So we all know how fibersen sounds on a Tsugaru Shamisen, but what about Nagauta and Jiuta? Would you guys reccomend using fibersen on Nagauta and Jiuta shamisen?
Hi David!
That’s an excellent question! Gosh, at least one person did have their nagauta shamisen reskinned with Fibersen, but I can’t remember who he was. :-S
I think Fibersen would sound perfectly fine on a nagauta/jiuta shamisen. However, if the weatherproof quality isn’t as necessary for you, I feel that calf skin sounds comparable to traditional skin for nagauta shamisen. So if durability wasn’t a factor for me, I would use Jessica’s reskinning service - http://bachido.com/products/repair-skin-calf
I imagine fibersen would sound good on Nagauta, because the timbres of Tsugaru Shamisen and Nagauta are very very similar. But I question how it would sound on Jiuta because Jiuta’s timbre is more similar to that of the Okinawan Sanshin, but sharper due to the use of a large bachi. Perhaps someone could find out how fibersen is made, and then they could experiment on it to see how to make one best for Nagauta and Jiuta.
Oh, and I’ve seen the calf skin Jiuta and it sounds very mysterious. I love mysterious. Even though the climate of where I live changes through the year, my room is temperature constant so I guess my Shamisen skin would last longer. Though I doubt calf skin would go good for a Jiuta because Jiuta skin is made from a different part of the cat than the Nagauta, and the timbres of Nagauta and Jiuta are a stark contrast.
But I do have an idea for Jiuta players who cannot afford cat or dog skin. I propose that there should be a reskinning service that skins Jiuta Shamisen with Habu snake skin, the same skin used for Sanshin. The timbres of Sanshin and Jiuta Shamisen in my experience are very similar. Of course, there is a slight difference, but I think it can be overlooked by Jiuta players on a budget. I think. Tell me what you think of this.
Are there any videos of calf skin on Nagauta/Jiuta? I am going to stretch calf over mine Nagauta. Curious about what they going to sound like.
Yes there is! Check out the alternative kawahari page in the Bachido Store. There’s a video of Bachido member Takahashi san playing a Nagauta shamisen skinned with calf skin. 
I know this is purely anecdotal, but I have a minyou shamisen 民謡, that has a chuzao neck, and a body somewhere in between a tsugaru and nagauta in size. I recently had it reskinned with the fibersen. I haven’t had any time to record it yet, but have been playing it lots. Two things I have noticed:
The tone is great, but INCREDIBLY bright! So bright that playing in a reflective room in my house is almost painfully loud. Having said that, the majority of my playing will be done outside, and having tested it outside, it was fantastic! Much louder than my old skin, but still with a great tone.
Second is that the reflectivity transfers into the bachi as well! It snaps back with tremendous force, and, with it’s great durability, I can hammer on it like a tsugaru shamisen, and it just begs for more! When I switch to my bone-koma, it sounds great for minyou, and the sawari has taken some fine tuning. If I spend the extra second to find the sweet spots for the koma and the sawari it it magnificent! If I just throw it on, it can buzz like a giant japanese hornet!
All in all I would say the fibersen has completely changed my shamisen, and has allowed it to remain dynamic!
Thanks for the reply, Travis. Your descriptiveness helped me get a good idea of what it had sounded like. Haha
What a great, poetic description, Travis! Mind if I use it as a testimonial?
Bro! You know me, go ahead! I’d be honoured!