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Vintage Zithers | Paul Reed Smith Guitars1 of 2 |  | |
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Posted 1 year ago
stefdesign
(81 items)
These are three of my zithers. The two smaller ones are child's zithers- the one on the right is a "Third Man" model (I have another one that has the label, this one's label is missing). The red one was given to me when I was in college over 40 years ago. It was new then, but I have no idea where it was made. I always thought it might be German.
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GuitarsDuring the past 20 years, baby boomers looking to reclaim their lost, garag…
I have a question? did you ever had a chance to find out any information of the accordion on my page yo mention it could be a toy accordion? Thanks
If not is o.k. to
Hello stef,
I remember working with you, in a past life, on "Wrestling Buddies" plush dolls.
You have some nice things posted, I see we have some similar interests ...musical instruments, children's books to name a few.
World keeps getting smaller.
Really? Wow! You can find my email through my blog listed on my profile. I'd live to hear from you!
I'll have to find it tomorrow, my mind is slowing to a crawl, it is 1:20 AM back here in Minnesota. Good night
These are really nice stef, I remember my granny playing one of these and singing old German songs. Thanks for bringing the memories back to mind.
Anton Karas Playing Third Man theme on a fretted Zither.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFz79SBnuk8
That's so funny that you would link the Anton Karas Third Man video... when I posted this collection on my blog a couple of weeks ago, I also added a similar video. You can see it here: http://copycatcollector.blogspot.com/2012/03/collection-193-vintage-zithers.html
Thanks!
For all the times I have heard that I always thought it was a guitar and mandolin.
I had seen the movie and was astounded at the complex music Karas got out of the zither--thinking all zithers were alike (like you have pictured). Then I found out that he played one with FRETS--AHA, that explains it! Do you know how one might make the tuning pegs of old dried out auto-harps and zithers tight again? The older they get, the more they seem to slip--rendering them untunable!
That's a good question. I have about 15 old autoharps, zithers and related instruments, and I don't bother tuning the older ones. I do have one lovely autoharp from the '60s that was found unused, and it tunes up like a dream. But the old guys just sit on my shelves, collecting dust and looking great! I have 3 newer autoharps that get a lot of playing (they range from early '80s to early '2000s) so I don't really bother trying to tune the old guys. Perhaps if I found an antique fretted zither, I might tune it, but so far, I haven't found one I could afford. My best guess on the problem with the tuning pegs on the old instruments is that the wood surrounding the pegs have warped, dried, or split. This would make them nearly impossible to tune. But try taking them to a luthier specializing in autoharps, and see if there's anything they can do to recondition the wood.
Probably another big factor in older instruments not staying in tune is the fact that they have sat for so long out of tune. The strings have adjusted to that position and they don't want to move very much! If you are determined to retune an older instrument that is still in good condition, is to just be patient and tune it every time you pick it up. That is a pain, because there are so many strings to tune. But eventually, the strings will stay in tune longer and longer. Good luck!
http://www.fretlesszithers.net/conditio.htm
A couple of years ago I picked up a child's "Third Man" zither. It is made of some type of lightweight metal (zinc?), and has a masonite back. It has the Third Man logo on it. (I play a modern Chromaharp too.)
Glad to hear about the Chromaharp, P&C. They make quite good instruments. I've been playing autoharp for over 40 years, and have played a lot of instruments. I borrowed a friend's Chromaharp for a year or so, and it played beautifully. I was so sad to give it back!
I haven't seen the metal 3rd Man zithers, but I'm sure they're from the same time period- early '50s. I need to dig out my other wooden one. It's here somewhere....
stefdesign: the 1902 Sears Catalog has several Zithers listed-excellant illustrations and descriptions along with prices-I know very little about zithers but have thought they were thr by products of the piano business.Thanks for sharing your collection with us.