Behind the scenes at Stephens Lutherie
The Stephens Lutherie Skunkworks has been making the most of “sheltering in place” and cranking out prototypes for the next generation of...
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Bob Stephens
Mar 1, 20205 min read
Care and Feeding of the Aaron O'Rourke Fingerstyle Dulcimer
Now that the evolution of the Fingerstyle Dulcimer has pretty much stabilized, it seems appropriate to pull all of my thoughts on how to...
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Bob Stephens
Aug 1, 20192 min read
Aaron O'Rourke Fingerstyle Update
Once again Aaron is serving as the guinea pig in chief to drive the latest double back design to perfection. I caught Aaron at Dulcimer...
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Bob Stephens
Jun 9, 20192 min read
New Fingerstyle Bolt On Bridge Design Is A Success!
Tests on the prototype bolt on bridge went very well and the concept has now been integrated into the Aaron O'Rourke Fingrestyle...
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Bob Stephens
Jun 8, 20191 min read
Wood Sets Are Now Online!
With considerable help from my webmaster (who happens to be my daughter), I have finally managed to get a significant portion of my wood...
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Bob Stephens
May 23, 20191 min read
We made the big time!
The latest issue of Dulcimer Player News is all about innovations and innovators in the dulcimer (mountain and hammer) field. My Aaron...
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Bob Stephens
May 20, 20193 min read
Recent Developments at Stephens Lutherie
I realize that things have been quiet at Stephens Lutherie of late, but that is not because nothing has been going on. Aaron and I...
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Bob Stephens
Apr 7, 20191 min read
The next build is in process
I just finished resawing backs, tops and sides from boards for the next build. If you have given me the specifications for an...
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Bob Stephens
Apr 2, 20192 min read
First build of the Aaron O'Rourke Fingerstyle Dulcimer is underway!
I have been collecting materials for the first build of the Aaron O’Rourke Fingrestyle Dulcimers and am set to begin construction. I...
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Bob Stephens
Mar 20, 20192 min read
A new Aaron O'Rourke Fingerstyle Dulcimer is born!
The first production Aaron O’Rourke Fingerstyle Dulcimer has been in Aaron’s hands for over a month now and he has verified some thoughts...
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Bob Stephens
Mar 20, 20191 min read
The death of the "Nylon String Dulcimer"!
The instrument formerly known as the Aaron O’Rourke Nylon String Dulcimer is no more. Hereafter, it will be referred to as the Aaron...
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Bob Stephens
Feb 10, 20192 min read
It's a dulcimer!
It turns out that the gestation period for a new dulcimer is also close to nine months. With apologies to all the true mothers of the...
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Bob Stephens
Feb 9, 20193 min read
Building dulcimers with a CNC router
My dulcimers rely heavily on the accuracy of my computer controlled (CNC) router. I would even say that without it, I could not produce...
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Bob Stephens
Jan 28, 20191 min read
Nylon String Sound Test Results
Last Wednesday was a great success. Aaron and I spent almost four hours testing pretty much every combination of three bodies, three tops...
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Bob Stephens
Jan 20, 20191 min read
Off to Chattanooga for testing with Aaron
The big day is almost here! For several months I have been preparing three nylon string instruments for sound comparison tests with...
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Bob Stephens
Jan 20, 20191 min read
Carving away everything that isn't a great nylon string dulcimer
As Wayne Henderson likes to say about building a great guitar, all you have to do is carve away everything that isn't a great instrument....
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Bob Stephens
Dec 15, 20181 min read
Instruments are flowing through the shop.
The photos show the seven instruments that are currently making their way through the shop. Four are steel strings and three are nylon...
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Bob Stephens
Nov 29, 20181 min read
Aaron just posted another video of the nylon string dulcimer.
See the potential Aaron is opening up for this new instrument.
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Bob Stephens
Nov 11, 20181 min read
Soundboards- the soul of the dulcimer
Today I finished rough sanding 14 soundboards that were previously bookmatched and glued together. These will have more impact on the...
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Bob Stephens
Nov 11, 20186 min read
Thoughts on the Nylon String Dulcimer
Below are the texts from three recent postings I did on Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer where I attempt to give a bit more detail about...
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