$30 kouki shamisen

Building/Repair
#21

Well it’s been over half a year now and I feel like I’m finally making some progress on restoring this old shamisen.

http://imgur.com/W0CnQ3K.jpg

I made three attempts at carving a new nakago. First out of Honduran rosewood until after getting halfway done with it realized it was full of termite holes and pretty much trash.

Second attempt was out of padauk but I couldn’t figure out how to get the lines to match up. So the third attempt I stole a piece of bloodwood off of my tsugaru project and it came out great.

http://imgur.com/kYhUDNH.jpg

I gently cleaned out the dust and old glue from the nakago joint and re-glued the tenjin.

The sao looked like it still had a nice finish under all that filth so I polished it using nothing more than damp cotton balls. Sure enough, it still had a nice glassy finish. There are a few tiny scuffs, but I think they add character :wink:

http://imgur.com/lGoBG5q.jpg

The most nerve wracking part was attaching the new nakago because the sao had to perfecty line up with the dou. Unfortunately the shamisen maker didn’t cut the nakago joint perfectly square so I had to intentionally misalign the joint to make the sao perfectly (as perfectly as possible anyway) line up.

http://imgur.com/sC2xjkY.jpg

I didn’t want the replacement nakago to be too obvious so I decided to cover it up with a brass cap using the instructions from “Shamisen of Japan.”

It was a pain to make but I think it will really pop once I get it polished up. Now it just needs itomaki and some new skins.

Im still waiting on the glue to dry so I can put all the pieces back together and make sure everything fits right and the glue holds. Hopefully I can keep up the momentum and get this old pile of firewood playing again! :smiley:

#22

Cooool!

#23

beautiful work!

#24

Thanks Amanda!

BH to be honest watching you fixing up your shamisen really inspired me to do some more work on mine!

#25

Hi Cody,

What a fantastic project! It’s great to see the development of your shamisen through the various stages. Inspiring stuff.

Did you start with a one-piece sao or a three-piece? I’m trying to decide which to go for. While I like the idea of a three-piece, I think that I may be better off starting with a one-piece neck, especially seeing as this would be my first attempt.

#26

awesome (haha) and it is great to see the comparison obviously you had even more cleaning up to do . . . well I never did that before and it is some work but I find it impressive and surprising how one can get a shiny shamisen out of old and filthy pieces . . .

as for the nakago I recently found out that mine is too short and was not made for that dou so I could try making a custom one or expand it I mean Kyle even posted instructions on that BUT I found a custom solution for me as it does stick out about 2 milimeters I just opted for a very thin rope I clamped in between the dou and the metal rosette hole guard and will try out that first before getting into what would be serious woodworking I hope I can avoid that :slight_smile:

#27

Thanks Matt! All my shamisen are three piece/ mitsutori however if you are building your first shamisen I would recommend the one piece.

The three piece neck was fun to make, but it was also a pain because the pieces kept falling apart as I was shaping it. Add to that the fact that it was my first shamisen and I really didn’t know how it was supposed to look in the end it added more confusion too.

I’m not trying to talk you out of the three piece, just know that it’s a lot more work for the sole benefit of being able to take it apart.

Which ever one you decide on – good luck!

#28

BH I was reay bummed to hear that your nakago was too short. Maybe it came from a different shamisen perhaps?

If you don’t want to do any drastic woodworking I was thinking you could make a brass cap like I did and have it sticking out the back to hold the neo. That way you don’t have to risk damaging your instrument.

… well I never did that before and it is some work but I find it impressive and surprising how one can get a shiny shamisen out of old and filthy pieces …

Id like to think that every piece of wood has a hidden gem somewhere inside :slight_smile:

I wanted to take a picture of the shamisen out in the sun now that I have everything polished and put together but it’s been raining all day. Oh well, maybe later.

#29

yeah either a cap or some extension surely not a whole custom nakago I guess although I still hope my thin rope solution might be strong enough to hold the strings for a while . . . :slight_smile:

shamisen in the sun . . . yeah looking forward to seeing that picture and I’m looking forward to maybe sometime even playing in the sun . . . :slight_smile:

#30

Wow I love watching Kevin’s videos but I’ve never seen that one before. I think it’s one of my new favorites! :smiley:

Finally managed to get some sunny pictures of my newly cleaned up shamisen

http://imgur.com/VDOWRcB.jpg

http://imgur.com/ybIHLtN.jpg

I’m surprised how amazing the wood looks considering how filthy it was when it came in the mail. I guess all it needed was a little TLC!

#31

Which ever one you decide on – good luck!

Thanks Cody :slight_smile:

Gosh, that kouki looks gorgeous in the sunlight, it’s almost glowing red. What a difference to the early photos! I think you have made one shamisen very happy!

#32

awesome and worth the cleanup I like the look of the dou wood too . . .

#33

Ok so I got my nejiri itomaki and kamigoma in the mail from the Bachido store today. The itomaki fit pretty good on the fat side but the skinny side needs to come a bit closer so it looks like I will need to do a tiny bit of sanding. Still not sure if I want to add zagane or not.

I got the kamigoma filed down to size and popped it in. That’s when I realized that the notch on the left side (the one that I filed down) is really close to the corner of the itogura. I was going to file it down some more, but then I realized that the wear patterns on the wood perfectly match up with the kamigoma the way it is.

So… is that where the ichi no Ito is supposed to rest? It strikes me as being too far over to the side as the kamigoma will actually push the ichi no Ito off to the left.

Matt: I’m still not 100% what kind of wood it is, but yes it absolutely glows red. It’s hard to see on the pictures but some parts of the wood almost give the impression of being made of glass.

#34

The ichi-no-ito is close to the side of the itogura but the kamikoma is usually not so close. Yours should probably be trimmed more. Here is a picture of mine.

It is likely that your shamisen is kouki. If it is very shiny then it may be lacquered. Sometimes the sao is also lacquered which gives it that glass look.

#35

That’s what I figured. The marks on the wood made me think that the ichi no ito was actually pushed over to the side by the kamigoma, but looking at yours it makes perfect sense (face palm moment) that the ichi no ito would just lay there on its own.

It is likely that your shamisen is kouki. If it is very shiny then it may be lacquered. Sometimes the sao is also lacquered which gives it that glass look.

It’s possible. Iv’e been under the impression that the sao is just really, really polished wood, especially because there are a few scuffs in the wood that lack the usual chips that happen when layers of lacquer flake off. However, Iv’e noticed that the wood has open pores on some ares and not others so it may have thin lacquer or a grain filler of some sort.

#36

Swagged out with nejiri itomaki! :slight_smile:

From what I heard, kouki sao are lacquered with a very thin layer of urushi. That’s what the craftsman said, but because of the allergic reaction, he may have been referring to lacquer or Cashew.

In any case, I’d suspect that’s kouki as well, from the picture and how you note that is ‘glows red’. (The kouki sao/tenjin I sent BH had the exact same effect)

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