New Skin question...

Building/Repair
#1

Hello all! I recently bought a shamisen which I thought was a tsugaru futozao but Kyle was nice enough to help me with identification…turns out it’s a jiuta shamisen.

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried to skin a different type of shamisen in th same way a tsugaru is skinned??? I would think it would be easy…just extend the skin further down over the edges but then again, I probably know less about the shamisen than the poor cat stretched across mine.

Please let me know if anyone out there has tried it…if it is common…if it is expensive…

KYLE???

#2

'Sup Neil! Welcome to the Bachido Forum! :slight_smile:

Bachido member Michael Ouellette would know for sure, but I’m pretty sure it is. Chuuzao shamisen are also used for minyo shamisen, which uses dog skin. (The dou size for a chuuzao minyo shamisen might be slightly larger, but no more than a centimeter).

Perhaps it’s not skinned as tightly as tsugaru shamisen, it skinned tight enough to produce a sharp sound, and can take a bit of a beating (much more than cat).

If the dou is a bit smaller than minyo , the craftsmen may give an “Eeeee???”, but it’s definitely doable. Expensive? Unfortunately, yes. :wink: Check out the price list here. http://bachido.com/products/repair-skin Bachido gets a special deal for Standard tsugaru kawahari. Since yours would be an interesting case (stretched for tsugaru with a jiuta dou), I’m not sure what the price would be, but I’m positive it wouldn’t be more than 25,000 yen. Perhaps cheaper.

#3

Welcome Neil :slight_smile:

#4

The average person for many years has had their hosozao and chuuzao skinned with dog because cat is so expensive. It is unusual to skin a chuuzao as Tsugaru style but I have seen some similar to that on the online auctions. I find that a lot of Japanese craftsmen don’t like to vary much from the traditional. If you want it skinned Tsugaru style then go to a shop that works in it or preferably one that specializes in Tsugaru style. My guess is that they would charge the same amount as skinning a standard gobudai dou Tsugaru style which is more expensive than having it skinned to play jiuta. Just be sure they are clear on how you want it done. Personally I think it would be worth the expense because Tsugaru shamisen are so expensive and you seem to already have an acceptable shamisen. With a change of strings you can then play jiuta or Tsugaru style and both would probably sound fine.

#5

Great response, Michael. :slight_smile:

I bet Masahiro’s source will understand, and be willing to do it.

I have to say, that’s a really nice response to read. I’m happy the community is filled reasonable, down to earth players, and not people who mindlessly flame, “Of course you can’t put tsugaru skin on a jiuta shamisen. It just isn’t done!”

© 2020 Kyle Abbott