Waldzither Page

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What is a waldzither

  Not exactly a mandolin, but this old German instrument shares the same floating bridge technology, and I have restored a few. It was the origin, I believe, of the Irish bouzouki, after Andy Irvine brought one back from eastern Europe and re-tuned it. So, what is a waldzither........? Simply put, it is a development of the Renaissance cittern that has survived in areas of central Europe without changing much. Wald = forest and zither = cittern, so literally 'forest cittern'. Hopefully the associated pages will explain more fully.

Thuringer waldzither Bohm waldzither Pluckthorn waldzither Becker waldzither  
   

Waldzither History

Hamburger Gallery

Bohm Waldzither

Dating Bohms

Thuringer Gallery
Waldzither Tuning-chords Bridges here & here String loop-winder Glass bridges  

Bohm/Gewa History Site

  A great site constructed by Norbert Feinendegen, in German, but will be in English soon I understand..... Bohms from the Gewa period.

Bohm History Site

  A great site constructed by Norbert Feinendegen, in German, but will be in English soon I understand..... Origianal Bohms.

 More about Waldzithers can be found on these links, though some of these are in German…..

http://www.waldzither.de        http://www.studia-instrumentorum.de/MUSEUM/zistern.htm         http://www.musicaviva.com

 

Waldzither spares

If vintage mandolin spares are hard to find, then bits for waldzithers are next to impossible. I have found or make a limited selection as a result of restoring several of these instruments.

Tuning key 

In aluminium, this fits square 4mm tuners, but check because there are different sizes.

Brass Tuning Key 

In aluminium, this fits square 4mm tuners, but check because there are different sizes.

 Tailpiece (mandriola) 

I have a very small number of these. (Alternatively, a mandolin tail can be used, and strings doubled up.)

 Bespoke double-loop string sets

I can make up strings sets for any given length of waldzither. Bought sets (above) typically measure 65cms. and do not fit all zithers. 

        Fado 8 string front.jpg (39821 bytes)

Fado 12 string front.jpg (58910 bytes)

John Pearse Loop Winder

A tool in brass, designed to ease the job of making your own double loop strings. This one is available from the States, cost unknown.

String loop-winder: useful for double loop waldzither strings, and creating new loops in ball end strings for the bouzouki and cittern.

20 euros plus postage

For replacement Preston tuners, see the fado page. But please note, these are for current fado instruments, and will not fit waldzithers without some alteration of the head.

To order bits, leave a message on the contact page and I will send you my direct email address to discuss your order, payment and postage. Item costs are exclusive of postage and packing.

Please see Payments Page for details of postage costs and payment options. 

 

Waldzither Tutor

I have a German Waldzither tutor written by Carlo Jutzi in the 1950s, that I have scanned, and which I have now added some English translation to at crucial points. It has about  80 pages and is 9 Mb. Files can be opened in Windows Photo Gallery or Paint/Explorer for printing or copying.

Click on the sample pages below to get an idea of content and quality of reproduction.
ScannedImage-3.jpg (126134 bytes) ScannedImage-4.jpg (65372 bytes) ScannedImage-6.jpg (151311 bytes) ScannedImage-69.jpg (84405 bytes)

I am happy to sell a copy by email (£5) , or send a copy on disc (£7) plus P&P to anyone who would like one. Please see Payments Page for details of postage costs and payment options.