TUNING QUESTION.

[IAN SALTER]

If I tune my Wilmshurst zither banjo to a 440 Hz using a tuning fork, I get the well known problem of the 1st string being at odds with the other strings. No amount of tweaking resolves this and inevitably leads to a jumble of tones.

However, when I use my 'Eardley's Patent' pitch pipe, the problem doesn't occur and the chords are satisfactory in all positions on the neck. The pitch pipe dates from the second half of the nineteenth century and is set to the high 'Philharmonic' pitch approximating a 454 Hz.

I had set the higher pitch in 2019 and played it regularly until earlier this year. When I changed back to my ordinary banjo, I tuned the zb down to 'roughly' a 440 Hz and put it away in the case. Yesterday, I got it out and once again, failed with the tuning fork and succeeded with the pipe. 

Apart from the fact that it is in tune with itself, the instrument also seems to me to be transformed in respect of the clarity of tone, response and volume. In spite of my (still) very limited ability, it really 'sings'.

I would appreciate any thoughts as to why this is.

Kind regards, Ian.

[Marc Dickerson]

Thanks for the knowledge and experience share.  I took the advice and read a lot of the different posts about strings and tone.  I went to cliffordessex.com and ordered 2 each of their 5 different zither sets.  Going to have fun finding that perfect zither sound.  Thanks again.

[IAN SALTER]

I wasn't aware that there were that many. Today, I'm going to order one of the ultra light, all steel sets and replace the 4th with wound silk for my Apollo.

Did you know that Wilmshurst placed coloured silk beneath the fretwork on the instruments like yours? 

[Jody Stecher]

This conversation is getting confusing for me. What is being referred to by the word "fretwork?  What is the banjo pictured in here, with the round holes in the tan circle?  And where is the silk and fretwork?  The ornate metal flange in another photo could be called "fretwork" but where would the silk be and in what form or shape?

[Joel Hooks]

I don't know Jody, but "fretwork" usually refers to the act of using a "fret saw" to cut intricate style patterns in wood.

"Fretwork" and using a "fret saw" was a very popular pastime.  This is the same as "scroll sawing" today but it was usually (but not always) done with a hand saw in the 19th and early 20th century as a low cost hobby that produced attractive and useful items for the home. 

https://archive.org/details/fretsawingwoodca00sawyiala

https://archive.org/details/fretworkmarquetr00denn

https://archive.org/details/fretworkfretcutt00brou

In this same line, the Emile Grimshaw piece titled "Fretwork" works as a pun.  The original title sheet shows "fretwork" (of the sawing type) and also, "fretwork" could mean "working the frets" (as in playing a banjo with raised frets). 

[IAN SALTER]

Hi Jody,

The ornate metalwork is what I was referring to and the silk is visible through it, having been attached to the underside. I found some clearer photos, one of the banjo above, with yellow silk and one with red silk. The other photos are of the individual parts of the metalwork that supports and tensions the head, the drawing for his patent and a photo of Wilmshurst.

[Jody Stecher]

Thanks, Now I understand, thanks to the clearer photos. 

IAN SALTER said:

Hi Jody,

The ornate metalwork is what I was referring to and the silk is visible through it, having been attached to the underside. I found some clearer photos, one of the banjo above, with yellow silk and one with red silk. The other photos are of the individual parts of the metalwork that supports and tensions the head. Then there is the drawing for his patent and a photo of Wilmshurst, according to the genealogy site that I found it on.