A W Jeffreys Dulcimers
The Jeffreys formed the Appalachian Dulcimer Corporation as a genuine family business from the early 60s onwards. A W and his son Jay made most of the bodies, while daughter Jan pasted the labels and sanded the soundholes! Mother Johnnie (Virginia) ran the business side of things. An interesting thread on Mudcat at http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=60386 describes this in more detail, including contributions from A W Jeffreys’ daughter.
3.107 Jeffreys 3 String Hourglass #2572 Early 70s? £265 + NEW soft, padded case £25
Oblong printed label with floral border: “Appalachian/ Dulcimer/ by A.W. Jeffreys, Jr/ No. 2572 [h/w] Staunton, Va./ [signed] JCJ”.
Walnut body, the back being a one piece laminate. Darkish fine-grained top, possible aged spruce or cedar. Rounded heart soundholes. Elegant little ‘scroll’, designed round a simple drill hole, and pegbox. Latter originally fitted with wooden friction violin pegs, but replaced with planetary-geared banjo tuners (pearl buttons). The old holes have been professionally filled. Solid butternut/oak (?) fingerboard with chunky frets (no 6+). Shallow strum hollow. Hardwood ‘nut’/zero fret and bridge. Single wooden dowel in tail acts as string anchor for all strings. Overall length 32½”, upper bout 4¾”, lower bout 6¾”, depth 1½”, FBW 1¼”, VSL 27″ (medium scale), weight 1lb 9oz (705g) strings now 12, 14, 22w. No 6+ fret.
This is an instrument from the collection of masterful UK dulcimer player John Shaw. Generally very good condition, just a few almost imperceptible strum marks and a small ding on the far side edge. Sweet sounding and with an ideal scale for 1:5:5 tuning (DAA or equivalent).
