Stanley Hicks 4-String Appalachian Dulcimer (1985)
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Stanley Hicks 4-String Model Appalachian Dulcimer (1985), made in Vilas, North Carolina, natural finish, Cherry top, back, and sides.
Watauga County, North Carolina was home to many of the torchbearers of American traditional music and Appalachian storytelling, but Stanley Hicks in particular was a master of his many crafts including storytelling, flatfooting, and of course instrument making. From humble beginnings as the child of English immigrants, Hicks taught himself how to build banjos and dulcimers like his father and grandfather before him. Like other resourceful mountain instrument builders, Hicks made use of the easily attainable tone woods on his property and likely used the skins of whatever critter was available that week.
This is a pretty straightforward but nicely constructed example of a classic 4-string Appalachian dulcimer made with cherry all the way down. Matching hand carved tuners are nestled into a lump-scroll cherry headstock, a common choice of wood used by Hicks and his like due to its beauty and native abundance. This is a four-stringed dulcimer, with the highest melody string doubled for an even chimier sound. This was a later in life example from Hicks and it is refined in many ways, but there is yet a bit of folky experimentation at the tailpiece. He employs a mixture of thin steel nails for loop end strings and one single flathead screw guiding the center string. It has a traditional hourglass shaped body and the ever-charming heart shaped soundholes.
Hicks was a vital part of the region's folk music community writ large and an avid storyteller, a tradition that holds a lot of weight in Appalachia and earned him several regional and national accolades. He went on to be recorded by the likes of Alan Lomax and was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in 1983, the highest national honor for folk art. He passed away in 1989 only a few years after the construction of this dulcimer, building instruments and making music until the end of his life. Today his instruments are considered among the higher quality examples of the mountain banjo and Dulcimer tradition, and among the more sought after of this style of instrument.
Length is 35 1/2 in. (90.2 cm.), 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) in depth at deepest point. Scale length is 27 in. (686 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/16 in. (33 mm.).
This is an excellently preserved example of a higher quality genuine handmade Appalachian dulcimer. The cherry is in well-kept condition free from any cracks or visible repairs with only a handful of small scratches and scuffs here and there from some honest wear, but this dulcimer has mostly fared well through the last 40 years. The cherry tuning pegs and thin scroll headstock are well-maintained and the frets show only small traces of wear with plenty of life left in them.
Hicks offered superior buildmanship and a tone that is much more robust and pleasant than many of the common kit-made dulcimers at the time, though there remains a charming "folksiness" to the work after decades of autodidactic lutherie. This dulcimer in particular is excellent sounding, sweet and smooth, and emits an equally sweet faint woody aroma when held close. The markings of the Hicks shop are on display here with the label inside one of the heart-holes, and his initials along with the date are stamped into the back of the headstock as well. It does not have a case and very likely would not have left the shop with one in 1985. Overall Excellent Condition.
Watauga County, North Carolina was home to many of the torchbearers of American traditional music and Appalachian storytelling, but Stanley Hicks in particular was a master of his many crafts including storytelling, flatfooting, and of course instrument making. From humble beginnings as the child of English immigrants, Hicks taught himself how to build banjos and dulcimers like his father and grandfather before him. Like other resourceful mountain instrument builders, Hicks made use of the easily attainable tone woods on his property and likely used the skins of whatever critter was available that week.
This is a pretty straightforward but nicely constructed example of a classic 4-string Appalachian dulcimer made with cherry all the way down. Matching hand carved tuners are nestled into a lump-scroll cherry headstock, a common choice of wood used by Hicks and his like due to its beauty and native abundance. This is a four-stringed dulcimer, with the highest melody string doubled for an even chimier sound. This was a later in life example from Hicks and it is refined in many ways, but there is yet a bit of folky experimentation at the tailpiece. He employs a mixture of thin steel nails for loop end strings and one single flathead screw guiding the center string. It has a traditional hourglass shaped body and the ever-charming heart shaped soundholes.
Hicks was a vital part of the region's folk music community writ large and an avid storyteller, a tradition that holds a lot of weight in Appalachia and earned him several regional and national accolades. He went on to be recorded by the likes of Alan Lomax and was awarded the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow in 1983, the highest national honor for folk art. He passed away in 1989 only a few years after the construction of this dulcimer, building instruments and making music until the end of his life. Today his instruments are considered among the higher quality examples of the mountain banjo and Dulcimer tradition, and among the more sought after of this style of instrument.
Length is 35 1/2 in. (90.2 cm.), 6 1/4 in. (15.9 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 3/8 in. (6 cm.) in depth at deepest point. Scale length is 27 in. (686 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/16 in. (33 mm.).
This is an excellently preserved example of a higher quality genuine handmade Appalachian dulcimer. The cherry is in well-kept condition free from any cracks or visible repairs with only a handful of small scratches and scuffs here and there from some honest wear, but this dulcimer has mostly fared well through the last 40 years. The cherry tuning pegs and thin scroll headstock are well-maintained and the frets show only small traces of wear with plenty of life left in them.
Hicks offered superior buildmanship and a tone that is much more robust and pleasant than many of the common kit-made dulcimers at the time, though there remains a charming "folksiness" to the work after decades of autodidactic lutherie. This dulcimer in particular is excellent sounding, sweet and smooth, and emits an equally sweet faint woody aroma when held close. The markings of the Hicks shop are on display here with the label inside one of the heart-holes, and his initials along with the date are stamped into the back of the headstock as well. It does not have a case and very likely would not have left the shop with one in 1985. Overall Excellent Condition.