Edd Presnell 3-String Model Appalachian Dulcimer (1968), made in Banner Elk, North Carolina, serial # 597, natural finish, Cherrywood body and fingerboard, handmade gig bag case.
In Appalachian North Carolina, Watauga County to be exact, dulcimer building and homegrown lutherie often ran in the family with a handful of recognizable surnames popping up regularly on labels as the craft was passed from generation to generation. Among those surnames was Presnell, beginning with Eli Presnell who is said to have circulated the design of the traditional hourglass body dulcimer around the area after learning its design from a Westward stranger. Edd Presnell was born in 1914 in Banner Elk, North Carolina. Also a maker of toys and other small wooden goods, Edd is said to have made over 1,000 instruments in his life alongside his wife Nettie, a dulcimer player and builder who herself came from the "Hicks" family of Dulcimer builders.
This is a pretty straightforward but nicely constructed example of a classic 3-string Appalachian dulcimer made with a cherry top, back, and sides. Matching hand carved tuners are nestled into a cherry scroll headstock; the darker wood friction pegs and nut appear to be rosewood, which would be uncommon but very special. Presnell may have kept a small amount of this exotic wood around to give his dulcimers a little something special in the details or for more deluxe special orders, but it is also possible that these were replaced at some point and upgraded from what would have presumably been cherry pegs. The strings pass over original, minimally worn frets and a seemingly replaced rosewood bridge to a single metal nail endpin. It has a traditional hourglass shaped body and the ever-charming heart shaped soundholes.
The hardworking Edd was, like so many of the other dulcimer makers in his community, also a ballad singer and folklorist; he and Nettie were awarded the Brown-Hudson Folklore Award in 1974 for dulcimer making and woodcarving. He stopped making dulcimers in the latter years of his life and passed away in 1994 shortly followed by his lifelong partner Nettie in 1997. Yet a bit of Edd lives on; all photographic and video evidence of him features a wild and bushy beard, and he is said to have glued a strand of his beard hair in every instrument. We cannot confirm, but it sure does look like a strand of hair is visible with a bit of glue residue through the upper treble side bout!
Length is 34 1/4 in. (87 cm.), 6 1/8 in. (15.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth at deepest point. Scale length is 29 in. (737 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/16 in. (33 mm.).
This is a well-preserved example of a higher quality genuine handmade dulcimer. The natural very wide-grained cherry has a few scratches and dings here and there from use over the years, but no major flaws and no visible history of repairs. There are a couple marks here and there on the dulcimer, for example the tailpiece, that almost appear to be more tooling marks, things left behind by Edd while he was building this beautiful but homespun instrument. The whole unit held close emits a faint woody aroma and plays very well.
The hand-carved tuners are carved from some darker wood, perhaps a stained walnut, rather resembling rosewood. The original frets show small traces of wear with plenty of life left in them. There is a large and verbose label inside the lower treble side soundhole hand-numbered No. 597 and dated October 1968 with his builders Guild's seal and salutations from the family. It would almost certainly have not left the shop in an original bag or case, but it now cozily resides in an specially ordered Amish-made dulcimer bag. A copy of a Presnell genealogy writeup is included. Excellent - Condition.
