Bracing pattern for zither with movable bridges & interconnected strings.

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Carl Peberdy
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2018 2:22 pm

Bracing pattern for zither with movable bridges & interconnected strings.

Post by Carl Peberdy »

Hi,

I'm new here. I've made quite a few instruments, various zithers, some with necks etc.

I'm going to make a zither with interconnected strings inspired by Bart Hopkin's 'Trillium Cluster' http://barthopkin.com/instrumentarium/trillium-cluster/. I've done a few very basic experiments - enough to know that I find the sounds interesting. The main limitation to the Trillium Cluster and my own rather more primitive experiments, is the inability to alter string length as well as string tension. The obvious solution is movable bridges, I've drawn a rough plan, the top would be 3mm birch ply, the crossbraces probably 10mm wide and 20mm high, the long braces 5mm wide and 10mm high. I'm thinking about 20 - 30 strings, anchored on all four sides. At the moment I'm imagining several groups of 4+ strings tied to small steel rings rather than directly to each other, but I'll see how it sounds. The bridges would need to be able to be moved in any direction, hopefully the bracing would allow a greater string tension. This instrument would be part of the development process towards another instrument which would hopefully enable clusters of the same tonality. I'm thinking of adding a neck or at least something that would enable a temporary neck to be bolted on for further experimentation, but am yet undecided.

Anyway, I'd be very grateful for any thoughts,

Cheerio,

Carl
zither.jpg
Carl Peberdy
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2018 2:22 pm

Re: Bracing pattern for zither with movable bridges & interconnected strings.

Post by Carl Peberdy »

Well, I haven't started anything yet, but I have decided to add a neck, maybe permanent, maybe not. The reason being that as this is essentially an experiment, I'd be daft to limit the possible permutations. So it will have something fretted and suitable for a guitar tuning, and I'll use a metal bar as a bridge to attach the 'guitar' strings, held in place by being attached to the zither strings while not touching the soundboard. The idea being that in effect, the 'guitar' strings would be filtered through the zither strings. It will be interesting to see if it can maintain a workable action - it may end up being slide oriented instead!

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Cheerio,

Carl
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