The Butterfly Dulcimer was designed for dulcimer artist Kevin Roth. I built two of them. Kevin's dulcimer lives with him in San Diego and the 2nd one, pictured here, is for sale. They are both 6 string dulcimers that can be set up in multiple ways to suit the player. 

                 Kevin's dulcimer is set up for a 4 equidistant string player with the bass and melody strings doubled, and 2 separate individual middle strings.  The Butterfly dulcimer can also be set up as a standard 4 string dulcimer: with a single bass, a single middle, and double melody strings.  Or the dulcimer can be set up with the bass, middle and melody strings all doubled.  It features a 27.5" fret scale.

                 The back, sides, peghead and tailpiece are all 40 year old East Indian Rosewood.  The top is European Spruce cut from a 45 year old cello block.  I had those woods in my possession since 1971. The inlays feature mother of pearl, blue/green, red, and black abalone, ebony, and semi-precious stone composites. The fingerboard is Honduran Mahogany covered with an ebony overlay. All inlay designs are original, however the peghead butterfly is a rendering of a real butterfly from South America.

The dulcimer comes with the pictured custom hard shell case. 

$4000                                   

If interested contact me through the website or email me at lapidusmusic@aol.com .

SOLD: BRAND NEW WALNUT AND REDWOOD McSPADDEN DULCIMER WITH A BLACK

MICARTA FRETBOARD OVERLAY AND MOTHER OF PEARL FRET MARKERS AND 28 3/8" FRETSCALE

           This is an absolutely wonderful McSpadden traditional mountain dulcimer with a full bright crisp sound,  that lends itself to either strumming or picking styles of playing. It comes with a 28 3/8" fretscale and a 1 3/8' wide fretboard and has perfect smooth low action.

           The back is a beautiful matched set of walnut.  The soundboard is redwood and gives extra  warmth to this dulcimer's sound and appearance. The black micarta overlay  and pearl fret markers give this dulcimer an extra touch of elegance. It comes with McSpadden's signature padded case, book and noter.

$550.00

NEW McSPADDEN WALNUT AND REDWOOD DULCIMER WITH MICARTA OVERLAY ON FRETBOARD, 26" FRETSCALE AND MOTHER OF PEARL FRET MARKERS

   This McSpadden walnut and spruce dulcimer has an  full, clear sound, making it perfect for both strumming and picking. It has the signature McSpadden  low smooth action, the smaller 26" fret scale, a  matched figured walnut back and mother of pearl fret markers.  It comes with the sturdy well made  McSpadden padded case, beginner's book, picks and noter. 

$550

  THE JELLYFISH DULCIMER was completed on June 13th , 2016. The back, sides, peghead and tailpiece are made from a slab of 40 year old Indian Rosewood  and 45 year old European spruce that was cut from a cello blank. (I've had both slabs of wood in my possession since 1971.) 

    The inlay in the peghead is made of mother of pearl and green abalone shell. The upper bout soundholes are green abalone.  The lower bout holes are mother of pearl, yellow mother of pearl, and red and green abalone shell.  The fingerboard is sedua with a 1/4" ebony overlay with green abalone fret markers. 

    The fret scale is 27.5 inches.  The designs are all original creations by myself based on the jellyfish exhibit at the Aquarium of the Pacific in 2015.  I made 2 of these dulcimers.

 

SOLD

SOLD: The Crying Seahorse Dulcimer is an original Joellen Lapidus mountain dulcimer made in 1978.  It is made of paduak wood which is a tropical hardwood that is very musical, much like well seasoned mahogany, but with a deep rich orange rust color and rich musical tone. The top is American spruce.  It was my personal dulcimer for many years.  It is 2 and 3/16" deep with a 28" fret scale.  It has gold schaller pegs and has  recently been refinished and refretted by myself.   

Slide 2:  The peghead has an Indian rosewood silhouette of a crying seahorse.  The tears and eye are white and yellow mother of pearl, and red and green abalone.  

Slides 3 & 4: The upper and lower sound holes are paduak wood  that is inlaid into the soundboard.  The upper sound holes are tears.  Mother of pearl and abalone shell butterflies and hummingbirds are drinking the tears.  There is a spray of shell stars across the left upper bout sound hole.   

The fingerboard is Brazilian Rosewood and it has both the 6+ and the 13+ fret

Slides 5 & 6: The dulcimer comes with a solid wood custom made case with a rich green velour interior and an accessories pocket.  It has strap pins and a black fabric strap.   

PRICE: $4000 No longer for sale