1920s Stroh (Strohviols) 1-String Phonofiddle

Stroh instruments were popular around the turn of the century and going into the '20s. In their 4-string violin form, they're still very popular in Eastern Europe, too, as they have a dry, biting, clear sound that sits nicely above the traditional music of the area. They also look cool, which helps.

This 1-string, 24 1/2" scale, long-necked thing was aimed at vaudeville and dancehall-style players and it was marketed as a bit of an "Asian-style" instrument for special effects and whatnot. It can certainly do those and it definitely does have its own sort-of sound, extremely limited as it is.

My friend Michael gifted this to me and you have no idea how overjoyed I was about that -- I've always wanted one of this type of phonofiddle as "simpler is better" is an ideology I espouse like a madman. The simplicity of the instrument certainly makes if fun to play because you have to squeeze interesting sound out of a limited range.

Said limited range is about 2 octaves and I have this strung with a single cello D string -- the same pitch as guitar's D. I tried a G (pitched lower) but the horn liked to resonate better at the D pitch and I think it would probably even prefer a higher pitch "open."

During work on it I replaced a fiddle-style wooden peg with an old guitar tuner that looked the part and cleaned-out and better-secured the phonograph-style cartridge resonator that gives the instrument its sound and the aluminum bell's coupling, too. I also reglued the fingerboard a bit as it was loose for the 1/3 of it near the nut.

I was also surprised by dead critters:

All over the little aluminum resonator in the body was bug detritus and peeking out the bottom of the horn was a little skull...

...which turned-out to be a "tone lizard." How about that?