An instrument is described which enables direct mass determinations in the range 10-5-10-11 g and can be modified to provide greater mass sensitivity if desired. The principle involved is that of an electrostatically driven oscillating thin fiber, clamped at one end and free at the other, which changes its resonant frequency when mass is added to the free end. The over-all electromechanical design eliminates many of the disadvantages of more conventional microbalances and surpasses them in sensitivity and accuracy. © 1969 The American Institute of Physics.