Pictures of My Shamisen

General
#1

I have disassembled the shamisen i recently found at auction and gently cleaned it up. I have removed the old strings and dust. Being a woodworker, I am extremely impressed with the quailty of the joinery on this instrument. When all three pieces of the neck are assembled you do not notice the joinery unless pointed out.

It has an exceptional wood grain and color and the patina is excellent. There are no dents or scratches on the body. However it does have multiple thin marks around the top edge where the skin installs. I am wondering if these are made from a thin knife or razor trimming the skins during installation…

i am trying to decide if I want to spend the money to restore it or sell it as is. I am not sure how much I would need to put into it and how much value it would add to the instrument.

Maybe a buyer would prefer to have the skins of thier choice installed any way… Don’t really know . Any suggestions from you players…

#2

Sorry - having difficulty uploading the images.

#3

Last try really!!

: http://kennethcenters.imgur.com

#4

Wow it’s a really beautiful instruments ! I really wonder how they make this type of itomaki , i’m trying to think how to make this but i just can’t figure it out !

#5

Florian -Being a wood worker myself, I have a pretty good understanding of instrument building in general and the amount of craftsmanship and time it takes.

it is quite a tedious process as they are completely handmade. The body is made from a single large block of wood that has been cut into four pieces in a curved fashion. Great care is taken to keep all the wood grain oriented in the same direction. All of the corners are mitered and beveled virtually making the corner joints disappear once finished. You cans still see the hand chisel work on the interior. The inside walls are carved in a V fashion with the edges thicker and the center thinner. This adds strength to keep the sides from warping. It also would affect the tone of the instrument.

Again the neck is carved from a single piece and the then cut apart with very thin kerf japanese saws. After being cut into three sections they add the matching tenons and holes. The headstock is carved from the same piece of wood as the neck and glued on as seperate piece.

Good luck building yours… Just dig in and do it!

#6

Florian - Wow! talk about putting your foot in your mouth! I just visited your site and you are the man! Looks like you have forgotten more than I ever knew about building instruments! . You do some awesome work, keep it up!

#7

Hey Ken, just wanted to help you with the link stuff.

When you get there, you should click the icon below “Direct Link”. Then you just paste the link here on the forum and it will automatically become an image.

You should however choose “Large Thumbnail” from the “Sizes” choice first, if you have a large image.

#8

Thank you Ken for all the details about the shamisen :slight_smile: ! Thank you very much , well i’m just a beginner in crafting instruments but i really hope to get good skill at it ! About the Japanese saws , i don’t about you but i love them more than anything else in the shop !

So what do you think about these itomakis ?

Do they also do this by hand or do you think we can use a wood turning device (don’t know the tool’s name in English, sorry)

#9

Omg, I’ve been wanting itomaki like that for more than 6 years… Gorgeous. How do I get them??? Haha
Every time I ask any of the Japanese craftsmen or shamisen players, they never understand what I’m talking about; even when Kevin tried to translate in the past.

#10

Karl - Thanks for tips on adding photos to my posts! I had a great deal of difficulty this morning so your tips will be very helpful.

#11

Florian - II cannot tell you if these were handmade but believe you could make this style Itomaki on a lathe. Cut the blanks with six sides add the taper and twist with the lathe. It would certainly require at least thee steps to make them. Any time you are adding a twist and taper to an octagon it certainly adds to the difficulty.

Grant - Maybe you can use my photos to show them the style itomaki you are searching for!

#12

Man, perhaps it’s because of the camera flash, but that wood looks sooooo nice. :slight_smile:

Sweet bass you have on that album! Love the grain texture you got with the stain. :slight_smile:

Grant, you know we can get those for you at the Bachido Store! :slight_smile: The spiral itomaki are called Rasen kata itomaki (螺旋型の糸巻き)

#13

i’ve seen a couple like this on ebay but i keep getting outbid, this style goes for soo much

#14

That kouki wood is gorgeous, I bet those itomaki are easy to grip whilst playin

#15

I agree that wood looks like super high quality. Does it have the metal lining inside the holes?

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