CHAPTER 4: Dulcimers in the British Isles since 1800 > Dulcimers in the Midlands & the North

Bill Fell - strings

The strings he uses are of steel for the trebles, and phosphor bronze for the bass.

He has one unwound brass string for the low G.

Billy Bennington has a similar extra low note, such as Mersenne referred to as a bourdon (1636), although his is an overspun string.

The courses are arranged as 14 ^IV; + 10 ^III, 2 ^II, 1 ^I, i.e. basically quadruple trebles and triple basses, but with one single and two doubles for the three lowest notes.

This provides an interesting comparison with Praetorius' Hackebret of 1620.