Hello from Oregon, USA
Posted: Sat Apr 30, 2016 5:15 pm
I'm retired and got interested in instrument building after I made a cigar box guitar. It turns out that my fingers are too stubby for a fret board, so I looked around for a non-fretted stringed instrument I could play, and discovered that my fingers are well suited to a zither (with picks) and to the standard string spacing on a harp. Since harps are ridiculously expensive for an old retired guy with more time than money, I decided to focus on the zither for now.
Right now I'm making my first zither modeled after an old, busted up Menzenhaur guitar-zither I found for a couple bucks. It has 5 chord groups of 4 strings each, and 21 melody strings for a total of 41 strings.
I've read that you should use the best materials for all your builds, but for me, I have lots of time and little spare cash, so I'm using maple from the local lumber store for the frame and 1/4" birch plywood for the back and soundboard. It may not turn out to be the best sounding instrument, but my focus right now is on improving my limited woodworking skills. So if it turns out to be a piece of junk, at least I will have learned a lot from the effort, and my next one will be better.
I've already learned quite a few things just reading through old posts here. I look forward to learning even more.
Right now I'm making my first zither modeled after an old, busted up Menzenhaur guitar-zither I found for a couple bucks. It has 5 chord groups of 4 strings each, and 21 melody strings for a total of 41 strings.
I've read that you should use the best materials for all your builds, but for me, I have lots of time and little spare cash, so I'm using maple from the local lumber store for the frame and 1/4" birch plywood for the back and soundboard. It may not turn out to be the best sounding instrument, but my focus right now is on improving my limited woodworking skills. So if it turns out to be a piece of junk, at least I will have learned a lot from the effort, and my next one will be better.
I've already learned quite a few things just reading through old posts here. I look forward to learning even more.