Specialty Dulcimer
Roosebeck Trail Dulcimer, 3-String Lacewood
Roosebeck Trail Dulcimer, 3-String Lacewood
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.
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.
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.
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.
Have questions about this instrument? Contact us or browse all Mountain Dulcimers.
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Tradition you can feel, craftsmanship you can hear.