Handcrafted by the experienced hands of Bachido member Josh Curry, these beautiful acrylic bachi gives flexibility with a clear, snappy tone! Premium acrylic bachi are made from high quality acrylic with it’s tang secured in a luscious wooden handle.
Replacement Parts
Whether your bachi is made from plastic, wood, or faux-bekko, the tips of your bachi will eventually chip. It happens with all bachi and is an expected occurrence for shamisen players. The chipped edges can be smoothed and rounded, but often the pointed tips of a new bachi is desired, and players end up purchasing a brand new bachi.
This premium acrylic bachi is specifically made in a whole new way! If the bachi’s tip gets chipped, it can be sent in for the fresh bachi blade replacement. Just another way we seek to make shamisen a sustainable hobby for everyone to enjoy!
Lightweight
The Shamisen master Reigen Fujii is a huge proponent of lightweight bachi. If used correctly, a lightweight bachi gives a great tone while putting much less strain on the wrist. Typical bachi weigh around 150 grams. The Premium Acrylic Bachi weighs in at 60 grams.
Kyle’s observation
The size and weight of the bachi is a real delight and the tone is very sharp and clear. With extended intense playing, I find it causes far less fatigue than a regular bachi.
The blade is flexible enough to provide a silky smooth striking experience, yet feels solid enough to provide a strong tone. While the tone is naturally different than wood, plastic or faux-bekko, it stands up equally well and I enjoy it’s tone as much as the other bachi.
The only area where it can benefit from future material development is with heavy tsugaru-style strikes on the ichi no ito. When sharply striking the thick ichi no ito, the tone is softer and more rounded than a faux-bekko bachi (which yields a harder tone). That said, it is specifically an aesthetic difference and I suspect this difference will be only noticeable for experienced players pursuing this particular aesthetic.
Bachi Models
Classic
This is the original Acrylic Bachi from Josh Curry. The handle features lovely smooth chamfered edges which makes it especially easier to grip for beginners. Normally, bachi handles aren’t rounded and so the edges can feel a bit uncomfortable. If the edges of bachi tend to hurt your fingers, this would be the perfect bachi for you!
Specifications
Classic
- Size: 174mm long (base to blade edge), 91mm wide (blade tip to blade tip)
- Handle Size: 27mm x 31mm (location of screw at base) 33mm x 13mm (location of screw at near blade)
- Weight: 60 grams (weighted options coming later)
- Bachi Blade Thickness Options: 1.6mm or 3.1mm
- Bachi Blade Color Options: Light Blue, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Dark Grey, Clear
- Bachi Handle Wood Options (Domestic): Maple, Cherry, Walnut
- Bachi Handle Wood Options (Exotic): Wenge, Purpleheart, Bocote, Bubinga, Rosewood, Padauk, Zebrawood
Big K’s Favorite
I (Kyle Abbott) was lucky enough to find a bekko bachi that fit my hand absolutely perfectly. When I first held it, the perfect match allowed me to execute techniques with far greater accuracy and comfort than my previous bachi which didn’t match my hand profile as well. In fact, it fit so well, I was nervous to use it publicly out of fear of breaking it! Fortunately, Josh generously offered to make an Acrylic Bachi with the same exact measurements as my favorite bekko bachi. It feels wonderful in my hand (the lighter weight is amazing too!), and the playing experience is very close to my favorite bekko bachi. Note: You will notice that the tip of the handle will flex when the bachi strikes. This is a good thing, as the acrylic is allowed to fully flex (this removes the chance of the blade snapping at the edge). While this feature is on all models, the flexing effect is most noticable on this model as the wood is thinner.
Specifications
- Size: 174mm long (base to blade edge), 95mm wide (blade tip to blade tip)
- Handle Size: 17mm x 7mm (location of screw at base) 7mm x 36mm (location of screw at near blade)
- Weight: 60 grams (weighted options coming later)
- Bachi Blade Thickness Options: 1.6mm or 3.1mm
- Bachi Blade Color Options: Light Blue, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, Orange, Dark Grey, Clear
- Bachi Handle Wood Options (Domestic): Maple, Cherry, Walnut
- Bachi Handle Wood Options (Exotic): Wenge, Purpleheart, Redheart, Bubinga, Rosewood, Padauk, Zebrawood
Special Edition: Ogi Blade
This blade available for both Classic and Big K’s Favorite Models
Josh Curry has recently developed this very elegant ‘Ogi Blade’. The standard blade has a straight edge, whereas the Ogi Blade has a beautiful fan-like curve. This curve doesn’t noticeably affect the playability of the bachi, but adds a very pleasing visual aesthetic for the fashion conscious shamisenists! Note: This blade type is available for both Classic and Big K’s Favorite, but only available for 1.6mm blade thickness
Purchase your Premium Acrylic Bachi
May 2021 Update: Josh is indefinitely pausing new bachi orders in order to focus on family and his regular job. I’m not sure when he will restart orders, but I will bring back the order buttons when he does. Thank you for understanding!