A type of five-stringed banjo with a closed back and a headstock like that of a guitar, the fifth string running through a tube in the neck from the fifth fret to near its tuning peg.
The zither banjo was invented and introduced to the United Kingdom by the U.S. banjo player Alfred Cammeyer, who played arrangements of pieces for the concert zither on it; it was never adopted in the United States. Six- and seven-stringed variants of the instrument are occasionally found.
1888
He [sc. Alfred D. Cammeyer] played a pizzicato from Sylvia upon what he is pleased to call a zither-banjo, an instrument resembling a banjo in shape with the tone of the zither.
Observer 21 October 6/2
2018
They played zither banjo, a quieter sounding instrument than the new metallic instruments.