My name is Sascha Boy from Germany andddddd here i am boys and girls .-)
I play bass guitar or a few years but for 7 or 8 years ist a wihs to possessed my own shamisen buttttt a new is to expenisve for my.And now i bought this beauty on ebay …i call her… forgott this hehehehe.
My plan is to restore this shamisen .
-refresh and polish the wooden paarts
-repolish the metal parts
-reskinning the kawa
-build my own bachi
Kyle told me that i can use calf skin insteed of cat or dog skin . I have here an shop witch sell cow skin for an goog price . is it posible to use cow skin for the kawa of the shamisen?
Its not an tsuragu shamisen … can you tell me witch thickness are the right for these one ? Iw would be great if you can help me .-)And at last …i hope you understand my foooolish english
Yay!! Glad you made it here Sascha! At last, welcome to the Bachido Forum!
We gotta get BH to this thread. He just fixed up and polished a shamisen just like this (different kind of wood, but same style) He learned a lot of things from the experience and I’m sure has good advice! BH!!
I think cow would be fine. The 0,8 – 1,2 mm is the most preferable. Thicker than that will sound a little ‘thunky’, if you know what I mean.
The dealer told me that the shamisen is shipped since friday .If i have luck i have the Shamisen next week and i post some detail and step by step pictures.
sooooooo my shamisen arrived today.And iam soooo happyyyyy with it.After work i remove the old skin and the patches on the bottom side of the do ( the glue of the patches are sooooo bad).
The do is clean now and i sanded the do with 120 grade sandpaper .Now i have a question.What did you think ist better?
-to use sandpaper from 120 tu 1200 than oiling and polishing
-to use sandaper from 120 to 1200 than to lacquer and polishing the do
Congratulations Sascha!!! Glad you are rocking your new axe!
I would use the second option. Especially for the top of the fingerboard. The lacquer wears away, so oil is a better option (so I’ve been told). For the sides of the sao, dou and tenjin, it’s up to you. If you want a shiny surface, lacquer it. If you want a more natural look, oil it. (If you’re oiling it, I’d go up to 2000g sandpaper)
one hour? oh my this looks quite good actually ( as an alternative to 2000 grid sandpaper which I couldn’t find I used 000 or was it 0000 (anyway finest grade) steel wool and a wood furniture finish (oil or so) I got recomended by a guitar repair shop no less I don’t know if the actual woodworkers would agree but that seemed to work out at least okay . . .
yeah that would be the dark one I used for dark wood . . . and that one is real cheap available for I don’t remember but no more than a very few bucks at local drugstores as a wood cleaning and polishing thingy . . .
i need one hour to remove that rubber patches. the do neet a second layer of vanish and after that polishing . and the sao need a polishing with steel wool ( i know this trick i doo that very often at work but not for oak )
what you see is only basic work . cleaning ,sanding and base coat usw .
Crazy good man! I bet the texture will give a nice grip too.
If I were to give an opinion on improvement, I would take away a bit of the end from the lowest one as it seem to be sticking out more than the top one.
as an alternative to 2000 grid sandpaper which I couldn’t find I used 000 or was it 0000 (anyway finest grade) steel wool and a wood furniture finish (oil or so) I got recomended by a guitar repair shop no less I don’t know if the actual woodworkers would agree but that seemed to work out at least okay . . .
That definitely sounds playable!