Ni no ito keeps breaking

General
1

Hello, I started playing shamisen in November this year in Japan. However my ni no ito has been breaking very frequently.
I have a background in guitar so when I say frequently I guess I mean compared to that. also most strangely to me is that it always breaks between the itomaki and the neck while in it’s case.

my teacher likes for me to play in C# so that’s where I have it the majority of the time.
the room I keep it in is usually around 50% humidity, 20 celsius. I play for 30min-1.5hours basically every day.

what’s driven me to post now is that I only just replaced it last time 2 weeks ago. it doesn’t always break this quickly but i think I’ve already replaced my ni no ito probably 5 or 6 times since november when I started. also the ni no ito is the only string that ever breaks. i’ve only replaced the others when my teacher suggested it.

2

Welcome!

What material is your ni-no-ito made of? If the string is silk you can try switching to nylon or tetron.

Are you tuning down before putting your shamisen away for the night?

3

Hello @JordanS

First, I would like to say I’m sorry you’re going to such trouble.
Let’s try to find the reason for the issue.
Would you be able to send us a few pictures of the itogura (void area in the tenjin where the itomaki spools the strings), pointing specifically to where the string breaks?
Also, can you share apicture of the bag of string, showing brand and model?

I would like to invite you to Bachido’s Discord server.
We are much more active there, and several people there usually reply quickly.

Thank you.
Jonny

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