I bought a used student level shamisen recently and just noticed that its strings are metal, whereas the replacement strings i ordered from bachido are of a nylon/plastic type. im thinking now that this instrument was stringed with guitar strings at the store.
has anyone heard of metal shamisen strings? would that also explain why the ‘ichi no ito’ is so hard to hammer-on/pull off
There has been some stories about cheaper models manufactured in China that has had metal strings. Metal strings shouldn’t be used at all so change them to the bachido ones.
the improvement is noticeable already! thanks
Hey Chris,
Ah, sounds like the ‘tsugaru shamisen’ on Ebay, right? Yeah, as Karl says, made in China. The price is super cheap so it’s difficult to deny as a practice instrument. However, definitely putting real shamisen strings will certainly make it sound a lot more… like a shamisen. 
Oh snap! For some reason I didn’t read your latest post! Glad it’s working out! 
So far ive replaced strings, makeshift tuning knob =, re-tyed the neo and reglued the neck on. hopefully it will last until i upgrade>:|
Sounds like they put Sanxian strings on instead. I’ve been wondering if that was possible but I guess I could try it out for myself someday.