Whoa snaaap! Shite be gettin’ real dayo! 
That’ll be very interesting to see what you come up with. You probably know this, but it’d be safe to leave the back of the dou unskinned so you have easy access to the wires.
Have you seen this picture of Nitta san’s electric shamisen? (Which is now being rocked by Gwyn H) It appears he uses the gummy compound to stick it directly to the skin.
a lot of work to do if you think about it I mean I shouldn’t think about it I will need a bachi too and that is after hoping I can glue the dou together fix the tenjin and do the actual pickup after making itomakis and a neo and not to mention skinning this thing although on the other hand even though I would like to play this in an hour with appropriate attitude this can be enjoyable work one step at a time and as for that piezo electricity in general I am amazed by that I mean that some disc mounted somehow could turn vibrations into sound that is a miracle . . .
Well,well so miraculous thing is just happening (^ ^) So excited!!!
yes yes and thank you of course the excitment is definitely here too . . . actually I was worried about this step but it turned out looking quite good and it even doesn’t wobble a bit that jack although easily removable fastened by a screw ring is like set in stone . . .
jesus christ this afternoon I tried glueing the dou together and those parts were moving all over the place . . . eventually I bailed out before it was too late to remove all the glue with water which could be done before the glue is dry so at least I don’t have messed up with wood glue stains parts but they are still 4 seperate dou parts argh . . .
. . . apologies to the seasoned woodworkers but would superglue also be an option as for glueing the dou parts together?
after sanding the nakago a bit more so it would fit through both holes I also tried out a final polish seems to be okay and settled on glueing the tenjin together hope it will hold once strings are attached AND I couldn’t pass up the coincidence of course that this piezo stick pickup fits right into this postcard holder I had around so I guess this will simply get 3 grooves and that will be the stick pickup I am going to try out before doing a serious one with piezo discs inside and employing that shiny jack then too . . .
Man, I’ve gotta say again. what a fine looking sao.
… apologies to the seasoned woodworkers but would superglue also be an option as for glueing the dou parts together?
Basically, not. 
Superglue is strong, but it’s definitely not meant for bonding anything under much stress. (In my opinion at least) Studies have shown that regular wood glue is the strongest glue.
What’s more, it sets in about 30 minutes so there’s plenty of time to get the pieces in position. If you use rope and wedges in the way I do it in my first shamisen, getting everything together should be pretty easy.
It seems things are progressing along just grand!
yeah thanks (although I was afraid you’d say that about superglue) so off to the beach tomorrow and I shall give it another try when I come home using that unfamiliar slippy wood glue . . .
This is looking really great. Since being away from Bachido (guitar distraction!) my brother and I have been making very tentative plans to build a shamisen (s).
If I keep seeing enough of these awesome projects I may strike up the courage to buy some wood and get cracking!
Very cool! (And true, it feels like ages since you’ve been here! )
Bryan’s also got a thread of his homemade shamisen adventures, as well as Gwyn, Daniel (Robert’s brother) and Chris! plenty of encouragement for you, bro! I hope you embark on a shamimaking adventure!
Also, if you look at my thread and like the shamisen, remember that it is my first time ever woodworking, so lay waste to any lack of courage! Good luck =D
you got talent Bryan I guess it is a matter of talent and experience and rather pain staking to acquire experience if lacking the talent
anyway in general I find seeing other projects encouraging also and your shamisen looks great! . . . sort of courageous I did glue the dou together a couple of hours ago on my work bench . . .
http://freecarvers.com/sem/pics/dou.jpg
so the joints were not perfect but I was sure I would make them even worse by wanting to make them perfect and the glue was a wood glue although the “express” version of a common wood glue I had bought and rebought another bottle for freshness earlier and didn’t feel like yet another shopping trip without being sure it would make a lot of difference especially in my hands so I just used that one and with it already gripping within minutes and it being express anyway and me not wanting to have anything move halfway through the drying process I settled for just one loop of the rope with a knot that tightened the loop as you pulled on the end and it was definitely at least considerably more pressure than what could have been done with a granny knot or something just to hold the pieces in place . . . so who knows could hold or I could be in for a dou and neck (glued tenjin crack at least looks better than before) breaking performance . . .
as for the coffee . . . I had to make a cup immediately afterwards to calm my nerves . . .
Thanks Kyle, and Bryan. I’ll definitely check out the other projects going on for some further insight and inspiration.
I’m determined to start building this year in hopes of having a shamisen for next year-this may be wishful thinking!
That dou is looking great BH!
Hey BH! That looks pretty damn good! And the great thing about wooden instruments, if it does break, you can always take it apart and try again.
Another great thing about shamisen is that the skin does a lot to hold the shamisen together. In fact, if you look at some old shamisen, you’ll see that the corners are partially broken, but is still usable because the skin is holding it together.
Thus, if it survives skinning, it should be okay!
Matt: Good stuff, good stuff! Nah, I don’t think that’s wishful thinking, especially if you’ll have help from your brother. It took me 3 months to finish my first shamisen by myself without power tools nor skills. Thus, you two should be able to rock out in less than a year.
Start early, take it slow, and show us plenty o’ pictures!
Start early, take it slow, and show us plenty o’ pictures!
and consider Kyle’s advice including its book form in general
well I also opted for the “5 minute” express version of the wood glue cause with the side surfaces not matching absolutely perfectly and having never done this before I felt doubtful about whether I could actually fixate this with a rope I mean I was afraid a lot of pull on the rope could make the whole thing collapse and that the express version glue could grip sooner and better considering I would not apply a lot of rope pull pressure . . .
conclusions . . .
well having never worked with wood glue before I am surprised by how strong this stuff looks once it has dried I am sure the whole thing wouldn’t look as strong in case I had used my beloved superglue for this . . .
as long as the angles are what they should be the whole thing will not collapse under the rope even with the side surfaces not being absolutely smooth flat fitting together perfectly at every spot I am quite sure I could have applied a lot more pressure and so I would also go for a regular wood glue in the future and enjoy its slow drying properties . . .
I was in a haste to apply the express version glue so it would not dry too much already in the air and this was the main reason for messing up the whole dou with glue from my fingers I am sure a slow drying glue would have allowed me to avoid glue stains on the dou even on the first try of glueing a dou together
so after having had an already beautifully polished dou I got glue stains on it and I did not remove them completely I mean that would have meant getting into another like 10 hours of rough to fine polishing of the whole pieces again and I did not feel like having the stamina for that AGAIN so I kept some stains on there and here is a pants down picture of that
http://freecarvers.com/sem/DSC_0216.jpg
a wood finish oil is already applied and drying on that picture I will see how prominently the stained areas will eventually show up once the oil is dried and after a final cloth polish in a couple of hours . . .
as for the cleaning and polishing in general the finest grade steel wool seemed to work very well except for that I made the big mistake of also polishing the fingerboard edges of a 3 piece sao of course . . .
so I guess that is my conclusion and experience as a total amateur after the rough stuff is done . . . on to posting a picture of the assembled shamisen first time woohoo tomorrow I guess and then the work on the little things itomaki and koma and pickup remains after all I won’t actually skin this with stretched leather so whatever I end up using will likely also be a rather not complex thing that remains to be done . . .
http://freecarvers.com/sem/d1.jpg
http://freecarvers.com/sem/d2.jpg
http://freecarvers.com/sem/d3.jpg
woohoo a shamisen . . . although there is not much sticking out at the back so I’ll have to figure something out there . . . using a thin rope for the neo plus creating a groove for it on the bottom side of the stick could work but I might have to remove the shiny metal thingy which would be a shame . . . any other ideas? about 1 mm stands out right now I guess the sao did not go with that dou originally I mean I didn’t use THAT much glue that I would have extended the dou in any way worth mentioning
http://freecarvers.com/sem/d4.jpg
also Kyle in case you need a real life picture of where the joints on a mitsuori sao are for your next book edition just let me know anytime . . .
oh well I learned something and I am sure I get to somehow playing on this shamisen and it could look worse so everything is okay as for me . . .
Beautiful and so elaborate work!!!
yeah I should just shed off that idea of taking it too seriously like feeling obliged a bit to restore this to a regular and seriously playable and sounding nagauta shamisen and I would be fine . . .
after getting enough as a gift that COUld be restored this way though for someone with more craftsmanship experience this is sort of a struggle though oh well even though I messed it up a bit in the glueing the dou process I did manage to at least increase the shinyness of the parts quite a bit and should really focus on the fun stuff I am sure I can make something fun out of this sort of in its own right good enough for me to have some fun with it I just hope I don’t let anyone down as what will come out of this will not be having serious or regular playing properties a standard shamisen would have I guess . . .
anyway and nevertheless a cool step closer to a rocking shamisen playing experience I think and that said thanks for your compliment and since it’s a day off for me I am also taking the liberty this afternoon already to offer cheers in the general direction of Japan . . .
Best of luck!!! If you like the sound it makes at the end, that’s all that matters! (If anyone saw my shamisen in person, they would probably die laughing XD)
Thanks Kyle and BH for your inspiring words. Once I get moving on this project I will be sure to take some pictures.
Looking good BH. It’s great to watch your shamisen developing so well!
arigato everyone for those encouraging and friendly words I appreciate them and all the best for your own efforts woohoo for sure . . .