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- With keyboard
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Cittern
En:
Cittern,
Cither, Es: Cistro, De: Cister, Zitter, Cyther,
Bergmannszither, Halszither, Harzzither, Lutherzither, Thüringer Zither,
Waldzither, Zister, Fr: Cistre, La: Cithara Italica, Cithara
Germanica, Cithara vulgaris, Sv: Cister, Halscittra, Cittra
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The Love Letter (detail)
Johannes Vermeer |
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The cittern is a flat-backed, strummed with a plectrum, and the melody
was usually played on the top string. It was the first to be made with metal
wire strings and solid brass frets set into the fingerboard. Citterns were
variously tuned and usually had 8 or 9 strings.
The cittern is definite successor of the citole. Thus aspects of the
cittern can be backtracked into the citole through the gitern. Both
instruments share the etymology of their names, and, in most cases, tuning
and playing technique. The overall shape and construction technique is
completely different.
Because it was relatively easy to play and kept its tuning well, it
became very popular. It enjoyed a revival in Italy and throughout Europe
following the publication in 1574 of 'Il primo libro di tabolaturo di
citthara' by Paolo Virchi, the son of a cittern maker from Brescia.
[more
about the
Cittern] |
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RWC
Cittern
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Carved and gilded rose on the late 16th Italian
cittern by Gasparo da Salò |
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Our Cittern is a traditional four course model with re-entrant
tuning, based after a combination of an instrument by Gasparo Da Salo, circa
1560 preserved in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford University) and an anonymous
mid - late 17th century Italian cittern in the V&A Museum (London).
The finished instrument made from figured English sycamore. It has a
Swiss pine table, rosewood pegs and fittings and an extremely delicately
carved rose in English cherry on a parchment base. El instrument has a total
length of about 75 cm.
The bridge is movable and made of ebony with brass saddle.
Wire strung on all courses the cittern is accurately fretted using solid
brass frets and is tuned e'e', d'd', gg'g, bb.
Each instrument is entirely hand built by 'in-house'
experienced craftsmen to special order in our own workshops in Toledo (Spain) to the highest standard of craftsmanship.
They come with 12 months warranty and 12 months free access to our 'helpline' for
advice on setting up, playing and maintenance.
A soft padded bag or fitted hard case are available
as optional extras if required. |
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Cittern Kit
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RWC finished cittern |
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The same Cittern is offered in kit form for home assembly.
The price includes the license to build one instrument
for private use and 12 months free access to our 'helpline' for advice on construction, setting up, playing
and maintenance.
To ensure success, even for the first time builder, each kit includes:
A fully dimensioned life-size drawing and working template,
A manual with clear and concise step-by-step full assembly instructions.
A set of photographs illustrating further each stage.
An important feature of our cittern kit is the inclusion of a mould to
ensure success, even for the first time builder, so assembly of the body can
begin immediately.
Our kit contains all the parts to build a traditional four course
cittern.
The ribs and back are supplied in English sycamore sanded to thickness
and ready for assembly around the mould.
The neck is pre-shaped with the pegs already fitted to reamed holes and
the fingerboard has been machined to ensure accurate fitting of the brass
frets.
All the parts in the kit are made from traditional materials and include
a Swiss pine top and sycamore back.
The instruction manual reveals the secrets of carving a rose.
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Cittern Technical Plan
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Carved rose with underlying layer of parchment on an
anonymous mid - late 17th century Italian cittern from the V&A Museum |
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You can make the same
Cittern from scratch, following detailed
step-by-step instructions through the construction process in a clear and
concise manner.
A fully dimensioned life-size drawing with templates and a set of photographs
illustrate each stage.
The price includes the license to build one instrument
for private use and 12 months
free access to our 'helpline' for advice on construction, setting up, playing
and maintenance.
This
icon indicates that you can choose between the hard copy of the documents sent by postal mail, or the downloadable electronic files, in
pdf format to your computer. In order to view and print the
pdf
files, you need the free 'Acrobat Reader' program installed in
your computer. Life-size drawings require large printers. Electronic
documents have a reduced price, don't have shipping costs, but are
non-refundable.
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Cittern Accessories and Spare Parts |
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Cittern Availability and delivery timeNot all of the items listed on our
site are available immediately. Products without a reference nor a price are
rarely available for quick dispatch. If you are interested in them, please
contact us.
We publish standard availability, which means that this product
usually ships in that time since it has been ordered. But at the
specific time of your order, that interval can be longer or smaller
depending on many production factors. In addition, you still will have to
wait for your product to arrive (delivery time). [More
info about availability & delivery dates]
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Finished Instrument |
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Three months |
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Kit |
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Three weeks |
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Drawing |
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Three days |
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Cittern Configuration, References and Prices
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Check the offers:
In April up to
25% Off |
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Ref. |
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Price [1] |
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Cittern - 4 course -bb, gg'g, d'd',
e'e' |
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Finished Instrument |
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Cittern - 4 course -bb, gg'g, d'd', e'e' |
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FCI |
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Finished |
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788.04 |
RWC |
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Kit + drawing + instructions + license |
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Cittern - 4 course -bb, gg'g, d'd', e'e' |
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KCI |
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Kit |
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285.91 |
RWC |
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Drawing + instructions + license |
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Cittern - 4 course -bb, gg'g, d'd', e'e' |
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PCI |
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Plan |
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47.62 |
RWC |
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Accessories and Spares |
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Soft padded bag for Cittern |
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SBCI |
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Finished |
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RWC |
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Light Hard Case for Cittern |
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HCCI |
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Finished |
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RWC |
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Stringing set |
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SCI |
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Set |
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RWC |
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[1] Price,
Payment and Ordering Information Prices and Exchange rates
All published prices are exclusive of
VAT and
shipping costs.
They are shown in
RWC.
The following exchange rates are valid on
April 28th, 2020.
See other
conditions
Exchange rates |
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1 RWC= |
1.585
GBP |
1.725
EUR |
1.973
USD |
210.4
JPY |
2.744
CAD |
3.017
AUD |
1.925
CHF |
144.3
RUB |
13.97
CNY |
35.84
ZAR |
46.99
MXN |
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Promotions
Some temporary offers and discounts might apply:
In April up to
25% Off
Ordering
For security and service quality, we need your order to be in writing
and cannot take it by phone.
If you want to buy, please, fill and send the
ORDER FORM.
Should you have any difficulty, please
contact us.
More Info
For more information about buying our products, you should consult the
following pages:
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