Thomann Europe Dulcimer D1210

As a fan of early Rolling Stones I got hooked on the sound of the dulcimer after hearing it on songs like Lady Jane and I am Waiting. I wanted my own but found out that it wasn't easy to get a dulcimer in Europe for a reasonable price.

Lucky for me Thomann had the D1210 in their catalogue and for a nice price. I bought it and was somewhat disappointed when it arrived. The bridge wasn't compensated which mean that the scaling was off. The open D and the D on the 8th fret was off by a few cents - too much for my ears. I got a file and a sandpaper, had a go and was able to get it in tune all across the fretboard with some work. Other than this it sounds very nice and has a good feel to it. It stays in tune pretty well.

For the beginner I would recommend getting this. Hopefully Thomann has managed to get the scaling better. After all it was a while I bought mine.

Usually I am a guitar player but my interest in diatonic instruments started after buying the "Seagull Merlin".
So it would not take a long time before I would buy a mountain dulcimer. So I went for the one of Thomann because I nearly buy all my gear there. As aesthetically I prefer the hourglass type over the teardrop I ended up with this model.

Pros: - Sound
- Headstock (Violin like)
- Bag included.

Cons: - Weight.
- Fretboard.
- Strings.
- Endfix Strings.

Let me explain a bit about the cons:

Weight: This is my greatest disappointment. The instrument is way too light ! You can not play it on your lap without pushing it down with your right hand. Your left hand pushes the strings but you need balance otherwise it will 'fly' of your lap. Playing on a table works better but will still shift the instrument if not placed on non-gliding material.
I will certainly put some additional weight on the back of it.

Fretboard: No rosewood. Based on the wood the neck is made from. Frets are ok if you clean up the fretboard.
Strings: When tuning, the middle string broke. I know it would break because I felt there was no dynamic in it. Probably old strings. Luckily I had a replacement set by hand so after replacing the whole set the sound was much clearer (add 3.99¤)

Endfix Strings: Not the same as advertised. Advertised are strings with a ballend on top (like guitars) but
in reality they are strings with loopends on the side (string ends in a loop). Exactly the same as you can see at their model D1211. This means that you cannot use guitar strings for replacement but real dulcimer strings with loop end. Strings like :


Conclusion : Even though the list of cons, I will keep it. I'll upgrade and customize it to reduce the cons but in the end it plays well and for me that's the most important reason to keep it.

I bought this for my brother as he's been talking about learning the Dulcimer for a while but he's always broke! This is his first musical instrument and he absolutely loves it. It seems really solidly put together and the tone is very pleasing. For the price bracket this instrument falls into, I don't think you can really go wrong. It's lot of craftsmanship for an affordable price and an ideal beginner's instrument.

This instrument comes with a well made soft case and is convenient to transport given it's relatively light in comparison to the sturdy construction. Thomannn shipped this item quickly and it was professionally packed, arriving safe and sound.

Really good for the price surprisingly loud for its size holds its tuning very well at least on the 1 i got i have used it live and traveled about with it and its pretty durable its loud enough to use in acoustic jams but for live performances you need to put a pick up on it really fun to play gives you good ideas particularly if you mess round with alternate turnings the tone and quality is good for what your paying looks nice and is a good instrument to get in to Dulcimer playing and its a good sized instrument for a camped environment or for traveling about very good for what your paying