I recently won these two instruments in an eBay auction. The seller said that these were found in a Massachusetts house from 1900 that was being demoed. No other information was given.
First, here's a video tour around them both:
The instruments appear to be handmade and are very similar in construction. One is 26" long and the other (with a protruding headstock horn) is 28".
They both feature 18.5" scale lengths, a metal "pickguard" area and body depths between 1.5" and 1.75". Tuning is via traditional zither pins.
Each instrument features a fretted area and a drone string area. The frets are made from bent wire that is inserted into holes in the soundboard. The longer instrument features four strings that are fretted and four strings that are drone. The shorter has three fretted strings and four drones.
Note the long 16 penny nail used as a bridge.
The biggest difference between the two is the number of strings and the headstock shape:
Even the soundholes are similar, apparently made by carving an "X" into the soundboard and then adding additional flourishes.
The headstocks and butt ends are separate from the body and were glued on. You can see the details in the picture of the instruments backs:
These instruments are inspiring me to create my own version. Perhaps an electric version using a 2x4 and pickups?
So what is it? Did I buy a holy grail? Post your observations, conclusions and comments below!
Tags:
Tennessee Music Boxes? With the typical sheet of tin where you hit the strings?
Mesopotamian lap steels? Perhaps. Perhaps not. O.k., almost certainly not. Cool dulcimers, though. I just like saying Mesopotamian.
My first guess is Scheitholt or Tennessee Music Box with the partial frets. But I've never seen one of those or any dulcimer with the sympathetic/drone strings. Those are similar to what's on a sitar. Someone may have been experimenting and combining a couple of different ideas. Fretted zither is a name for many instruments and that's what I'd call these if pressed to do so.
On http://home.usit.net/~sandyc/mb.html a photo of a Tennessee Music Box with one string fretted and three drone strings.
Some type of Bowed Psaltery.
Those are French dulcimers.
Lark in the Morning were selling some that looked real similar. They were French forget the name of them but, might look and see if they still sell them. Sound real nice.
These two are labelled as Zithers and contain some of the same elements as yours. The drawing is called Old Style Zither and the other is obviously factory made. I agree with Ron's assessment of the construction but I think an acoustic copy could certainly be made with a 2 x 4 if you remove a thin piece for the top and then hollow out the remaining piece. That's probably way more work than simply building the box with 1/4"stock.
Started by Bill Andy in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts 12 minutes ago. 0 Replies 0 Likes
Started by BrianQ. in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts on Tuesday. 0 Replies 2 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 8 Replies 1 Like
Started by Southern Ray in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 26. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by J. D. Woods in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by BrianQ. Apr 25. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Rich Butters in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Crazed Fandango Apr 22. 4 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Nomad Jack in Performances, How to Play, Lessons, Concerts. Last reply by J. D. Woods Apr 17. 7 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Moritz Voegeli in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 14. 6 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Timothy Hunter in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Apr 10. 14 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Tom T in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 9. 9 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Apr 4. 7 Replies 1 Like
Started by Timothy Hunter in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 27. 1 Reply 2 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 10. 1 Reply 3 Likes
Started by Cigar Box Nation in Feature Articles. Last reply by BrianQ. Mar 9. 4 Replies 3 Likes
Started by Ghostbuttons in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Timothy Hunter Mar 9. 5 Replies 1 Like
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 8. 6 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Ken I in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Brian partington Mar 8. 8 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Southern Ray in Cool gear discussion - that's not cigar box related. Last reply by Southern Ray Mar 6. 5 Replies 0 Likes
Started by Taffy Evans in Other stuff - off topic, fun stuff, whatever. Last reply by Taffy Evans Mar 5. 4 Replies 2 Likes
Started by Justin Stanchfield in Building Secrets, Tips, Advice, Discussion. Last reply by Carl Floyd Mar 1. 15 Replies 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on March 31, 2024 at 11:48pm 0 Comments 1 Like
Posted by Vlad on March 6, 2024 at 2:32am 5 Comments 2 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 28, 2024 at 2:09pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by billy jones bluez on February 17, 2024 at 11:00pm 0 Comments 0 Likes
Posted by Vlad on February 11, 2024 at 1:06am 1 Comment 1 Like
May 11, 2024 from 11am to 8pm – Speakeasy Grill
0 Comments 0 LikesMay 30, 2024 from 6:30pm to 10pm – The Casual Pint of Huntsville
0 Comments 0 Likes© 2024 Created by Ben "C. B. Gitty" Baker. Powered by
Cigar Box Nation is presented by C. B. Gitty Crafter Supply, your one-stop-shop for Cigar Box Guitar parts and accessories!