These restoration photos of an Alt Zither were sent in by Don Offinger. This instrument, formerly owned by his father's uncle, a Zitherverein leader in Astoria, Queens, New York, has recently been restored by Sasha Radicic. This zither is now played by Don, who is also a member of the Long Island Zither Ensemble.

This zither bears no maker's label or other identifying marks. Don is hoping to identify the maker of this unique zither.

A few updates from Dave's message on my Alto Zither. The silvered plate above the tuning mechanic has highly stylized etchings enscribed (as do most). The plate has an interesting etching in the central area depicting a castle with a flowing river. I don't know if this is a maker's trademark, a reference to the city of manufacture, or merely a quaint design feature. None the less, all of the etchings on the plate are handsomely designed and executed.

The top and bottom of this Alto Zither is spruce, and both are veneered in beautiful Brazilian Rosewood. The fretboard is ebony with fingering reference dots made from mother-of-pearl inlay. Although not shown in the top two accompanying photos, the photo below displays a portion of the sidewall perimeter (prior to refurbishment by Sasha Radicic) with beautiful marquetry of inlaid woods of contrasting colors; making the inlay designs appear 3-D. The French polish used by Sasha Radicic following repair & refurbishment, makes the woods just glow. The three pinned stability feet and the 5 tuning handles on the mechanic are all of of ivory.


Indeed, this is a very special and handsome instrument with very nice resonance due to the multiple sound holes.
The strings are brown label Lenzners. It is rare that a string breaks but when one does, I replace it with a Blue label Pyrmaid (as I have a full set of Pyrmaids for the Alto Zither). I think Pyramids sound better.