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#1
12-28-2015, 09:31 PM
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The Original Woodrow
I recently enjoyed discovering a new-to-me variation on a lap dulcimer, called The Original Woodrow. In a nutshell, it is a line of dulcimers that are held, not in your lap, but as you would a mandolin or ukulele. They have four, through-strung strings, arranged in typical dulcimer fashion, with a dulcimer type neck, meaning that the frets are arranged in a diatonic major scale - fun and easy to play! (Put a capo on the first fret and suddenly you're in a dorian minor mode.)
The difference is not just in the way the instrument is held, but in its basic design. The body, neck and headstock are all from one piece of Appalachian hardwood such as cherry, maple or black walnut. The body is hollowed out and a tonewood top is attached, such as maple, gum cherry, or even sinker redwood. It's light, strong, and comes with, I think, a lifetime warranty. The result is a distinctive, yet dulcimer type sound that is amazing strong and vibrant, especially given the small size of even the largest of these instruments. They won't match the total volume of a dread or jumbo, but their voice would likely be easily heard in a Bluegrass ensemble, if you could ever get that banjo player to stand a couple hundred feet away, as he is supposed to! You can have a piezo pickup installed if you need one. These little "upright dulcimers" as I'll call them sound particularly great on fiddle tunes. Though they make even less expensive single string "sticks", I think the price on these little beauties ranged from just under $200 to around $400, maybe more for the sinker-top model. Lots of music power here for not a lot of dough! One would be especially fun for backpacking or motorcycling or anytime a larger instrument might be left behind. No, I didn't buy one, yet, but I just might. They're fun! Check them out at http://thewoodrow.com/. I saw them in person in downtown Asheville, NC. Here are three of their models from their web site.    They say they've made over 10,000 of these, though they have never put serial numbers on them, so you may have come across them before. They were new to me, and I like'em! cotten 
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#2
12-30-2015, 07:07 PM
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Apparently they are still making them, I just emailed them about the case.
There is also the Seagull Merlin which is a short scale version of the guitarified dulcimer 
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Seagull S6 (1998), Seagull Natural Elements Amber Trails Mini-Jumbo Maple, Seagull Coastline 12 Cedar, Seagull S8 Mandolin, Gretsch Boxcar Resonator Mahogany, Martin GPCPA5K Koa, Epiphone Special II, Fender Telecaster (1961), Gretsch NewYorker Supreme Mandolin Natural Mahogany, Fender FB-54 Resonator Banjo Mahogany, Ibanez Artwood AVN-3 Parlour2 Mahogany, Alvarez ABT60 Baritone, Sigma 000M-15.
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#3
01-01-2016, 12:36 PM
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Yes, Bobbie, Woodrow is definitely still making them. I wasn't familiar with the Seagull Merlin, either. Looks like a variation on the same thing. Interesting that the paired strings use the same string hole on that one. The more I think about those Woodrows, the better I like them - even more than a ukulele, for the things I would use them for!
cotten
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