[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Rob and David probably know this instrument well. > > I was in Edinburgh (National Library) a couple of years ago and came across > this German cittern, which, as I recall, was said to be from the early 18th > century. > > It's an interesting thing. I wonder if it's really a later folk cittern from > the 19th century? > > http://homepage.ntlworld.com/s.walsh > I think it's a G scale cittern with a single bourdon and four triple unison courses, using a metal zero fret. I think that makes it a form of Thuringer waldzither, which the flat fingerboard agrees with; it does not look like the work of an 18th century luthier to have a flat fingerboard raised above the sound table. The tailpiece which can not be seen clearly looks late 19th or early 20th c. The whole design aesthetic looks like 20th century work. The wood is fiddle sycamore aka maple and I would guess the back and neck are the same. I think you are right and it's not an early 18th c instrument unless the neck has been replaced or repaired rather crudely in the 20th c, along with a missing rose - that is always quite possible. David To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
