My first zither!

[SantaDave]

I recently purchased my very first zither, a JubelTone 3 chord model. From my research after the purchase this seems to be known as a "children's zither". It's in pretty decent shape, for it's age. The strings are the worst part, they're very old & brittle now. It took me a long time to find where to purchase strings! I'm a luthier based in Texas and have several sources I use for strings, but none had a set for this. I finally came across Lenzner in Germany and I _think_ I have some strings on order now. One sting snapped on trying to get it up to pitch, but the others all tuned without an issue.
Now, I'm working on cleaning and restoring it while I wait for the strings to arrive.
I found a video of Etienne de Lavaulx playing "the Sounds of Silence" on a 6 chord zither and I think I'll work on that as my first song I'll try.

[Andy]

Hello from Manor,

Now thats definitely different than what you usually see here on these forums. Seen a few videos floating around YouTube of that type of zither being played, its very pretty. Please post pictures as you restore it, definitely interested in seeing how that polishes up.

Also, welcome to the forums!
- Andy

[SantaDave]

Well! Another Texan!
I looked for any zither activity anywhere in the North Texas area.... Couldn't find any at all. Called a few of my musician customers & asked if they knew anyone in the area, no luck at all.
I'll start working on restoring it as soon as the strings arrive. There are two cracks, one in the soundboard, one on the back. I'll get those stabilized & then start polishing it up. The strings that I was able to tune sound great. I think I'm going to enjoy playing it. Next step will be to install an acoustic pickup in it.

[Sabsi]

Strangely, I was antique shopping, in Texas, and couldn't resist it's brother. Mine was missing a several strings, but I did buy mine from harpkit.com, very affordable for basic plain strings, just bought the sizes I thought I needed. Tuned up great.

I... I personally prefer it more for looks, but I can play a few things on it. (obviously not lately, it's midnight and I am not dusting.) Swear it's haunted though.

Best of luck on your fixing adventure~

[SantaDave]

Yours is almost identical. The label inside is slightly different, I'm guessing yours is probably a bit older than mine? I wish there was a way to tell the age. Mine has a more modern font, I'm guessing possibly 60's or 70's.
My strings arrived today, I ordered a full set from LordOfTheStrings.com, they drop shipped directly from the manufacturer in Germany "Lenzner", set 200/3, for a 3 chord zither.
Wonderful people, very helpful, they sent it direct without having been paid in advance. Now, I need to convert Euros to $ to send payment!
Amazingly good service.

[Rudy Mueller]

Again, try PayPal; the exchange rates seem fair, and there is some protection for both the seller and buyer. Our daughter in Germany will not deal with internet/ebay.de vendors who do not accept PayPal.