19th CenturyTemlett Zither Banjo Project

A Temlett Zither that needs restoration.  Inlays and neck are in good shape, ebony board.  Most of the screws are missing.  The ivory tuner buttons have decayed.  It needs a new head, bridge and tailpiece.  The nut is currently slotted for 4 strings.

Zither 6-String Banjos

Some of the first 6-string banjos were based on a traditional 5 string banjo design. That is they kept the drone string but added a bass string between it and the fourth string (the lowest-pitched string on a 5-string). That allowed them to hit notes as low as G, depending on the tuning, giving them almost the range of a guitar.  

These were a bit more common in Europe, where "Zither Banjo" players played gut-string banjos in styles similar to classical guitars.  A number of the 6-string zither banjos with drone strings have survived to this day.  In addition, a few contemporary 5-string pickers have had similar 6-string banjos custom-built with drone strings to use for picking styles associated with traditional American music.