Buying shamisen off ebay

Store/Sales
#15

I have only had it about 6 months myself. I got it off Ebay from someone in Utah. They didn’t know anything about it. I believe the shamisen is ~40 years old and was well played and well taken care of. It didn’t look like it was played that much after re-skinning though. I keep my shamisen inside a paper bag inside a plastic bag with the kiri wood dou ita then inside a case when I am not playing them.

By the way I live in San Diego where the humidity is about perfect, not too high nor too low.

oh wow ^^ im from San Diego,
weird world… lived there 17 years of my life till i moved to england :3… then to wales… then to england… then to wales… and now back to england… im 18 now…
This shamisen i have now says 1980 on there… o: so im not sure if that means my shamisen is 32 years old… or not

#16

Hi Cana, enjoying the UK? Quite a change in weather from San Diego.

The used shamisen on ebay are typically 30-60 years old. I now have two at ~40 years old. Once they are reconditioned they are just as good as a brand new one.

This one looks like it was taken care of as the wood edges still look sharp and the metal fittings still look like gold (they are likely gold plated). It is a well made shamisen. The only thing is the skins look tired and they are probably 10 years old or more (possibly much more). It doesn’t appear to have a bachikawa which I would recommend to help further its life.

To give you an idea how well you did I purchased one form ebay very similar to this at 2X what you paid.

#17

I am save the whole freezing my tail off lol
everyday these brits complain of it being to hot
(when there was snow on the floor but i am half brit so i guess complaining and “queing” is in my blood)
Yay <3 im very happy to hear i did well.

hmm ill hafta look into a bachikawa, i didnt realise it didnt have one. Would also like a Dou Gomu Shi-ru and a pink yubikake, (maybe a pink neo) and a maybe a pink version of the padding on top of the , rather then the yellow one (it seems abit worn… but i might not mind it once i see it in person)

Really cant express how excited i am to recieve it <3
Let me know if you guys think ill need anything else, Also will be looking into your book abit more Kyle (sent yeh loads of skype messages a couple days ago)

#18

Great buy Cana! I was looking at this one yesterday, and was surprised it was so cheap!

It seems like a Min’yo shamisen skinned for Jiuta. Pretty multipurpose in that sense (woot-woot!), but one thing that bothers me is the skin: in regards to the aged cat skin thought, its super unusual for cat skin to last more than a year (and that’s seriously pushing the limit). I’ve never seen dog skin or cat skin with nips that large. Get some censor bars on those things! WOOF!!! :stuck_out_tongue:

The seller states that it is new skin, so the discoloration makes things sorta strange.

It might be interesting to write to them and find out a bit more about the exact material since most of the shamisen that they offer (and have offered in the past) have this discolored skin…

Really interesting, but still an INSANE deal! You’ll have to let us know how things go when you get it and give it a test-drive! (^…^)/

Good luck with it!!!

#19

hehe thankies ^.^ will do
lol could maybe draw a bra on them…
not sure what upsize my shamisen will be though D:
I do agree with everyone the skin looks strange… But if in person its not as bad as it looks and it is still in playable condition i wont mind ^.^ either way i got an extremely good deal on a shamisen

Never knew multi shamisen types existed, it was extremely hard identifying this by myself at first… the skin was large around the edges like a tsugaru in some pics… and itomaki looked about right for a tsugaru shamisen in some of the pictures
the info says the case is 94 cm… not the instrument thats whats weird…
:slight_smile:
really cant wait to get it.

#20

A tsugaru shamisen with kouki,ayasugi,azumasawari,bachi,case and strings cost like 3000 USD ITS USED a New one cost 8000 Dollars

#21

a karin shamisen exactly like the one in bachido is for 1000 USD

#22

There is always a lot of risk buying used. Most of the time the seller does not know anything about shamisen or the different types. This is true whether it is coming from the US or Japan. When it is from a Japanese source you also have to be careful about their language skills. For this shamisen’s description I read “cassa” as a typo for “casse” which means “speaker” - he is talking about the dou and has given the dimensions of a typical dou. This is followed by “total length 94 cm”. This is a standard length for a minyo instrument. Jiuta are normally 100cm. Tsugaru are around 102 cm total length.

I have found that there are reasonable standards for the different styles. Both minyo and tsugaru typically have plain hexagonal itomaki. When you look at the diameter of the handle versus the shaft it is very clear.

You can often get a good idea by price alone. I have found that middle thickness shamisen are 1.3-1.5X the cost of a thin neck one. And wide necks like tsugaru are 1.5X that. Bottom line is that even used tsugaru shamisen are expensive.

Regarding the skin, they are not that fragile. An average person should expect many years from a good skin regardless of cat or dog.

Cana, when you get the shamisen look inside the dou for the skinning sticker. It will tell you what type of skin was used (cat 猫, or dog 犬). It will also have the date it was done. Dates are usually Japanese so it should say Heisei (平成) XX where XX is usually Arabic numerals. As a point of reference, this year is Heisei 24. The shamisen I currently use for practice was skinned with dog in Heisei 5!

#23

Willl do Thank you :slight_smile:
hmms i will need a bachi, my shamisens not coming with one
a seller told me this, if you want an extra new set of cords silk, bachi they will cost 18+16 = 34Euro +shipping
I dont have that currently though…
Does anyone know if thats a good price?
(dead broke really i needa save for when i move in a couple weeks to wellingborough ) will be the 13th time ive moved in the uk and ive only lived here 1-2 years.

#24

Cana, go to Kameya’s website in English.

http://www.e-kameya.com/english/accessory.html

You will have to email them for what you want but you can get jiuta or minyo strings. The ichi no ito is about $3 but the others are cheap ($1-2). Since you don’t break the ichi no ito you don’t need very many. Order several of the others. Get nylon strings as they will last much longer. Shipping will be inexpensive too since they can put them in a small envelope. However if you want any other accessories, they have it. I have bought a lot of stuff from them. Unfortunately their main website is in Japanese. If you have questions email them. I can help you out too if you need it.

With you moving around so much how will you know to which address to have things shipped?

#25

Hi Cana,

When you look at the sticker, it might also read 四つ if its cat. Cat is the thinnest and most fragile skin, and yours doesn’t appear to be super thin, so its probably dog or perhaps even kangaroo?

I think 16 Euro is actually really reasonable for a bachi. A Nagauta bachi is at least 35-40 USD for a Plastic or Wood one. Is the bachi the seller offering used?

If you do end up buying from Kameya, you should ask about their tetoron san-no-ito! When I was there, the manufacturer had just ended their trial phase and was going to start mass producing them later that summer. They last a lot longer (Ive only been through two in a year!), have a better tone, and I find they’re actually easier on your bachi than nylon. (They’re also cheap!)

Michael, I buy all of my things from Kameya too, but actually found that Hyotan-ya in Asakusa along Senso-ji’s Nakamise Dori was a bit cheaper when it comes to bachi and smaller accessories. Next time you’re in Japan, you should head over there and check them out! Plus, visiting Senso-ji never gets old. :slight_smile: Also, if you don’t mind me asking, who do you study with?

#26

Cana, go to Kameya’s website in English.

Accessory | KAMEYA Shamisen OnlineShop

You will have to email them for what you want but you can get jiuta or minyo strings. The ichi no ito is about $3 but the others are cheap ($1-2). Since you don’t break the ichi no ito you don’t need very many. Order several of the others. Get nylon strings as they will last much longer. Shipping will be inexpensive too since they can put them in a small envelope. However if you want any other accessories, they have it. I have bought a lot of stuff from them. Unfortunately their main website is in Japanese. If you have questions email them. I can help you out too if you need it.

With you moving around so much how will you know to which address to have things shipped?

Oooo great prices :slight_smile:
Are minyo strings similar to tsugaru?

Also getting my shamisen shipped to my bf in england its close ish to where i will be moving and im going to visit soon anyways for a week or two before i move (will be 5 mins away by train in wellingborough)

Hmm might need to reconfirm what type of shamisen i have before i order spare strings though… i really do love the price £1.75 ish for spares ^.^ will definately order a bunch from them…
wanting a pink yubikake and will need a bachi

still really glad to hear my shamisen is chuzao minyo shamisen :slight_smile:

The bachi i’m talking of earlier i just got a reply back its a waterbufflo horn bachi for 36 euros, so £29 roughly

… never heard of a shamisen bachi made out of waterbufflo horn though… Could it be just a sanshin bachi and the dude is clueless about it?

#27

Trying to immagine a bachi made out of horn… i guess it could work… but that would be 1 bachi per horn really… and it wouldnt be a nice part of horn it would be closest to skull i think… and even then it would probably be an odd cut o:

#28

OKAY sorry for tripple post but this thing is beautiful ^^
uploading pic…
if that doesnt work heres a link http://i48.tinypic.com/1248x7d.jpg
I’m tempted to get it. it comes with a silk case aswell

#29

Hey Joe, I study Ikuta Ryu jiuta shamisen with Masazumi Mizuno Sensei.

Cana, in my experience the horn is just the handle portion of the bachi. This is actually common in Japan. The tip is bekkou. Based on the pictures you posted I am willing to bet that this is a very dark bekkou.

On the other hand I don’t know why horn isn’t used for the playing end. Both horn and turtle shell are keratin (different types though). I am currently working on making a horn end bacchi. We will see how it goes.

#30

hmms may be right micheal i see bits of orange.

Okay guys what type is my shamisen o: ? ive had everyone say atleast one of each, is it some voltron shamisen thats mixed with everything? or?
its a hard call right now ^.^ it being chuzao minyo shamisen would make sense i think.

#31

Cana, I’d agree with Michael’s opinion that it’s a minyo shamisen.

Hey Michael! Let us know how your horn end bachi goes! :slight_smile: I’m intrigued. If you know your way around a camera, feel free to show it off on the blogcast. :slight_smile:

#32

:slight_smile: awesome ^.^ glad to hear

Would be awsome to listen to the differences of bachi, dont recall having seen a blogcast for different bachi…

#33

Michael, nice to find another jiuta player here. I think that might make, oh, maybe three of us(?)… :slight_smile:

#34

Thanks Linda. That’s the reason I decided to join.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott