Robert Mize 5-String Model Appalachian Dulcimer (1974), made in Blountville, Tennessee, serial # 677, natural finish, Cherry top, back, and sides, brown canvas gig bag case.
Robert "Bob" Mize was a lifelong dulcimer maker hailing from the mountains of Tennessee where he lived all his life, He began building in the 1960s and over the span of his life crafted nearly 4,000 dulcimers. His instruments were played by Appalachian legends like Maybelle Carter and several examples were enshrined in Appalachian mountain music history in seminal Foxfire books. He even served as an ambassador of sorts for the region, being called upon by the governor's office to build dulcimers as state gifts that could showcase Tennessee's rich musical culture.
Mize's business differed from some of the homegrown workshops of his contemporaries in that he invested in and offered a wider range of deluxe woods for custom order (including rosewood details and exotic tonewoods like koa) in addition to regionally abundant options such as cherry or wormy chestnut. The workmanship and finishing still bear the human touch of Appalachian lutherie but with certain finer materials and techniques that place them a cut above the norm.
This is a wonderfully constructed Appalachian mountain dulcimer, bearing a rosewood nut and bridge slotted to accommodate a variety of stringing configurations; currently, it is strung with the lowest and highest string doubled and all five rosewood tuning pegs in use. The cherry is professionally finished and polished to an elegant sheen and the strings pass over original, minimally worn frets through the relatively thick bridge to the endpin.
Many details from the f-holes to the little wooden bumpers on the bottom to allow it to rest on a table or wall more comfortably are marks of this dulcimer's quality coming from an advanced builder. While most Appalachian dulcimers carry no external branding, this one has "Mize" hot-stamped on the fingerboard between the first fret and the nut, a mark of the maker's pride in his work.
Length is 35 in. (88.9 cm.), 6 1/2 in. (16.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/8 in. (7.9 cm.) in depth at deepest point. Scale length is 26 1/2 in. (673 mm.). Width of nut is 1 17/32 in. (39 mm.).
This beautiful dulcimer is remains in exceptional shape with minimal signs of wear overall; the richly finished wood is free from any notable scuffs or chips. There are some visible grain flaws in the cherry that are finished over; these are part of the wood's original character not later damage.
The rosewood tuners are intact and working as they should, and the stainless steel frets show very little wear. The sound is sweet and slightly subdued, more sophisticated than many mountain dulcimers and a good match to the subtle aroma of the cherry wood when held close. This is a perfect example of a very high-quality luthier-made dulcimer from the bench of an experienced builder and resides in a non-original (it probably would not have had an original) but very nice brown canvas dulcimer bag complete with a Hal Leonard Dulcimer Method book inside. Excellent Condition.
