I’m interested in learning to play shamisen, so I searched my local craigslist, and this the only result that came up:
http://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/msg/4350800644.html
So, I have a few questions.
Is this a good shamisen for the price?
Is it in reasonable condition for playing?
What kind of repair would it need, and how much would that cost?
Thanks in advance.
I’m no repair specialist (usually consult Kyle directly for that) but it looks like, with some love, this could be an awesome beginners shamisen for the price.
Looks to be a nagauta shamisen, so just be aware of that if you are interested in getting into certain styles. It’s not impossible to play tsugaru style on nagauta (I started on a nagauta shamisen) but it may end up being a challenge, especially if you have larger hands. Also, it appears to have been assembled improperly; the sao [neck] is on backwards. Easy fix: just gotta pull the sao out and re-insert it facing the proper direction (basically, the fancy side is supposed to be the “face” for this given shamisen).
You would definitely want to re-skin it, which I cannot give you an estimate on (again, Kyle is the man to talk with). I’d also suggest giving it a solid wipe down and probably polishing it up.
Ultimately, this could be a steal as far as prices go if you are willing to put some elbow grease into this. Then you just gotta get some new strings, a nice koma [bridge], and you’d be set!
Hope that you are successful in procuring your shamisen~
AD
This is a pretty old and basic shamisen. Be aware that it does not have skins and may not be playable in its current condition. It looks like someone glued paper over where it should have skins. The price seems to be in the range others are paying. Your best option for skins is to send it to Jessica, a Bachido member, you can find under the Store.
Yes it is a good price for the item, the stand itself is worth about $200.
Yes they glued paper on it, it will need skins, a kamigoma, koma and probably a new set of strings, but it looks like it’s in good condition.
Thankfully you can get everything you need from the bachido shop.
That’s a cool stand that is included there … as for the filthy look I used finest grade steel wool (wear a face mask) for cleaning and a common furniture polish a guitar maker had recommended and I found it stunning how good looking the wood became . . . also I had to LOL seeing such a skin for the first time ever as it looks similar to what I did just yesterday . . .
Wow, thanks for all the replies. Any idea how much all the repairs might cost? I don’t need anything fancy. This would be my first shamisen, and I’ll probably upgrade if I really get into it, but for now I just want something that I can learn on.
Bachido store should have everything you need including the shamisen of japan book which has instructions how to craft any and all shamisen parts yourself so that could be another and cheaper way to go in case you are a craftsman or need some inspiration to improvise PLUS the book got playing tips AND a collection of song tabulature notation so thats a good one …
Is it just me, or does the neck look warped? It seems like the strings are too far away from the sao as it approaches the dou.
The neck does look slightly warped in the middle, but it’s hard to tell. If it is, it’s only so much.
What you are seeing is probably as a cause of what I previously made an observation about; that the neck was inserted backwards.
If you look in the fourth picture, you can see that there is a stain on the body. That’s where the neck had previous been sitting, when it was inserted the proper direction. And in the fifth picture, you can see that the base of the neck is not flush up against the body.
Whoever assembled this must not have noticed before taking reference pictures….
Hope that helps