Zitherist International

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Peter Baitz has been meticulously restoring his George Washburn Zither. He recently wrote:

"I thought this 1890's George Washburn (Lyon & Healy Co.) zither should make a very nice addition to your zither gallery." He bought the instrument from an eBay seller who could only say it came from the collection of a deceased music teacher. Peter has been meticulously restoring his instrument so that he can learn to play the Zither.

Peter further wrote: "I think the design alteration of a curve toward the top above the guitar bulge, was an artistic touch, making it look more like a some type of harp shape.  I cleaned up the tuning pins and pegs and metal plate and fret, and luckily someone had previously fixed a couple cracks in the top and bottom, so it is playable, and I am learning on it.  Waiting for a new set of strings to arrive."

Front view of Peter Baitz's George Washburn concert Zither

Tuning machinery before restoration

Tuning machinery cleaned up. A few strings are yet missing.

Peter made feet for his instrument.

Lacking a tuning key, Peter used a Dremel drill to modify a tool he had on hand.

Upon asking Peter how he is going about learning to play the Zither, he responded:

I bought two books with which to learn, Janet Stessl's (she is in Chicago and is also a teacher) and the A. Darr method book. But no, I am just self-teaching from these books, and from having 4 years of classical guitar lessons many years ago.

Thank you for Sasha's email. That comes at an interesting time. I was practicing last night, and one little bit of my zither's bridge (the bottom end) that holds up the 5 fretted strings, collapsed - just a little strip of wood, but enough to allow the metal bar holding up the 5 strings to slip out. A quirky mishap. So I have to rebuild that part of the bridge and have been contemplating the best/simplest way to do it.

Thank you again. :)

Peter

(Ed: Sasha Radicic is a guitar and Zither maker working in Missouri.)