The Bassimer ™ is a new instrument that I have developed. My original goal was to build a lap dulcimer after visiting a wood furniture maker's shop on a vacation to Kentucky. Well, one thing led to another and I ended up building the prototype Bassimer ™. This led me to a successful US Patent. I showed it to some of my musician friends, and everyone's immediate reaction was "Wow, this thing sounds really cool, and it’s so easy".  I am now building instruments in a small shop that I share with my luthier friend Steve Benford (see Links page). The Bassimer™ plays like a reverse dulcimer, but on a bass/guitar neck.  The neck has a 30" scale with 4 strings spaced like a bass.  This means that you can reach more frets and still have room to work between strings.  The 1^st string is fretless and the 4^th and 5^th strings are like a 12 string guitar setup.   Another important feature is the built in sustainer on the D2/D3 double coursestrings.   This allows for a Cello/String sound that can be played as a background drone or a lead type melody.   The Bassimer™ allows for many different styles of play. The body is designed to be comfortable in many positions.   Also, because the bottom is not round, it can actually stand against the wall or an amp without tipping over. Standard Bassimer ™ Tuning / String Setup Standard Position / Slap Classical Position / Finger Style Lap Position / Dulcimer Style Two Hand Tap Style