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Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2017 11:52 pm
by joel
Hi all, from Auckland, New Zealand.
Thanks for having me :)

I was given this lovely zither as a gift yesterday. It belonged to the mother of the uncle of a friend, and she played it often apparently. It is over 100 hundred years old, and it was a student zither (thanks Dave Kyger).
Does anyone have any further info as to the specific model etc?
- 31 strings
- engraved on the finger board between 0 and 1st fret 'M.C.R.ANDORFF. MARKNUEKIRCHEN'S
- The sticker inside the soundhole says ' B.R .Schultz, teacher of the Zither'
- Address 32a Tottenham Street, W. (crossed out) New address - 76 Charlotte st, Fitzroy square, W.

Also, I would appreciate some advice on strings and amplification. I'm a professional guitar player, jazz trained, but I also play a lot of improvised/experimental/avant garde music. So I'm hoping to learn the zither conventionally, but also use it as a sound source, ie prepared zither (playing with objects).

Strings:
I'm looking at the 'Bergfee steel red' set of strings from Schneider music. Are there any cons to these? Ie are they harder to play, will the action raise etc? And will they sound good acoustically?

Pickups
Where can I source a pickup setup like the screenshot attached? there is one pickup for the accompaniment strings, and another at the end of the fretboard.

Any advice, comments, tips etc much appreciated :)

Kind regards,

Joel Vinsen

Re: Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2017 11:54 pm
by joel
Pickups:

Re: Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 5:48 pm
by Rudy Mueller
What a beauty! and from Markneukirchen, it's a treasure.

Our grandson spent some time in New Zealand this year, and just this last weekend went to a re-union of those who have visited your beautiful homeland, in Hanau, outside of Frankfurt.

More tomorrow;. supper is a'cookin'

Rudi

nylon strings are like silk...but if you want to amplify with the traditional pickups, you're stuck with steel...

Re: Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 7:53 pm
by Rudy Mueller
The pickups look quite a bit like those used by professionals around here. Indeed, there may be quite a bit of intrinsic worth just with the pickups. Any manufacturer's marks? You may want to talk to some professionals. Look around.

Die Zither ist "eine Zauberin", an enchantress. If you want to learn, one good starting point (among others) may be the Kabetek instruction book, available at this site; contain Dave Kyger for the link. Kabetek gets the right hand/left hand coordination going right off at the start.

Gute Nacht, und gut Klang!

Rudi

Re: Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 8:09 pm
by Rudy Mueller
Are the instruments in figure 1 and 2 the same instrument?

rudi

Re: Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:35 am
by joel
Hi Rudy,

Thanks for your reply :) The first post is my zither, the second is the example of the pickup that I'm hoping to buy.

Re: Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 6:36 am
by joel
Do you think that steel strings will be ok? I'd like to amplify it. But will this run the risk of warping it?

Re: Any info on this Zither? Also strings and pickups?

Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2017 9:27 am
by Rudy Mueller
Good morning Joel,

Kurt Eckroth has used this style pickup for many years. You need to talk amplifiers to a pro of his caliber and experience; he has a wealth of information, and is eager to share. He also does lessons over Skype, and has done so with students in Europe. I will ask Dave to forward his e-address to you.

Rudi