alexv2013 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

great

SaijaFOX (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

hai! me too^^ its amazing!!

mkeredes (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

wow, she's really great!!! I wish I could play Shamisen... *sad*

macfan9000 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

される井戸!

Ronindennis (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

A bachi I would never buy second hand. I usually get my strings from Chords Canada. My teacher has a sweet spot on Hokkaido for skinning the shamisen, $300 and it's almost the same climate as Holland, so it's not too tight or too loose.

KuNsHiKeN (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Wow, I wish I have the time to go Tokyo myself to get some supplies. Don't go to Shamisen Katoh, their prices are at least above market prices. I done business with them a few times, I'm not really impressed. Sure Kenji can stretch his skin pretty good, but its because he always stretch them with the highest tension. Usually you get to pick at other stores. If you want the original Tsugaru sound (and your skins to last longer), I wouldn't go with him.

KuNsHiKeN (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Ummmm.... that's hard to say. I think buying an used Bachi would cost you more money in the long run. With these sharp, uneven tips, you damage strings easiler. I personally use a $19 buck set consisting of Marusan Joururi Mid Gauge, Hatsune 15-2, Chikubu 14-3. It's a pain in the ass and a hole in a wallet to replace them. Not to mention, these sharp uneven tips of an used wooden bachi might break your Shamisen skin, and that's $400 down the drain to replace them.

Ronindennis (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Well, I can't deny that I have to help myself to cheap crappy shamisen stuff most of the time, I simply don't have the money nor the resources. I'll be in Tokyo next month, and I've been saving up. So I'm going to get a lot of the good stuff!

KuNsHiKeN (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Argh, don't get me started. Even the crappy sounding mass producted, Made in China Shamisen are $400-$500 a piece. They don't even realize that Shamisen is a expensive hobby. $180+ for a Standard Bekko Bachi, $50+ for a really good Koma, $10+ for one 1st String, $29+ Neo that has to changed every year. They think all you need is a used wooden broken tip bachi you get from Ebay at like $39 bucks (which is around a full price of a NEW one).

Ronindennis (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

People are always surprised when I tell them about the price range of shamisen. Apparently, they think it's about the same as some $30 spanish guitar you can pick up at a depato. ;-)