What is "dulcitar"

The dulcitar is a variant of the Appalachian dulcimer which retains the dulcimer's diatonic fret layout, but has a long neck made to be played upright in the guitar style rather than flat across the lap. Luthier Homer Ledford coined the term "dulcitar" as a portmanteau of "dulcimer" and " guitar", building his first dulcitar around 1971. One of Ledford's dulcitars was accepted into the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution, as well as displayed in a traveling exhibit on American craftsmanship.

The term "dulcitar" was trademarked by Ledford in 1976 (#73075051), and other luthiers have developed conceptually similar instruments under other names such as "strumstick" and "pickin' stick".