Hello Larry.
Welcome to Bachido.
Before analysing it, please know that I love Shamisen, and all criticism here is about the “unfair” treatment this shamisen got before reaching your hands.
Well… What you have there is a Shamisen indeed, but sort of a hybrid one.
The dou and sao are definitely great Karin wood, and the Zagane are a gorgeous representation of the high quality craftsmanship of the time.
But from there, it seems that this Shamisen was in the hands of someone who really don’t know much about Shamisen.
The Itomaki are way off standards, although I can’t deny it works, sort of. I question the ergonomics of twisting the Ichi or the San, as, due to it’s huge size, there’s not enough room for a hand in between.
The Neo is not a Neo, really. It seems unusable, as it goes way too much over the skin.
There’s no Koma. I hope it wasn’t played like that.
The skin is clearly goat, and was stretched using techniques unrelated to Shamisen skinning. The tape is there to offer extra hold to the skin applied in unorthodox ways. I will risk saying it’s not even close to the tension required for a good Shamisen sound.
The strings are definitely not Shamisen strings, but I can’t see what’s that from the photos.
And finally, maybe the worst offender of all, the nut in place of a Kamigoma, which is raising the strings waaaay too much above the Sao (maybe to compensate for lack of a koma?).
Anyway, you have a real shamisen underneath all the modifications, and it can be saved from it all if you want. You just need proper strings, a Kamigoma, a Koma, proper itomaki (though, as I mentioned, yours are sort of usable), and a Neo. And a Bachi, assuming none came with it.
If you want to do a partial or full workup on that Shamisen, please reach out to Kyle on the Bachido contact form.
And please feel free to ask anything else you need to know.
Cheers.
Jonny
