Cammeyer always maintained that\u00a0 steel strings should not be plated (silver or otherwise) as the plating affected the tone of the stings adversely. I attach a photo of two packeted, Cammeyer third (or as he called them, in Brooklynese,\u00a0 'Toid' strings) and you will see that the strings in both packets have rusted. The strings, incidentally are unwound, which is unusual for banjo third strings of this period, these metal third strings were probably intended for use on 'ordinary' banjos rather than on zither banjos. The packets bear the two different Swallow Street addresses of the Cammeyer studio and workshop. No.3 had been previously occupied by Herbert J.Ellis, the banjo player, composer, and author of the famous banjo tutor book, he died in 1903, just as the Essex and Cammeyer partnership was coming to an end, and Cammeyer moved into his former premises Sorry. I was just wondering if it would make a better concert instrument than anything modern. Might have a more interesting sound and I'm debating whether I want one or not. Austin,<\/p>\n Every post in this thread offers an opinion on zither-banjos. So you know the answer(s) to your first question.To whom is your question addressed?<\/p>\n As for your second question, stringing it like a zither<\/strong> would require a minimum of 27 strings! So the answer to your first question is \"probably not\". \u00a0Or maybe \"yes, after extreme alterations to the peghead, nut, bridge and tailpiece.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course one can string a regular banjo \"like a zither-banjo\" \u00a0with three types of strings. But what is the advantage?\u00a0<\/p>\n On the other hand the various posters to this intriguing thread have various opinions as to what strings belong on a zither-banjo. So according to the accumulated \u00a0opinion thus far, to string a regular banjo \"like a zither (banjo)\" means\u00a0<\/p>\n 1) all synthetic or gut<\/p>\n 2) all metal<\/p>\n 3) a mixture of steel, copper, gut or synthetic, and silk.<\/p>\n 4) a different\u00a0mixture of steel, copper, gut or synthetic, and silk.<\/p>\n 5) yet another\u00a0mixture of steel, copper, gut or synthetic, and silk.<\/p>\n In each case \"synthetic\" can mean rectified nylon, clear nylon, nylgut, PVF or other fluorocarbon, and a variety of new materials yet to be invented or utilized as music string.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What is your opinion on Zither banjos. Could you string up a regular banjo like a zither? Hi there Trapdoor2.\u00a0 10,000 cheers for you, esp. for putting in this piece.\u00a0 I miss David Wade too, even where I disagreed with him.\u00a0 Must try Wayback Machine because David Wade's old ZB site seems to have gone AWOL.<\/p>\n I too have never seen the original Temlett patent.\u00a0 Which is a great pity as I'm pretty certain Temlett's method of top-tensioning was quite different from Dobson's and believe it showed two metal tensioning rings into which metal bolts or set-screws were placed instead of the wood screws going into a wooden ring.<\/p>\n I've had a number of very old zither-banjos, some by the look of it, had the original strings, their owners having perished in WW1.\u00a0 One had been undisturbed in the attic of a house from that time, and was only discovered when the house was about to be demolished in 2022.\u00a0 None of these instruments had the kind of stringing that Cammeyer, and Essex, both recommended.\u00a0 Surprising?\u00a0 In my view A P Sharpe was right regarding there being no standard stringing. A couple of my ZB's have old tailpieces to which it would be impossible to fit a nylon string or thick gut string, the fashion having moved on, and wire strings, as they were called, had become the vogue.<\/p>\n Black Jake of Norwich, England.<\/p>\n \u00a0 I miss David Wade. You can still access his ZB website thru the Wayback Machine.<\/p>\n Anybody have access to the Temlett patent? I've never seen it.<\/strong><\/p>\n The suspensory nature of the ZB's pot within the neck\/back \"frying pan\" is the primary defining physical constraint, IMNSHO. See Sharpe's description below:<\/p>\n Yes, the compound string mix is usually part of the ZB's description but strings may be applied to any sort of banjo...open back, closed back, lute, etc. I would therefore eliminate them as a part of the ZB requirement.<\/p>\n From David Wade's \"Zither-Banjo\" website, per A.P. Sharp, in the 20s (probably in an issue of BMG).<\/strong><\/p>\n \"THE ZITHER BANJO is really a constructional variation of the banjo and as such has five strings tuned to the same pitch and notes.<\/p>\n This type of instrument started with W. Temlett's patent closed-back banjo of 1869 (Temlett always called himself the \"pioneer of the zither banjo\"). The American C. E. Dobson patented an \"Improved Closed\u00a0<\/strong>Back\" banjo in 1878 but it was Alfred D. Cammeyer (an American who had settled in England) who perfected the zither banjo and introduced it to this country in 1888.<\/p>\n The vellum diameter of the zither banjo varies between 7 inches and 9 inches and it rests on a circular metal casting suspended in a wooden hoop with convex back, approximately 9 inches to 11 inches in diameter, by metal \"S\"-shaped brackets (varying in number) affixed to the upper edge of the wooden hoop. The top-band (or bezel) is usually of cast metal with a number of lugs round its diameter through which pass screwed bolts which engage in the tapped holes in corresponding lugs on the inside casting.\u00a0<\/strong>By tightening these screws, pressure is applied to the top-band which then increases tension on the vellum.<\/p>\n Zither banjos have always dispensed with the side fifth peg; the octave string passing through a tube inserted under the fingerboard and emerging at the peghead. It has been usual to fit guitar machine-heads to the zither banjo so that the peghead presents a 'three-a-side\" appearance\u2014although only five of the tuning mechanisms are used. (Some manufacturers have in the past produced machine-heads specially for the zither banjo, with two pegs on the bass side and three on the treble side but the balanced machine heads present a better appearance). The machine heads are usually fitted vertically in a cut-out recessed head.<\/p>\n In the beginning the zither banjo was always played by vibrating the strings with the nails of the right hand (these were developed and carefully tended by the true artist for this purpose) and the instrument was particularly suited for the slower type of solo where sostenuto could be employed. When forced, the zither banjo is inclined to produce overtones and true staccato playing is difficult (if not impossible) to perform on it. The instrument has a distinctive tone all its own; with an inclination to \"\"wiriness.\"<\/p>\n There is no \"standard\" stringing for the zither banjo but the following sets of banjo strings are used :-<\/p>\n (1) Plain wire plated 1st, 2nd and 5th. Nylon-filament 3rd. Nylon-covered 4th.<\/p>\n (2) As above but with a silk-covered 4th.<\/p>\n (3) Plain wire plated 1st, 2nd and 5th. Wire-covered 3rd and 4th.<\/p>\n (4) As (3) but with nylon-covered or silk-covered 4th.\"<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n <\/dd>\n <\/a>