Side Frets/ Modifications to Neck

[pboman]

Quote from Bachido Store “Fujaku 譜尺 (SF-1) The hardest part of shamisen playing is the lack of frets, or other indicators to where the positions are. The fujaku is an adhesive plastic strip which sticks to the side of the shamisen.”

Question 1- What do you think of installing very low frets on the side of the neck instead of taping on the Fujaku plastic strip? Would having low metal frets on the side of the neck make it easier to position the hands to find the right notes without having to look?

Question 2- What do you think about using a small toothed file to file down the depth of the neck to make it easier to hold for small hands? Has anyone made those kinds of modifications to their shamisen? If so, how did it turn out?

[Sentsuki_Rai]

Hello!
Question no. 1 - remembering the position is purely out of practice and attaining muscle memory. And adding fujaku is a temporary way to start memorizing the position and gradually removing the fujaku will allow you to enhance the muscle memory as you practice… Being able to play without any physical reference and without looking at the Sao is like a more professional touch to the art☺️

Question no. 2 - yes you can decrease the depth of the Sao but in my views, i wouldn’t hamper with a professionally built Shamisen. The shamibuddy seems to have a shallow neck, i don’t know for sure though, let’s see if anyone with a shamibuddy puts any input on this.

[pboman]

Thanks Shamanth for your comments

[jonnyfive]

Hi Paul,

Looking carefully at the photos you provided, it seems like this is Shamibuddy. Is that right?
If so, this is 100% a learning instrument, to which I would not have any issues with modifications. Metal frets seem to be a nice touch, if you intend your Shamibuddy to always be used for learning, with the person then transitioning to a regular Shamisen.

You can also build a small invisible bump with superglue. Just apply a very narrow line of non-viscous superglue, spray some accelerator (from far away, otherwise the air jet will flatten the glue line), and repeat until you get to the bump thickness you need. Removing it should not leave any marks, if you file it down to nearly wood height then polish until it’s invisible.

But I agree with Shamanth in that the learner should not depend on the frets after a short while. For that, you would need removable bumps, that you can achieve with any kind of narrow adhesive strip (like this: https://www.amazon.com/JIAHAO-Silver-Striping-Decoration-Sticker/dp/B08DQXM5YH), or if you have, some embossed copper shielding foil tape.

As for shortening the Sao for smaller hands, it’s important to notice that the Sao has a certain geometry to prevent warping. However, I remember something about Kyle using a metal rod inside the Sao (but I’m not sure if that’s also on the Shamibuddy). Maybe ask Kyle about the potential warping because of a reduction in Sao thickness, since the wood used on the Shamibuddy, even though it appears to be laminated, doesn’t seem to be hard (except the Sao fingerboard). If it has the metal rod core, you would be fine with the reduction, but make sure to ask how many millimeters of wood you have after the rod.

Cheers.

(Note: edited for bad spelling)

[pboman]

Thanks much Jonrz for your advice. Greatly appreciated