The scheitholt came to the United States with German immigrants settling in Pennsylvania beginning in the late 1600s. Ken’s instrument is a replica of a scheitholt now housed in Pennsylvania’s Mercer Museum: Bucks County, PA-based Mennonite schoolteacher Henry Lapp made this instrument in the 1870s. It features a melody string over a fretboard, two drone strings, and a rosette over the larger sound hole. Unlike many other members of the zither family, the scheitholt has gut strings rather than metal strings.
