New Century Zither!

[carrie horgan]

Nice eye-candy but, ouch, I would expect gold leaf and diamond encrusted inlay at that price!

A century on from that great expedition and inspired by the morale-boosting role of the legendary banjo from Endurance, we create the finest quality hand-made British instruments, in our own factory in Norwich, Norfolk: the first banjo factory to be launched in Britain for more than 60 years. 

http://shackletoninstruments.com/products/shackleton-centenary-zith...

Edit: (Photo added by Ian.)

[Jody Stecher]

Oh dear oh dear. Mis-strung, mis-placed bridge of the wrong kind, but it's "improved".  And made "more playable" But for what music?  Sigh.   I'm no fun at all today.

[Russ Chandler]

"...This very Shackleton Centenary Zither Banjo has already been used by Winston Marshall (of Mumford and Sons), with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, for a very special centenary recording inspired by Shackleton's adventure which will be released very soon..."

Seriously? Like seriously?

How utterly bizarre, what is going on here?

[Jody Stecher]

One thing that may possibly be going on is the creators of this banjo may not be aware of the intentions of the original makers of zither-banjos, how they were intended to sound and why. The work of a maker who did understand is up for auction on eBay right now at what I think is a very good price. Vibrante Royal Alert:  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=252565...

Russ Chandler said:

"...This very Shackleton Centenary Zither Banjo has already been used by Winston Marshall (of Mumford and Sons), with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, for a very special centenary recording inspired by Shackleton's adventure which will be released very soon..."

Seriously? Like seriously?

How utterly bizarre, what is going on here?

[Joel Hooks]

IMNSHO this is a very poor marketing decision.  Unless they only ever intend to make one.

Their stock banjo has been marketed at guitar players.

Come to think of it, they may not have a marketing plan at all.

[Richard William Ineson]

This must be good news for zither banjo owners everywhere.

[Jake Glanville]

I would have to agree with you there Carrie.  This is a beautiful looking instrument (I've never played one) but even if I had the loot I'd have to think twice before splashing out on it even with my obsession for zither banjos!  No wonder the firm went out of business.  It's even more costly than Dr Hussey's Windsor Artiste would have been new in 1910. (That would have been a little over £3,000 in today's money.)

All the Best,

Black Jake of Norwich.

[Jake Glanville]

My eyes aren't too sharp these days, Jody, but in what way 'mis-strung'?  As A P Sharpe pointed out in the 1930's, 'there is no standard way of stringing a banjo',  It was Essex and Cammeyer in the early 1900's came up with their own favourite stringing as a 'standard in order to sell the strings manufactured by them.

Black Jake of Norwich.
Jody Stecher said:

Oh dear oh dear. Mis-strung, mis-placed bridge of the wrong kind, but it's "improved".  And made "more playable" But for what music?  Sigh.   I'm no fun at all today.

[Jake Glanville]

Further Comment, if I may.  With regard to the bridge being 'misplaced', the only way to find out is to use an accurate electronic tuner with a decent range and pluck the strings at the 12th fret.  They should sound an octave higher than when sounded 'open', if the bridge is correctly placed.  But you might well need a compensated bridge because other strings can be 'out' with a 'normal' bridge,

Black Jake.

[carrie horgan]

Yes, I posted this some years back and, unfortunately, the local Norwich company (Shackleton Instruments - later The Great British Banjo Co.) has since gone out of business.  I wonder who has this zither-banjo now?  

[Jody Stecher]

The bridge is tilted. It is also in the middle of the vellum, a position which will produce a deep hum but not much articulation, making it unsuitable for the usual zither-banjo music but perhaps good for something else.  Zither-banjos are often  described as the worst sounding banjos ever made. This is because they are often strung entirely with steel or entirely with nylon. The former makes a grating tinny sound. The latter makes a muffled dull sound. Gibson has its "Mastertone" banjo. This is like a "Mattress Tone".  When a combination of string materials are used  the zither-banjo becomes a viable instrument. It has 3 qualities of voice. The three high light gauge metal strings make a silverly shimmer. The fourth string, which sometimes has a solo part composed for it, has a very different sound and is comprised of filaments wound on a thin metal core and wrapped with copper. The third string was gut and later nylon as an option and has a third timbre. The banjo in the photo I commented on is strung entirely with metal strings.  

Jake Glanville said:

My eyes aren't too sharp these days, Jody, but in what way 'mis-strung'?  As A P Sharpe pointed out in the 1930's, 'there is no standard way of stringing a banjo',  It was Essex and Cammeyer in the early 1900's came up with their own favourite stringing as a 'standard in order to sell the strings manufactured by them.

Black Jake of Norwich.
Jody Stecher said:

Oh dear oh dear. Mis-strung, mis-placed bridge of the wrong kind, but it's "improved".  And made "more playable" But for what music?  Sigh.   I'm no fun at all today.

[Karen Smith]

Mattress Tone

haha!

Jody Stecher said:

The bridge is tilted. It is also in the middle of the vellum, a position which will produce a deep hum but not much articulation, making it unsuitable for the usual zither-banjo music but perhaps good for something else.  Zither-banjos are often  described as the worst sounding banjos ever made. This is because they are often strung entirely with steel or entirely with nylon. The former makes a grating tinny sound. The latter makes a muffled dull sound. Gibson has its "Mastertone" banjo. This is like a "Mattress Tone".  When a combination of string materials are used  the zither-banjo becomes a viable instrument. It has 3 qualities of voice. The three high light gauge metal strings make a silverly shimmer. The fourth string, which sometimes has a solo part composed for it, has a very different sound and is comprised of filaments wound on a thin metal core and wrapped with copper. The third string was gut and later nylon as an option and has a third timbre. The banjo in the photo I commented on is strung entirely with metal strings.  

Jake Glanville said:

My eyes aren't too sharp these days, Jody, but in what way 'mis-strung'?  As A P Sharpe pointed out in the 1930's, 'there is no standard way of stringing a banjo',  It was Essex and Cammeyer in the early 1900's came up with their own favourite stringing as a 'standard in order to sell the strings manufactured by them.

Black Jake of Norwich.
Jody Stecher said:

Oh dear oh dear. Mis-strung, mis-placed bridge of the wrong kind, but it's "improved".  And made "more playable" But for what music?  Sigh.   I'm no fun at all today.