The Gittern

Here are a few examples of the Gittern, all 5 course, they all follow the only reasonable example left to us from about 1450 by Hans Ott. The Gittern is carved from a solid block of wood and has an added pegbox in the manner of a lute, the stringing is also as a lute but can be customised to your own requirements.

The rose is carved from a fruit wood and can have several layers including a parchment layer, this can be flush with the soundboard or recessed. The soundboards are usually Spruce but I have found that Cedar gives a wonderful warm tone, the finish is usually a linseed oil mix.

Decoration can be full on with carvings, bindings , bridge and peg decoration and the use of different woods or just plain and simple with no ornamentation, this also helps to keep costs down.

I tend to send these out using a modified semi hard case or padded gig bag included in the price which is excellent for day to day usage. A professional hard case can be ordered at extra cost.

The string length of these instruments is 450mm tuned D a d g c . There are eight gut frets but more can be included if you wish.