Description
Notable Points
1. The deep vivid reds in the kouki is more striking in darker rooms with direct light. In ambient light, the sao is almost black with a very deep reddish hue. I’ve included a few photos of the tenjin in a regular room so you can see it’s darker appearance.
2. Sometime in this shamisen’s life, someone had added a tochi (figuring) patterned stencil to the wood. From afar it looked like truly high figured wood, but upon close inspection it was obviously an “aftermarket” addition. To us, the stencil was almost an insult to the beautiful kouki underneath, but fortunately, Tokyo Wagakki fully removed the fake pattern during their refinishing process. They didn’t refinish the nakago (spike) though, and so that is the only part where the stencil still shows. (Shown in photos)
3. After the shamisen was made, it seems someone had dripped oil on the inside of the dou, which darkened certain areas of the ayasugi pattern. (Shown in photos.) There’s no actual damage per-se, but the splotches aren’t the prettiest. If desired, the entire inside can be coated with camellia oil upon request. Doing so won’t affect the sound quality, but will evenly darken the dou for a uniform appearance. In any case, this is an imperfection which wouldn’t exist on a brand new shamisen, so the price has been lowered to accommodate this.
Expert Restoration by Tokyo Wagakki
We sent this shamisen to be refreshed by Tokyo Wagakki, the most respected shamisen workshop which has been around for 130 years, long before Tsugaru Shamisen was coined as a style. And this wasn’t just cleaned; it was rebuilt. The craftsmen at Tokyo Wagakki spent as much time on this instrument as they would building a new model.
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The Dou (Body): The high-quality Karin wood dou was completely dismantled, joints leveled and reglued, sanded, and finished with fresh Urushi lacquer.
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The Sao: Masterfully leveled and relacquered for a smooth, brand-new playing experience.
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The Hardware: This shamisen has been fitted with brand new rindo, zagane, and includes the original azuma sawari.
Elite Itomaki
This shamisen is fitted with Elite Itomaki – Two Amboyna Burl pegs and one Siamese Rosewoods peg, all with African Blackwood tips.
First taste of Hibiki Sonic Skin
Be among the first in the world to experience Hibiki Sonic! This is a monumental update for both Hibiki and synthetic shamisen skin technology—offering a resonance and surface texture much closer to natural skin than ever before. It is not yet available to the general public, but comes standard with this instrument Currently skinned with White Hibiki Sonic.
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