Changing hole position on Itomaki

Building/Repair
#1

Hi all,

The shamisen I just bought is strung 1-2-3, but i’d like to string it 1-3-2, however the hole on the middle itomaki doesnt really let me do this without looping the string awkwardly.

Moving the itomaki in a different order isn’t practical both because the hole position on the 3rd itomaki isn’t helpful, and also since the fit isnt good.

I’m thinking of just putting in another hole in the itomaki. Has anyone else done this? Any problems some one might think of having two string holes in one itomaki?

And the more important question: How does one drill a hole for the string. Is it just a very fine drill bit, or do you burn a hole through or something?

Thanks for the help.

#2

Fine drill - think we touched this in the beginner’s shamisen thread.

The wood is quite hard so drilling feels a bit different.

#3

WTF I say stick with 123 . . . after all that is alright and it does not risk completely destroying your itomakis so . . . (period :wink:

#4

see and thanks to also some (cheaper than the original) jack daniel’s rip off so called whiskey I’m havin’ this fine weekend I gotta say that if order of itomaki holes would be my only problem in the way of becoming or in your case continueing to be a great tsugaru shamisen artist I would feel blessed and would accept whatever approach to the order of such holes for sure . . . anyway yeah think about that for a moment if only until some witchcraft craftsmanship artist might come forward with additional but what could only and in a philosophically more generally sustainable context should be regarded as optional advice . . . so to speak . . . :slight_smile:

#5

BH, that was…enlightening! Your weekend > my weekend! I am unfortunately all out of whiskey.

I agree that it seems a bit petty but lets just say the reason is of …identity? When I first started my teacher had it 1-3-2, and so I consider it part of my shamisen heritage? sounds silly i know, but it’s a thing. Plus it is also completely weird having to adapt my muscles to the new positioning and i keep turning the wrong pegs, wondering why the tuning isn’t changing as i strike the strings, only to find i’ve ruined the other string and now have to start from scratch.

#6

First you need to ask Itomaki if she’s OK with it.

#7

:slight_smile:

#8

If you are not committed to drilling a hole all the way thru the itomaki, you can drill a bit of a hole and insert a small peg, like a cat-off bamboo skewer. Insert the string as usual thru the existing hole and then loop the the string over the peg as you start to wind the string - the peg becomes the new anchor point. Hopefully you can picture that idea.

#9

I’ve tried 1-2-3 and 1-3-2 and find that I prefer the 1-2-3 - Am I TRULY so linear!! - And I swear to god that I once saw on a video of Chie Hanawa playing that she had a 1-2-3 set up. Though now I’m feeling nervous and am afraid that I didn’t see it correctly.

At any rate, it’s easy enough to drill a tiny hole in the itomaki. Maybe just start the hole with an awl or something so that the drill doesn’t wander on the curved narrow itomaki surface.

For my part, on the samisens that I make, I always put two holes on the 3 & 2 pegs so the good folks that have one of my instruments can screw around with it themselves.

© 2020 Kyle Abbott