This large set of tuned musical glasses is a 4.1-octave instrument that originally had 50 glasses. The largest glass is 7" in diameter. The glasses do not need water to tune them for playing. They are tuned close to A=440 pitch, and can generally be played with other instruments near that tuning. The pitch varies from note to note, as the instrument appears to be about 200 years old and I am sure that the pitch has drifted a bit since it was made... On our tuner, some notes are pitched as low as 35 cents below the A=440 note to which they correlate, and others are as high as 10 cents above. The average seems to be about 20 cents below A=440 pitch. There are no pitch markings on the glasses. The glasses are very clean and clear, and none of the glasses are cloudy or discolored. The glasses have very thick stems and no bases to the stems, as those thick stems fit into holes/sockets in the bottom board of the case. It is clear that these glasses were all custom-blown and that the case was custom-made for the instrument. The wood on the case has a veneer that has come off in several places, the lid of the case has a crack in it, and one of the two hinges to the lid is broken. The bass/back two rows of glasses starts at a low E3, jumps up to G3, A3, and Bb3, and then at C4 continues upward in chromatic fashion. The C5, C#5, G#5, and B5 glasses are missing, and the Bb5 glass is chipped and needs replacement.

There is no label, maker, nor date on this instrument, but it comes with a historical placard, as if this instrument might have once been in a museum. The placard talks about the history of the musical glasses in the United Kingdom, perhaps suggesting that this instrument could be from as early as the mid-1700s.

This listing is a test listing. This item is not actually available for sale and this listing is not an offer.