Post 17: A Bass Zither of sorts...?

         However, the project might actually temporarily take a different direction. That is because I happened to have a piano hammer nearby, and used it on a whim to hit the strings. The sound was loud and clear, and perfectly on key, not too brash, just beautiful. I could lower the big string all the way to a VERY LOW B.  The smallest cello string is a G, and surely can be tuned to an A, which would give me practically 3 octaves. 

        That is enough to make me think of a giant bass zither of some sort, played both by plucking with one hand and hammering with the other... The strings would be re-tuned to different keys depending on the music being played. I would of course use my favorite minor keys, both natural minor and harmonic minor, and also the "paddy tuning" of my harmonicas.

        Big bass zithers have been made, like the one the Blue Men Group uses:

        But it is flat and would be hard to bow as a psaltery, the tuning pegs being very close.

       Let's at least consider what that instrument could be. Immediately, the Guzheng comes to mind, except that the strings would not all be the same length. The strings would have to be about 3/4" apart. How many should there be? I am not trying to get all 36 notes in the 3 octaves,  just about three minor scales of 7, or 21 notes total, just like the Guzheng! That would take 3 sets of double bass strings and 3 sets of cello strings, about $100 worth or so...

       Retuning by moving individual bridges is easier than with tuners, and tuning pegs are a lot cheaper than tuners. The curve of the soundboard allows bowing too, although probably not much below the low E. I really would love to make one, but between the strings and the pickups, it's an expensive project, and I better shelve it until things get better.