New vs. old?

Store/Sales
#1

I’m 62 and partially disabled. I’d love to order a new shamisen from this or another reputable dealer, but I fear the only way I’ll get one is from eBay or someplace similar. I’ve made some folk harps and could probably eventually make my own shamisen as described in the Shamisen of Japan book, but given my current circumstances I’m afraid it’s not going to happen. Also, using the best wood and buying the tools I don’t have, even making my owb would probably be more expensive than I can afford these days.

If I buy a shamisen online, from eBay or elsewhere, is an antique instrument (the ones that don’t sell for thousands) likely to make up for its low price in costs of getting it in playing condition? Likewise, will a new one that isn’t expensive be of inferior quality? I understand that synthetic skins for shamisen don’t sound that good – has anyone tried using real skin heads for banjos? I understand some of them sound very good.

Thanks very much,
Daniel Musick

#2

i have 2 non playable shamisen atm and i have goatskin drum heads for one of them to see how it skins. They’re not particularly white but will pale up after stretching. my next choice for my other shamisen would be a white banjo skin.

I can’t comment on the fibresen though as i’ve never handled one. Kyle would be able to advise better than i, and some of the others who’ve tried it.

I have 3 shamisen from ebay, none of them are antique, mostly vintage from 1950’s-1980’s and the wood is nice and strong and sound. I would say they are good value, considering the price of a brand new one.

BUT that being said, a brand new one from a reputable dealer would have support behind it etc

P.S welcome to the forum

#3

Dirt cheap shamisen show up pretty often on eBay, but usually the cheaper they are the more problems they have- like ripped skins and missing parts, and they are almost always nagauta. They are still a pretty good value.

If you make one, from my experience It usually costs $100-$200 for wood ($200 if you use the bloodwood/pakauk combo like it says in Shamisen of Japan) and $50 -$60 for skins, sandpaper, varnish, and so on. Plus a few months of labor :-p

I’d say probably the best option would be to keep an eye out for a nice used shamisen on eBay and make sure it come with as many pieces of hardware as possible since the accessories alone can cost as much as the shamisen itself.

As far as banjo skins, I used two goatskins for my shamisen that I’m pretty sure came off a banjo. The sound wasn’t spectacular, but more than good enough to start playing.

#4

I used unbleached calfskin from mid-east.com (CF12-TK) on three shamisens. One might argue that the natural color is appropriate for a handmade instrument. Otherwise you can pay more for bleached calfskin from (e.g.) elderly.com or stewmac.com.

I built two of the three shamisens, per Kyles book. The third shamisen was given to me, with a torn skin. Of all the construction tasks, I had the most difficulty getting a satisfactory result when installing the skins. I tried several different approaches, each of which required building specialized fixtures, and I’m still not satisfied. Therefore, I would advise caution when considering a used shamisen that “just needs new skins”. There’s a reason that a professional re-skinning costs several hundred dollars.

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