Alan Horvath | McSpadden Dulcimers

Alan's Instruments | McSpadden Appalachian Mountain Dulcimers
[Back to Alan's Axes]

This wonderful instrument was built by Lynn McSpadden, February 2001 ... serial #42217 It's a Scroll Teardrop, T34S ... I special-ordered it from their web site McSpaddenDulcimers.com hailing from Mountain View, Arkansas.

It has a sitka spruce top, walnut sides and back, scroll peghead, ebony overlaid fretboard, and a compensated bridge. Generally, I keep it tuned in the traditional D.A.dd

Being the kind of guy I am, my dulcimers are strung "backwards" ... in case anyone's wondering, I'm not left-handed, it's just that I want the strings to appear in the same order as my guitars and other instruments do: left-to-right; low-to-high.

This one was built by Richard Stoltze, February 2001 ... serial #42212 It's a Baritone, FM-12CRB ... I ordered it from the McSpadden web site (see above).

It has a redwood top, cherry sides and back, flat peghead, cherry fretboard, and a compensated bridge. The baritone is tuned a half-octave below the traditional dulcimer ... mine is tuned to G.D.GG

Hear Alan playing his McSpadden Dulcimers ...

Kingdom Come

The Nine Riders

Alan's Dulcimer Performance Stand:

The dulcimer is usually played on the lap ... but I had a problem with this, for two reasons: 1) the dulcimer slips and slides around too much, and 2) laying the instrument across your lap mutes the sound to an unacceptable extent. So, I took the bottoms from two old guitar stands I had ... designed and made my own parts ... painted everything black (except for the foot-rest - solid maple; lemon-oiled) ... and voila! It's adjustable for sitting or standing performances ... breaks down into three straight pieces by releasing 4 wingnuts, for easy traveling ... weighs a pound or two (I guess) ... holds the dulcimer in a comfortable and *stable* position ... and will adjust to accommodate different sized dulcimers.

NOTICE: I Do Not Build or Offer These Stands for Sale.
The picture above shows the stand with the dulcimer in place, from the audiences view ... and the picture below is a view of the stand without the instrument.

View my favorite dulcimer links: [Click Here]