Claremont, California
Doug Thomson

Wood, metal, fiberskyn
2010 C.E.
Length: 38 in; Depth: 2.75 in
Strings – Zithers 

Embossed on the back of the pegs: GOTOH / (LOGO) 
Engraved plaque on the back of the peghead :  THE BANJO-MER / #208 2010 / By: Doug Thomson
Stamped on skinhead in ink:  REMO (R) / FIBERSKYN (R) 3 FA / MADE IN U.S.A.

There are various derivatives of the Appalachian dulcimer, which first appeared in the early 1800s among the Scotch-Irish immigrants that settled in the Appalachian Mountains.  Until the recent research by Ralph Lee Smith and L. Alan Smith on the history of the construction of these early instruments, their  origin to similar European instruments was pure speculation.  According to the reconstructed history and analysis of older dulcimers by Ralph and Alan Smith, the organological development of the dulcimer was divided into three periods: Transitional (1700 to mid-1800s); Pre-revival or traditional (mid-1800s to 1940); and Revival or Contemporary (after 1940).

Organologically, the Appalachian dulcimer is considered a folk instrument and is classified as a plucked box-zither.  The frets are typically arranged in a diatonic scale, unlike the guitar or banjo, which are fretted chromatically.  The number of strings may range from two to as many as 12 and are usually metal wire strings.  They are usually tuned (from left to right) to G3-G3-C3, C4-G3-C3, or C 4-F3-C3.  The dulcimer is usually played on the lap or laid on a table.  It can vary in size  from a soprano or piccolo dulcimer to a contrabass dulcimer.

This hybrid instrument is a three-string Banjo-Mer mountain or lap dulcimer that is patented, hand-made, dated 2010, signed and numbered by Doug Thomson.  It resembles a standard dulcimer, with a banjo-like head resonator-membrane on the body.   Doug has been building dulcimers for thirty-five years. The Banjo-Mer is played coast to coast in the USA , and also in Israel and Canada.

Resource: https://banjo-mer.com/biography/
Resource: Long, Lucy M. (2001). “Appalachian dulcimer”. In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5. ‎   
Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_dulcimer