Hello Bachido!
Sooooo… I just noticed this weird thing. At the joint between the sao and the dou, it moves.
Looking at it, it looks like the sao is lifting from behind.
Kinda hard to see in that picture, here is a side view
You can see the strings are not parallel…
Anyone has any ideas on how to fix this? I looked at the sao joint and I don’t see anything broken or split… so I’m very confused.
Any help would be great!
Here’s the joint… I don’t see anything wrong.
Hi Calvin. It’s just a question, but why did the sao separate from the nakago ? Isn’t it the reason why the tention of the string makes it move ? I may be wrong but I thing it should be glued !
To be honest, it come off so easily I assumed it was normal. So I’m guessing I’m going to have to reglue the sao?
I think so, but Kyle would probably give you a better advice on this subject…
Yeah I too guess the glue lost its grip somehow…
Hi Calvin,
the sao (neck) and the nakago must be glued tightly/firmly together. If they are accidentally separated you can’t play the shamisen properly.
Hi Calvin,
the sao (neck) and the nakago must be glued tightly/firmly together. If they are accidentally separated you can’t play the shamisen properly.
I see. I remember seeing Kyle in one of his videos pop out the sao from the dou by tapping it the bottom of it.
So I’m guessing this isn’t that, haha!
Does anyone have any glues to recommend that I could use for this?
Hi Calvin,
As the sao=neck and nakago (= the part of the neck inside the body/dou) are glued together they can be pulled out from the body together as you saw in Kyle’s video.
The neck of the ordinary shamisen can be separated into 3 parts and the lower part of the neck together with nakago form one part of the neck. The main reason for this is to ease the transportation of the instrument. You can put the whole instrument in a small bag. 
I hope I could explain this clearly enough.
I see…
I’ll try popping out the nakago when I get home tonight. But when I looked in the opening to the other side of the dou, I don’t remember seeing it going to the other side.
Calvin,
Please watch once more Kyle’s video. I’m sure it makes everything clear.
It was already quite clear. As I said, I don’t recall it going to the other side of the dou but I’ll double check tonight. This isn’t the beginners shamisen but the TSY-1 from the bachido store, so maybe the construction is slightly different?
the construction is slightly different?
No, it is not. The construction is the same whatever the style of shamisen is.
Okay well, I’ll try to pop out the remaining piece and glue it back together.
Does anyone have a glue recommendation for this?
Calvin, this has happened to me a few times, but it’s pretty easy to fix. I once had to do it in a hotel with material I bought at the dollar store. You’ll need wood glue (don’t use superglue or that sort of thing, as you won’t be able to take it apart if you make a mistake), sandpaper, and a clamp or vise or something like that.
Clean off any glue that is still on the surfaces you will be re-gluing, this might be best done with fine sandpaper - just be sure not to take off any wood. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, let it dry, then apply the glue, align the two pieces and clamp it together. I let mine dry overnight, and that seemed to be fine. Be sure when you align the pieces that they fit together as tightly as possible. Getting this right is important because it will effect the angle of the neck in the shamisen. If you get it wrong, and use wood glue, you can always re-glue it, but if you’re careful the first time it should be fine.
Calvin, this has happened to me a few times, but it’s pretty easy to fix. I once had to do it in a hotel with material I bought at the dollar store. You’ll need wood glue (don’t use superglue or that sort of thing, as you won’t be able to take it apart if you make a mistake), sandpaper, and a clamp or vise or something like that.
Clean off any glue that is still on the surfaces you will be re-gluing, this might be best done with fine sandpaper - just be sure not to take off any wood. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, let it dry, then apply the glue, align the two pieces and clamp it together. I let mine dry overnight, and that seemed to be fine. Be sure when you align the pieces that they fit together as tightly as possible. Getting this right is important because it will effect the angle of the neck in the shamisen. If you get it wrong, and use wood glue, you can always re-glue it, but if you’re careful the first time it should be fine.
Sounds good! I have all the materials at home already so I’ll see if I can do it tonight after class.
I see you are from Toronto! Do you know if ChordsCanada can fix shamisens? (in the eventuality I badly do things or if I need to fix something in the future)
regular wood glue is super strong for wood AND you have enough time to adjust the pieces . . . of the around here most common brand of regular wood glue there is also an “express” 5 minute version available which I would not use again for glueing a dou (creates an unnecessary hurry adjusting the pieces and rope around dou works fine) but in case of 2 pieces that are difficult to clamp together because of their shape or a lack of good clamps I guess using this express version wood glue and holding the pieces together by hand could also be an option but I guess you can clamp your pieces . . . oh and I have even let my express wood glue dry for 24 hours I guess letting it dry longer might actually be good in the likely case you applied a bit more glue than necessary I guess
Well, the nakago came right out. Much easier than I thought!
Annnnd it’s being dried. I’ll take BH’s recommendation and let it dry 24 hours! 
I think this little escapade reinforces my desire to construct my own shamisen once I’m done with university (8 more weeks!). I’m just glad this is an easy fix!
Thanks to all who helped! I’ll post again to tell you the success or failure of this
Whoa! Just saw this topic now. How awesome that so many in the Bachido community are here for advice!!
It’s hard to tell from the picture, but assuming the outer surfaces of the joint are completely flush (like it looked before it broke), it should fit back in without any problem. Good job!
wow that looks super clean I hope I didn’t deter you from using enough glue