a nice zither

[kkmm]

I happen to see this instrument on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE7tN3-u8rs

I love the sound and its versatility, it seems to be a lap steel guitar (for melody) combined with a harp (for accompaniment).

I read something about this instrument on the Web but its weight is never mentioned.
Is this instrument still made and new one can be found and bought ?

[Jim Garber]

That is your standard concert zither. The fretted parts is not usually played as a lap steel but actually fretted. The frets are very high -- much higher than guitar or mandolin -- so you can also bend the melody notes.

My friend and former bandmate plays all sorts of music on it. He demos and explains here:



He does play some slide/blues here:

[kkmm]

How much one of these would weight ?

[Jim Garber]

Not much. Ken's is like the Steinway of zithers. Mostly more strings for the basses and it goes further down in the bass. I have a Schwartzer prob from around 1900 or so with the case, maybe weighs 10 lbs. or less.

[Gregory Tidwell]

Not much. Ken's is like the Steinway of zithers. Mostly more strings for the basses and it goes further down in the bass. I have a Schwartzer prob from around 1900 or so with the case, maybe weighs 10 lbs. or less.

Hey Jim! Is that Ken Bloom? I don't know the guy, but I have followed his videos on You Tube for some time. I think he makes dulcimers and bowed dulcimers? Ive only seen his dulcimer stuff. Had no idea he was such a wiz on the zither too. Gonna look for more when I get home from work tonight.

If he is the guy I am thinking of, please tell him if you are able that he has a You Tube fan in CA who really appreciates his videos.

[Jim Garber]

Ken is a wiz on many instruments, usually strange ones. He also plays Ukrainian bandura, Finnish kantele, saxophone, clarinet and, of course, anything with frets. Has singlehandedly started a bowed dulcimer movement in NC.

[kkmm]

How much would one of these cost ? I mean the price range (low end to high end if there are such things).
I love the sound and would not mind learn how to play this.

[Jim Garber]

A zither or a bowed dulcimer?

[chuck3]

Interesting thread. Seeing those zithers reminds me that we had a zither looking much like those in the house when I was growing up, along with an old bowlback mandolin, a nylon string guitar and an upright piano. I gravitated to the guitar and piano, fooled around with the mando and really couldn't figure out what to do with the zither.

With that background, of course I became a bass player, but then eventually the lure of the mando returned. The lure of the zither has yet to do so. But there are some awesome harp-guitars at Retrofret.

[Jim Garber]

Zithers are out there and , as Chuck3 noted are prob as poplar as bowlback mandolins (meaning not much), but that also means that you might be able to find one for cheap. The hard part is finding parts or strings.

A quick search found them offered here and here. Not cheap, as you can see.

[Bill Snyder]

I don't speak German but I still found this video to be interesting.

[Jim Garber]

Thanks, Bill. That is great! I don't know if it is the afternoon after a big lunch but that woman's voice makes me nicely sleepy. I am ready for a nap.

[chuck3]

I remembered that I took a picture of the harp-guitar when I last visited Retrofret. It's second from the right. I wonder how that works relative to the zither. Both have a fretted board and resonating open strings. But reading some of the material Jim linked, zither appears to be tuned completely differently than a guitar.

[Jim Garber]

Harp guitars have the fretboard strings tuned the same as standard 6 string guitars with the harp strings for bass notes. For more about harp guitars than you would ever imagine, go to Gregg Miner's harpguitars.net.

You could, I suppose tune the fretted part of the concert zither to the top 5 strings of a guitar. The zither players play chords and bass notes to accompany the fretted strings melody.

Perhaps the instrument cousin that might be closer to the concert zither is the Ukrainian bandura. TGhe one pictured below has harp strings as well. Most modern ones only have the treble "zither" strings.

[chuck3]

whoa - a bada$$ looking dude playing a bada$$ looking instrument!

[kkmm]

Bill,
Thanks for much for the video. I was wondering how this instrument is built (especially the bracing part), this video shows all.
If I am not mistaken, the "nut" is on the left (curved) side of the player and the "bridge" is on the right (straight) side.
The location of these two pieces are very close to the edge of the sound board and do not put much pressure on the sound board (at least that's what I think).
It is a very interesting instrument that draw a lot of my attention.

[JeffD]

The classic.

[kkmm]

My interest in this zither overwhelmed my mind, so I bid one on eBay and won ;-)
The total is 30$ plus 18$ for shipping charge.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/350928480412...84.m1439.l2648
Knowing nothing about this, I still believe this is a very good deal.
The ads says it is in excellent playing condition (whatever that means).

All of this happens because of a youtube video !!! But I am glad I own one.

[Jim Garber]

Hopefully that crack is the only thing wrong. In that case, you did great. I would loosen the string some ASAP.

[kkmm]

How much would one of these cost ?

A zither or a bowed dulcimer?

My question is about the zither which is the main subject of the thread I started.
BTW, I just won one from eBay. Don't know how good it is until I received it.
I have never touched this instrument my life, but plugging a few strings and listen to the sound can tell me just a bit about how good it sounds.

[kkmm]

I hope the crack is the joint separation of the back plate.
I assume the back plate is made by joining two pieces just like mandolins top & back as shown in the video on post #11 by Bill Snyder (thanks again, Bill).
I will manage to fix the "crack" after I get it.
Please stay tuned and help me out next week.

[Jim Garber]

It is prob a decent instrument either imported from germany or possibly made by Schwarzer who was a German make who worked out of the St. Louis area. I have a Schwarzer I got in exc condition which i restrung and then never learned to play. Hopefully you will learn to play it.

Here are a couple of tutorials.

[kkmm]

Jim,
thanks for your encouragement. Yes, I will learn to play it, at least for my own enjoyment.
However, the first thing is to make sure the instrument is in good shape to play, stay tuned, etc...
I plan to swap the 5 "guitar" strings such that the bass ones are closer to me (just to have familiar look of a guitar or mandolin fretboard).
I just retired last month (will be 62 next Jan) and will have time to enjoy all my instruments.
I found a "zither" forum where I can get infos about this.
I currently play music for churches a lot more than I used to (4 to 5 times a week, piano/guitar/keyboard).

[Masterbilt]

Zithers a various types were/are also quite popular in Switzerland (where I live). There is also a Zither museum near Berne. Here some photos from their collection of historic instruments (german language website):
http://www.zither.ch/Zitherzentrum/I...strumente.html

[kkmm]

Are there new concert zithers being made these days ?
Update: I went out of town for a week, and asked the seller to delay shipping by a few days.
It's on the way to my home now, hopefully will get it by Wed/Thu.