Hi
I’ve just reskinned my tsugaru shamisen with a goat on one side and a kangaroo on the other…the kangaroo skin is VERY tough and tight. However I want to go to quite thick strings for volume and attack…does anyone have a good idea of the range of string guages and who carries them? cheers Shamiru, Brisbane Australia
You can find strings in the Bachido store:
http://bachido.com/products/ito
You can buy one string at a time, or get a set of Tsugaru strings, and the gauges they recommend are: first string (25), second string (15), and Third string (15). I tend to go a little lighter on the first string, but you can go all Kida Rinshouei with a 30 gauge ichi no ito if you like. The 30 is handy if you ever need to tow a car but don’t have any chains.