I bought two off German e-bay, as Covid lockdown survival projects! The first was a Bohemian 34 string zither by Votava (Prague), which needed quite a lot of work but is now fully playable, with a nice tone, but unfortunately out of tune as the griffbrett is just ...slightly inaccurate, so it will N...

It looks to me as though it has been dropped, and that corner has taken a bashing. It looks more serious than just loose veneer. Probably best to avoid this one! Are you in the US? There are two or three tidy looking zithers in the US on e-bay at the moment that show up in my search, even though I'm...

Founded 1929 in Schwaebische Gmuend, moved to Koblenz in 1935. Still going in the 1980s, but may have closed down now. Best known for guitars.

I just "Googled" Musik-Klein, and there is a Wikipedia entry. They specialised in high-quality reproductions of historic instruments, so the build quality is likely to be very good.

Gruss Gott Rudy!

Try www.deutscheslied.com, or www.volksliederarchiv.de

I suspect that you'll love the first one! Herr Schendel is very helpful.

Flat! The bow in mine is accidental, due to age and probably storage in an attic or barn!

Good luck with the cracks. There are some clever tools and glues, etc. available for veneering, so if you can get in you are off to a good start. I was fortunate to find a zither without cracks, though it had an alarming looking warp around the soundhole, which has flattened out a bit since restring...

Hello! There are very few of us. It's very much a Germanic instrument, and it never really caught on, though Prince Albert played a bit. Teachers seem to be non-existent here, HOWEVER I attend zoom classes about once every two months organised by Carmen Amrein in Munich. These have been very helpful...

Right ......! 1. You have quite a good zither from a well-known maker, well made in the first place. I think it probably IS worth repairing, but is also a bit of a challenge. It is made from a soft tone-wood with an Indian Rosewood / Palisander veneer, which is quite normal. Do the cracks in the ven...

I lubricated the worm screws with Mitchell X3 super marine lubricant, as used on fishing reels. It is a gel, so it stays in place where it's needed!