A long string length is a tuned length over 27", a medium string length is one from 25 1/2" to 27", and a short string length is one from around 23 1/2" to 25". Longer string lengths mean longer spaces between frets, so a longer reach will be required to form chords with a longer string length, and a short tuned length, sometimes called a short fret scale, will make it easier to reach chords for people with shorter fingers. Quite tall people can reach chords with any tuned length up to around 30" generally the longest length found on most dulcimers. People with very small hands, or from around 5'2" and shorter, will probably be most comfortable with tuned lengths near the lower ranges. Longer length strings often give more sustain and volume, shorter strings often yield less of both. As with everything else, there are definite and notable exceptions.
Dulcimer bodies may be a number of different shapes, that vary from rectangular box shaped or trapezoidal shapes with one end wider than the other, to elliptical(boat shaped) bodies, teardrop (resembling a pear shape) bodies, and the hourglass shaped dulcimers that are the most prevalent today. There are many exceptions for every generality, but you can usually expect hourglass dulcimers and box shaped dulcimers to have a somewhat fuller sound overall than what you might expect from the other shapes, the teardrops to have a very solid sound that emphasizes lower mid-range tones, and the elliptical, or boat shaped dulcimers to have the most traditional, higher pitched, somewhat twangy, mountain dulcimer sound. Keeping those general characteristics in mind, the larger the dulcimer, the bigger the internal air space, and the deeper the sides, the fuller and deeper the sound is likely to be. The opposite usually is true. The smaller, narrower, and thinner, the dulcimer, the likelihood is that it will have a smaller, twangier sound. Internal bracing, bridge design and placement, the woods used, and a myriad of other possible design changes, means there are many exceptions, but those observations generally apply when size, depth, choice of woods, and other design features are more or less much the same. There are many different types of wood that work well for dulcimers. The woods and combinations of them that work well are different for different designs and bracing systems. Some builders have great successes with woods that others hold in disdain, so I'm not going very far into that. Generally, the bodies should be hardwood, and the soundboards may be made from various hardwoods, or softwoods, such as redwood or western red cedar. There are some good, moderate to high priced dulcimers, that have laminated backs made of special instrument grade plywood, as do some well respected guitars. Any dulcimer over $100 should have a solid wood (rather than laminated) soundboard though, as the full length grain generally gives a better sound with nicer sustain than cross-grained laminates do.
The frets are very thin metal bars that are pressed into the fingerboard. When you hold a string down just to the left of a fret with a finger on your left hand, and strum or pick it with your right hand, it makes a clear tone. Unless you know that you are in one of the areas of the country where the DAA tuning is still played a lot, you should make sure to get a dulcimer with the 6 1/2 fret, because the 6 1/2 fret is necessary to play in DAD, which is the tuning you will find being used in jams and workshops at most festivals throughout the country.
Fretboard Layout for DAD tuning
Simple Tests You Can Do Yourself
Here's
how to play a scale
on each
string. Start at '0' and pick a string, which will play a note. You
play a '0' by picking the 'open' string, meaning you don't hold the
string down with your left hand. Then hold the string down just to the
left of the first fret, and pick or pluck the string. It should have
made a clear tone both times. Repeat at each fret up to #7, skipping
the #6 fret, but playing a note at 6 1/2 instead. The 6 1/2 or 6+ fret,
as it is sometimes called, was added later in the development of the
dulcimer after all the other frets had been numbered. There was already
lots of music available using the old numbering system, so people just
called it the 6 1/2 fret. Play a note at each position, '0'
through
'7' and listen carefully. You should have just played an octave scale
(do-re-mi-fa-sol-la ti-do). Providing you were holding the string down
against the frets firmly, you should have clearly heard the do-re-mi,
etc tones of the scale. If there is a doubled string on the side
nearest you, those two strings will be pushed down and picked together,
as though they were one string. Repeat on the remaining strings and
listen. You should have clearly heard the 'do-re-mi' scale on each
string. If you had buzzing on any note, and you are sure you were
holding the string down firmly, there are probably some high frets on
the dulcimer
that would give you bad sounds whenever you tried to play it. The bass
string(the one farthest from you with the windings on it, may push down
a bit harder than the others because it's heavier. If any or all of the
strings must be pushed down really hard to get clear tones out of them,
the action is probably too high, and the dulcimer would be very hard to
play nicely, or for very long.
If everything seemed just fine when you did that test, repeat the test, only this time start by pushing down at the 3rd fret and play a note at each fret position except the 6 1/2, so you'll be playing the 6th fret instead. Go all the way up to the 10th fret this time and you should have heard another (higher pitched) do-re-mi scale. Repeat that on each string. If you heard a clear scale on each string, with no buzzes, without having to push really hard next to the frets to get clear tones, The dulcimer has passed the first part of the test.
The last part of this test is to play the scale from fret #1 to fret #7, only this time play it on the 'D' string or 'melody strings' and strum across all the strings when you do it. You will be fretting only the one (or the one pair) of strings, and strumming across it and the others, which are now the 'drone strings'. Listen for buzzes as you strum at each position up to the 7th fret. Now repeat the scale up to '7' on the other 'D' string, the heavy wound one, while strumming across it. The middle string, and melody string(s) are now the drones. Listen again for buzzes. If no buzzes showed up in these two tests, and the dulcimer passed all the previous tests, it should be a good playable dulcimer.
The choice of which sound you prefer, is up to you. Some people prefer deeper, mellower, nearly 'guitar sounding' dulcimers. Some prefer a twangy traditonal dulcimer sound, others sort of an in-between sound relative to the other two sounds. There are quiet dulcimers, sweet sounding dulcimers, rather brash and bold sounding dulcimers, and bright sounding dulcimers. There is a 'traditional' dulcimer sound, but there is no standardized dulcimer sound.
Finally, we come to appearance as a consideration. That's as it should be as far as I'm concerned. If all other things are equal, in choosing between two or more dulcimers, look at the appearance to be the tie-breaker. A dulcimer with a high gloss finish, will show the teeniest scratches, but most of them can eventually be buffed or rubbed out with 0000 steel wool, which will give it a nice lustrous satin finish when done carefully and uniformly. A satin gloss finish will show scuffs and scratches less quickly, and when minor scuffs and scratches do occur they can often be buffed out with 0000 steel wool and blended in without having to rubdown the entire dulcimer. An oil finish gives a soft lustre, and a warmer sound, and scarcely shows scuffs and scratches, but will eventually require more frequent treatment in areas that get the most scuffs and handling, with lemon oil or red oil to keep the wood from drying. Soundholes that are essentially a latticework of intricate design, mean one has to handle the dulcimer very carefully and must never pick it up by grabbing it in that area, or, as one person I know of did, lean on it while engrossed in deep conversation. A lot of people attach importance to position dots on the fretboard, but the irregular spacing of the frets on a dulcimer fretboard makes it just as easy to reference where you are by learning the fretspacing, as by memorizing where the position dots are. Then you will have learned to reference somthing that will transfer to almost every dulcimer you are likely to ever pick up. So it's best to consider 'position dots' as no more than decoration. The appearance of woods you like the looks of, the soundholes, and the finish are important though, in that when you have a really good sounding dulcimer, and you really like its appearance too, you are likely to play it more. Eventually, if you play it a lot, it will show it, and get scuffed and worn, with some dented edges and corners, and show the places where you always rest your arm on the edge, or where you slide your finger along the side of the fretboard to keep your picking hand in the same position relative to the strings. By that time it'll be a love affair, and the sound will only keep getting better as the wood ages and it's been played more, even as the appearance fades. A good instrument will age with us, and just as we mature and mellow, so does a good instrument.
If everything seemed just fine when you did that test, repeat the test, only this time start by pushing down at the 3rd fret and play a note at each fret position except the 6 1/2, so you'll be playing the 6th fret instead. Go all the way up to the 10th fret this time and you should have heard another (higher pitched) do-re-mi scale. Repeat that on each string. If you heard a clear scale on each string, with no buzzes, without having to push really hard next to the frets to get clear tones, The dulcimer has passed the first part of the test.
The last part of this test is to play the scale from fret #1 to fret #7, only this time play it on the 'D' string or 'melody strings' and strum across all the strings when you do it. You will be fretting only the one (or the one pair) of strings, and strumming across it and the others, which are now the 'drone strings'. Listen for buzzes as you strum at each position up to the 7th fret. Now repeat the scale up to '7' on the other 'D' string, the heavy wound one, while strumming across it. The middle string, and melody string(s) are now the drones. Listen again for buzzes. If no buzzes showed up in these two tests, and the dulcimer passed all the previous tests, it should be a good playable dulcimer.
The choice of which sound you prefer, is up to you. Some people prefer deeper, mellower, nearly 'guitar sounding' dulcimers. Some prefer a twangy traditonal dulcimer sound, others sort of an in-between sound relative to the other two sounds. There are quiet dulcimers, sweet sounding dulcimers, rather brash and bold sounding dulcimers, and bright sounding dulcimers. There is a 'traditional' dulcimer sound, but there is no standardized dulcimer sound.
Finally, we come to appearance as a consideration. That's as it should be as far as I'm concerned. If all other things are equal, in choosing between two or more dulcimers, look at the appearance to be the tie-breaker. A dulcimer with a high gloss finish, will show the teeniest scratches, but most of them can eventually be buffed or rubbed out with 0000 steel wool, which will give it a nice lustrous satin finish when done carefully and uniformly. A satin gloss finish will show scuffs and scratches less quickly, and when minor scuffs and scratches do occur they can often be buffed out with 0000 steel wool and blended in without having to rubdown the entire dulcimer. An oil finish gives a soft lustre, and a warmer sound, and scarcely shows scuffs and scratches, but will eventually require more frequent treatment in areas that get the most scuffs and handling, with lemon oil or red oil to keep the wood from drying. Soundholes that are essentially a latticework of intricate design, mean one has to handle the dulcimer very carefully and must never pick it up by grabbing it in that area, or, as one person I know of did, lean on it while engrossed in deep conversation. A lot of people attach importance to position dots on the fretboard, but the irregular spacing of the frets on a dulcimer fretboard makes it just as easy to reference where you are by learning the fretspacing, as by memorizing where the position dots are. Then you will have learned to reference somthing that will transfer to almost every dulcimer you are likely to ever pick up. So it's best to consider 'position dots' as no more than decoration. The appearance of woods you like the looks of, the soundholes, and the finish are important though, in that when you have a really good sounding dulcimer, and you really like its appearance too, you are likely to play it more. Eventually, if you play it a lot, it will show it, and get scuffed and worn, with some dented edges and corners, and show the places where you always rest your arm on the edge, or where you slide your finger along the side of the fretboard to keep your picking hand in the same position relative to the strings. By that time it'll be a love affair, and the sound will only keep getting better as the wood ages and it's been played more, even as the appearance fades. A good instrument will age with us, and just as we mature and mellow, so does a good instrument.
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Folk Notes Dulcimers, Folk Instruments & Music