Hi everyone.
First off, I really want to thank Kyle Abbott and the rest of the staff for putting together this resource (much more than just a store) for shamisen enthusiasts. I am classical guitar and ukulele player and have been increasingly drawn to this instrument. After spending some time listening to a duo playing shamisen in Little Tokyo here in Los Angeles, I started to think about buying one.
I would find out that it is very difficult to find anywhere to buy the instrument in person in all of Southern California. Of course that led to the internet and seeing the high prices on eBay and the few handful of stores that sell online - in English. But in searching, I came to learn about the styles of shamisen; the differences to similar instruments like Okinawa’s sanshin; the story behind the Tsugaru style (wow Yoshia Brothers); as well as specifics on the instrument itself - much of which came from videos and articles on Bachido.
So I got lucky!!! … I think. Well, either someone was very kind to me or very mean to me LOL. I found this shamisen on eBay which I put in a very low offer of $400 (asking was closer to $700) along with a message clarifying I didn’t mean to insult the seller but it’s all I had to spend and s/he accepted!! Here are pictures …
What do you folks think of this shamisen? The seller describes it with a thicker neck which I think is Futozao and good for Tsugaru style. I also had not seen a shamisen with a light color wood like this before. Anyway, I do hope it’s a worthy shamisen to learn on.
Thanks for reading and looking forward to sharing shamisen knowledge and experiences!
