Fantastic thread. I've put myself on a Mudcat diet in order to get anything else done, so threads tend to be quite long by the time I read them.

Well it's time to come out of the closet and admit that Bill D's my husband [or I'm his wife, how does it work?], because he had the audacity to describe MY collection of instruments in this thread. He did forget two kalimbas, a necklace ocarina, the old piano, a limberjack, two violins that I can no longer play, and an excellent piano accordion (a necessity for every Italian family, when I was growing up.)

I'm considering selling my Gurian guitar so I can buy a concertina. However, I'm not sure I can stand to be that practical. It's an awfully nice guitar. But what with work, family and the lure of a lovely zither that I have played for the last 7 or 8 years, it doesn't get used.

Jen, Judy and/or Sharon, do you ever play any of your zithers? Do you know of any books on playing the zither? A friend of my mother's found my zither in her attic and decided I should have it. I fell in love the first time I ran a fingernail over the strings. It's fantastic. Yes, it loses some of its lovely tone if it isn't played. Also if it's too hot, too cold or too dry. And if I tune it to standard pitch, the back begins to bulge which scares me. So I keep it tuned to about A-minus. I dream of having Keith Young build me one that can be kept at standard pitch.

It's not so surprising that there are so many instruments in this group. If you really love music, of course you want to own and try every single instrument you can get your hands on. It's part of the genetic pattern or something, like squirrels burying acorns, but more fun.