Buying a zither banjo

[Austin]

I can't seem to find one in good shape. Are they rare? I really want one because they seem unique.

[John Cohen]

There's a Vibrante that was just listed on Ebay, but the price is too high (1300 GBP). I know of a couple that recently sold privately for $650-800.

Jody Stecher said:

$500 for what?  That's too high for 80% or more of zither-banjos that come up for sale. Upper models are another story. $500 for a Cammeyer Vibrante Royal is a bargain.

Austin said:

I missed the chance to buy a really good condition one for like $500. Still kick myself for missing that deal

Jody Stecher said:

What's the hurry?  Keep your eyes open.  A nice one at a good price will appear near you eventually.  If you are truly interested now you will be just as interested two years from now. If it's a whim, in two years you will be grateful you resisted BAS* and didn't buy a zither-banjo. 

* banjo acquisition syndrome

Austin said:

You think an ad on the hangout would help?

[Jody Stecher]

If the banjo  neck has a truss rod and was built for metal strings, it will no harm. But it will sound nothing like a zither-banjo.  

John Cohen said:

I wouldn't do that to a regular banjo.

Austin said:

I was thinking of just stringing up my banjo with zither banjo strings

Joel Hooks said:

Sometimes I think that I might like to have a zither banjo, but then I come to terms with the fact that I would likely never play it.   But I am glad that other people do, they have a neat sound.

[IAN SALTER]

Austin, as well as keeping an eye on eBay, you might want to sign up with the-saleroom.com for notifications of zither banjos that come up at British auction houses. Several very good instruments have recently sold for reasonable prices. Of course you have to take into account the additional fees and the cost of posting to the USA. However, I agree with Jody's advice to wait for one to come along near you and in the mean time, concentrate on getting better using your ordinary banjo. 

[Jody Stecher]

Ditto for auctions in the USA. There are still fees to the auction house and shipping fees but good banjos do appear and the final bids are sometimes low.  Sometimes massive instrument collections come up for auction and these sometimes include nice zither-banjos. And junk as well.   But in all cases, patience is key.

IAN SALTER said:

Austin, as well as keeping an eye on eBay, you might want to sign up with the-saleroom.com for notifications of zither banjos that come up at British auction houses. Several very good instruments have recently sold for reasonable prices. Of course you have to take into account the additional fees and the cost of posting to the USA. However, I agree with Jody's advice to wait for one to come along near you and in the mean time, concentrate on getting better using your ordinary banjo. 

[IAN SALTER]

I recently posted on here, a few various banjos in a UK auction. Two weeks ago, the hammer price on this Cammeyer Vibrante was £200, with 15% commission charged on that.

[Richard William Ineson]

Austin, Everyone should own a zither banjo at least once in their life, if you find that you don't take to this kind of banjo or its repertoire, the 18th century style of a lot of these instruments (particularly the Cammeyer Vibrante, Vibrante Royale, Super Vibrant and Patent models) lend themselves to being converted into antique style plant holders, standard lamps, small tables etc. which would grace any room. 

[Richard William Ineson]

Hello Ian, which salesroom was this sold in please? Alan Middleton's Vibrante was sent for sale to a saleroom in Norfolk when he died last year and I wondered this was his banjo.

IAN SALTER said:

I recently posted on here, a few various banjos in a UK auction. Two weeks ago, the hammer price on this Cammeyer Vibrante was £200, with 15% commission charged on that.

[IAN SALTER]

Richard, it was Gardiner Houlgate, in Wiltshire. There were a number of good quality banjos in that sale, quite likely from a collection. You can scroll through the other items on this page

https://auctions.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk/catalogue/lot/bd87c2cfb6263...

Austin, I can say that a significant aspect of having played exclusively on a zither banjo for the last few years, is the requirement to strive for absolute precision with both hands, simply because the instrument is so responsive. I have found this to be, at times extremely frustrating, as it can take me a lot longer than it would on my gut strung ordinary banjos, to get a tune up to the tempo that I want. However, the rewards of taming the beast makes it worthwhile preserving. I must also add, that I'm not playing what may be considered the usual zither banjo repertory, but rather the same schottiches, polkas, jigs and hornpipes ect. that I play on my ordinary banjos. As such, I am still working to achieve a more staccato dynamic than that which the zither banjo is, it appears to me, normally associated. This is just something for you to consider before you decide to buy one. 

[Richard William Ineson]

Thanks for the information Ian, I was curious about what happened to Alan's Vibrante as I would have liked to buy it as a momento of our friendship over forty odd years but his daughters sent it to a local salesroom with an estimate of £250.00 which I would have gladly paid and they wouldn't have had to pay the commission and VAT, but there we are. 

Richard William Ineson said:

Hello Ian, which salesroom was this sold in please? Alan Middleton's Vibrante was sent for sale to a saleroom in Norfolk when he died last year and I wondered this was his banjo.

IAN SALTER said:

I recently posted on here, a few various banjos in a UK auction. Two weeks ago, the hammer price on this Cammeyer Vibrante was £200, with 15% commission charged on that.

[Jody Stecher]

One point of clarification: Many of the zither-banjos I have seen have the same single defect: one of the tuners has become useless. Fortunately most zither-banjos pegheads are fitted with 2 plates of 3 tuners each. So there are always 5 working ones, which is all you need for a 5-string banjo.

Jody Stecher said:

I've seen and played dozens of mid level zither-banjos that needed no work or minimal work.  

Since acquiring my own zb-s nothing whatever has gone wrong over two decades.  The big exception is the Cammeyer Patent which while structurally sound is a decorative disaster. 

John Cohen said:

Very few zither banjos have held up well over the years due to the way that they're constructed. If you're serious about playing one, I'd suggest waiting for a Weaver or a Cammeyer Vibrante to turn up.