Thanks for the 'words to the wise. I guess experience trumps theory! Hello Bruce, I've had a look at Ron Cook's site. In spite of others' negative opinion about his work, I think that his site is not a bad place to gain some knowledge on zither repair. There are two important questions, however. On...

My concert zither strings (Lenzner) are 58 centimeters long, for a sounding string length of 41.5 cm. Remember hat you need some extra length to go round the wrest-pins! Harp zither strings have a sounding length of 43.5 cm. Psalter zithers are 45.0 cm Alt zithers are 52.0 cm Bass zithers are 57.0 ...

Hello Dear Forum Members! I gladly announce that I"m the proud owner of two beautiful zithers. One is a Perfekta harp zither and the other is a smaller concert zither. The Perfekta is a Hornsteiner, it has a label, and it must be more than 100 years old. The small one has no label, but it is so...

Now that I'm more into the topic, I just wonder why the spikes were put into the ebony feet of the zither. OK, I know that they prevent slipping and probably facilitate effective trasmission of resonance to the table, but still... They can be very dangerous! In fact, they make the zither look like a...

One day, a cello player started playing the same note, over and over, hours long, days long......and it started to get on his wife's nerves. Finally she confronted him, and he replied... "they are all looking for the spot, and I have found it". Strings are the vocal chords of your instrum...

Amazing instrument you have, I just wish I had a similar one. Greetings from another newbie!

Dear Attila, this perfekta Zither looks very old and like you need to do a lot of work. Plus, depending on how long this instrument just layed in its case, you might have difficulties with the wood, tuning, ... As a university trained Zither teacher living in Munich, Germany, I'd say: let it go and...

Hello Zitherist Friends, I'm very glad to announce that I have a new zither! To be correct, it isn't a new zither but a rather old one, maybe about 80-100 years old. It's in a reasonably good condition, but it needs some restoration. I think I can cope with the fixing job, but I need some specialist...

Thanks Dave! Just saw this, haven't been on much lately. That is really cool info! I have to laugh at the price but hey it was pre-1900! Do you know if this Zither was considered low-end, high-end or somewhere in between for it's day? Not that it really matters - this one isn't going anywhere for a...

I have a a 36 string concert zither, with Munich tuning, and a Korg CA-50 chromatic tuner. The strings are all Optima Bergfee Gruene Tuning down to C# (cis) 23 is straightforward, but lower than that the tuner fails to recognise the note and doesn't light up. Any tips? Do I need to get a contact mi...