Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Yellowbelly Flatt on September 26, 2011 at 11:06am

I've seen several of these type of fiddles. There are some on you tube.

They were - at one time - manufactured, a bit like steel bodied resonator guitars, they were tried in order to give an increase in volume. They virtually died out. The better manufactured ones had 2 horns. The second one pointed at the violinist/fiddler so that they could hear the instrument. I think Stroh (or a name like that) used to produce them.

The one in the video looks like it is reclaimed as the horn angle seems to make it difficult for the fiddler to play the lower strings.

Permalink Reply by Mark on September 26, 2011 at 12:49pm

You are correct, it is a Stroh viol - named after its designer Johannes Matthias Augustus Stroh, a German who developed a family of such instruments in the last years of the 19th century the the first years of the 20th century. The violins are the most common but there were also guitars.

I believe Tom Waits has occasionally included a Stroh viol amongest his varied and eclectic range of instrumentation.

Yellowbelly Flatt said:

I think Stroh (or a name like that) used to produce them.

Permalink Reply by Yellowbelly Flatt on September 27, 2011 at 11:05am

Of course, "National" made experimental resonator fiddles, mandolins and such.

Permalink Reply by Order99 on September 27, 2011 at 4:28pm

  The spirit of the Stroh merely sleeps:

 

http://www.instructables.com/id/Reclaimers-Stick-Fiddle/

 

 Not mine i'm afraid...just some lovely DIY I ran across a few months ago, According to the article, they're 'building an orchestra' of these critters...

Permalink Reply by Boyd Bostick on September 28, 2011 at 4:00pm

Yeah, I've read a bit about Strohs after hearing that Mr. Waits has used them; of course I can thank him indirectly for clueing me into the whole cigar box instrument phenomenon; I was reading a review of one of his Glitter and Doom shows back in '08 and they mentioned him using a cigar box banjo.

 

I saw that they had a passing glimpse of a fellow using a Stroh in the pilot episode of Boardwalk Empire, which makes sense because that's when they were popular.

 

I also saw something similar in Honolulu about a year ago, at Pua Pua Ukulele; they had a Stroh-style uke.