• Roosebeck Trail Dulcimer, 3-String Lacewood Main photo
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Specialty Dulcimer

Roosebeck Trail Dulcimer, 3-String Lacewood

$159
$159
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3-String Lacewood Body Spruce Top 25.75" Compact Under 1 lb

Ideal for: Travelers, hikers, beginners, and anyone who wants a take-anywhere dulcimer

A take-anywhere dulcimer with mountain tone and a hint of banjo twang.

The Trail Dulcimer is the dulcimer you bring when bringing a dulcimer feels like too much. At under one pound and just over 25 inches long, it slips easily into a pack or under an airline seat. The compact body lets you play it like a guitar instead of flat in the lap, which makes it equally at home on a porch, around a campfire, or in a coffee shop. A spruce soundboard over a carved lacewood body gives it surprising volume for its size.

Mountain Tone with a Hint of Banjo Twang

The compact body and carved lacewood construction give the Trail Dulcimer a voice that's recognizably dulcimer but with a sharper, brighter attack, almost a banjo-like twang on the upper strings. The spruce soundboard makes it surprisingly loud for an instrument this small. It cuts through outdoor settings where a full-size dulcimer might disappear.

About lacewood: Lacewood gets its name from the distinctive flecked figure in its grain, which looks like lace under finish. It's a bright, articulate tonewood well suited to compact instruments.

Built for the Road

The Trail's body shape lets you play it like a guitar, held vertically against your body, instead of flat in the lap like a traditional mountain dulcimer. That's a significant design choice: it means you can play standing, walking, or sitting in a folding camp chair. The intricate laser-cut sound hole keeps weight low while giving the soundboard the breathing room it needs.

The rosewood fingerboard includes the 6½ fret, which lets you play in Ionian mode without modal limitations. The lacewood body and neck keep the entire instrument under a pound.

Why "Trail": This dulcimer was designed to actually go on trails. Hikers, paddlers, road musicians, and traveling teachers have made it one of our most-loved compact instruments.

Three Strings, Endless Possibilities

The Trail Dulcimer has three string courses: a wound string at the top, a plain center string, and a plain string at the bottom. Recommended tuning is G3 D4 G4. The frets are arranged in a diatonic scale, just like an Appalachian mountain dulcimer, and the 6½ fret opens up Ionian mode for additional flexibility.

You can play this as a simple folk instrument or push it into more complex territory. Either approach works.

New strings recommended: The strings shipped on every Trail are travel strings. Replace them shortly after the instrument arrives for the best playability and tone.

Technical Specifications

Strings 3 (1 wound, 2 plain)
Recommended Tuning G3, D4, G4
Body Wood Carved lacewood
Neck Lacewood
Soundboard Cream-colored straight-grained spruce
Fingerboard Rosewood with 6½ fret
Sound Hole Intricate laser-cut
Nut Width 1.25 inches
Body Width 4.3 inches
Body Thickness 1.5 inches
Overall Length 25.75 inches
Weight 0.65 lbs (under 1 lb)

What's in the Box

Every Trail Dulcimer ships ready to tune and take wherever you're headed.

Pick Owner's Guide (PDF)

Have questions about this instrument? Contact us or browse all Mountain Dulcimers.

Questions about this instrument?
Talk to our team or browse all specialty dulcimers.
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Roosebeck Trail Dulcimer, 3-String Lacewood

$159
$159
Tradition you can feel, craftsmanship you can hear.
Solid tonewoods
Cured, cut, and chosen for sound.
Voiced by hand
Fretboards dressed, action set, bridges fit by our luthiers.
Made to be played
Built for working musicians, designed to sound better the more you play it.
Since 1973
Five decades of building instruments that last generations.

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