Sanshin - Pt. 1 (The Wood)

i'm going to make a small sanshin for mr. sha. sanshin is a three-stringed ("san"-"shin") instrument from okinawa, like a shamisen or banjo. traditionally it has snake skin for the head, but i don't think i'll be going that route. one never knows though, i'll tackle that part later.

vicki in smithfield offered to let me dig through her wood piles, from tree-trimmings etc., and also to look at her neighbors black walnut tree. i really should have gotten some pictures of the land out there with the trees, very lovely. the walnut tree died a couple of years ago, it is still standing and it's massive! i'll try to get pictures next time i'm out there. it makes me very happy to get this local wood, much more satisfying than to spend money on crap wood from lowe's or especially anything super expensive for proper luthier work.

here's what i came home with, from top to bottom; plum, walnut, butternut ("white walnut") x 2.

i scraped and chiseled off the bark, and hand sawed the limb nubs off. for the butternut, rick cut the limbs lengthwise with his tablesaw, to make boards. the plum was cracked, so i used a mallet and chisel to split it completely.

the walnut is very hard. it might do nicely as the neck/dowel. i chiseled and planed one side flat ("fret board" side, although this will be fretless). here is the neck and a closeup of the flat part, so far.

the butternut is so nice! the top plank isn't smoothed yet (you can see saw burns, and a ridge down the middle since the blade was not high enough to cut it in one pass). these will make the body. they make a very nice sound when struck together.

the plum i might use to make the pegs. it is very hard. not sure yet, but here's what it looks like.