You will find Capote Hills Dulcimers have a fuller sound, with a bass end that is clearer and higher notes that won't sound tinny. Our designs are hands down louder than any dulcimer you’ve heard before. When you play among other instruments such banjos, guitars or other dulcimers you will be heard, rather than getting lost behind the volume the other instruments are capable of. With Capote Hills you will stand out in a group – so keep practicing! Others will stop playing and look to see what make of dulcimer are you playing.

We've heard from customers who have fallen in love with their Capote Hills Dulcimer. Some people even favor them over the others they own, letting those languish in the closet as they so prefer the rich sound of the Capote Hills.

Our instruments include hand crafted and hand carved elements, and from the start have been designed to be different than anything you will hear elsewhere. We are innovators! People say our dulcimers can have an old world look, perhaps middle eastern or Scandinavian, but we can also customize one for you if you want our sound with a somewhat different finish.

If available, I can build you one out of woods of your choice. This may affect the price, so contact us for a quote. I use walnut for the body because it allows me to have a consistent affordable price and walnut has a wonderful sound and it is a very stable wood that is readily available.

At present we have several options for our dulcimers, including the FLAT OAK LEAF head and the SCROLLED OAK LEAF head, as well as a true bass model with an angled oak leaf head. We also have a  chromatic option that will allow you to play any song with sharps and flats, and have a few more innovations in the works you will be excited to hear about.

Standard Basic Dulcimer features, priced starting at $299.00 US.
Bass dulcimer starts at 399.00 US

• Walnut back and sides.
• Walnut flat oak leaf head.
• Walnut tail block.
• Sound Board. Choice of wood (IF available): I currently have Sycamore, Mesquite, Walnut, Ash, Pecan.
• Cow bone nut and bridge.
• Brazilian Walnut Fret board. (Very hard wood).
• Six strings in three courses.
• Standard Quality Strings.
• Tuners: Chrome plated with closed back.
• F holes bottom at bottom and leaf holes at top.
• Semi gloss Lacquered finish (three coats).
• Dimensions are 36" X 2" X  8" for the standard model, and the bass unit is 45" x 9" x 3".
• VSL is 27" and 34" respectively.

Options

There multiple options you can select from to customize your dulcimer to suit your likes and needs.  

• Chromatic fretboard with two colors of frets for easy navigation.
• Hand-carved, rolled oak leaf head (large or small).
• Leaf and vine wood burnt sound board decoration.
• Hand-drawn wood stain leaf and vine decoration.
• Fret board dots in pearl - add $15.
• Better Quality Strings.
• Piezo-acoustic electric pick-up - add $25.
• Strap Buttons.
• Sealed chrome tuners.
• Sealed gold plate tuners.
• Gold plate strap buttons.
• High-gloss finish.

For now, please write to us for options prices. Please note this web site is rapidly evolving now and will soon have more pictures and prices for each option as well as the ability to take custom orders paid with a credit card. Please register on the left column of this page if you would like updates once every week or three while we are growing the site. We will be adding performance and instructional videos too as time goes on. 

Our lead time currently is three weeks.

Shipping and Handling for the Standard dulcimer is 25.00 (USPS).
Bass dulcimer shipping and handling is $40.
We ship within the United States only, and shipping charges are more for Alaska and Hawaii.

If you have any other questions, or would like to specify some feature that I have not listed please drop me a line.