Buying A Sitar Part 1
It is very difficult to buy a sitar in North America, and even more difficult in Canada. There are hundreds of sitars around at various shops and on-line that are "Tourist Quality", e.g. they make good decorations, and they will not hold up to continuous playing.
By way of example, do a search on ebay for SITAR. Some of the sitars that are no name or "Bina" will show up and they will look very affordable at just $300 or so. Some of these might be ok sitars, but by and large they require a lot of work to make them playable. Typically, they are small sized sitars as well, so if you are over 6 feet in height, you should probably get a bigger sitar. Not to worry if you have one of these sitars, it is a good instrument to practise maintenance skills on, that is what I use mine for ;-)
Most of these sitars can be fixed up to become quite playable sitars, except in extreme cases (see below). Often, things like fret tying, peg fitting, string replacement, peg chalking etc. can be fixed with practise and an investment of your time. You don't want to be experimenting on your $2000 sitar right? There are WEB FORUMS where you can go and ask questions to get help if you are stuck. Other things like jawari, which is shaping the main bridge to produce that wonderful sound, will take a lot of practise or a few $$$ to fix. CAVEAT EMPTOR: if you are expecting that wonderful tone that you hear on CDs, maybe you should lower your expectations a bit. The great sitarists don't buy sitars, e.g. on ebay, they have them specially made. Furthermore, a sitar must be "broken in" as we say in the West, meaning you have to play it constantly so that the wood matures etc and it finds its "voice". So, if you do buy a sitar and it doesn't sound exactly like you thought it would, be patient, practise really hard on it, I mean strike the strings hard, pull on the strings (aka meend). It will benefit both of you. You will know in 6 months time if it was a good purchase or not.
I would recommend finding a teacher of sitar before purchasing an instrument. Sometimes he/she might have a used one on hand to lend or sell you. Otherwise, your teacher should be able to advise you on where to get one. The ideal situation is to bring your teacher with you to pick out a sitar. I say "ideal" because it may not be practical. Sitars are so few and far between that you might not be able to visit the seller. Keep in mind, though, that if there is a way for you to see the sitar in "person", you will stand a much better chance of getting a good one. My advise to the first time byer is to join the SITAR FORUM. There are a lot of other "newbies", who may be in the same situation. There are several sitar dealers who participate in the SITAR FORUM. These dealers depend on a good reputation that is often made or lost based on knowledge and assistence they give to others and the recommendations from other forum members, who have bought their sitars.
"Be patient, learn as much as you can about the sitar, check references. If you can't physically play the sitar yourself, have someone you know with you who can play it, or have an expert pick out the sitar for you. Unfortunately, you can't trust anyone selling a sitar, with a few exceptions."
--anonymous coward
Recommended Sitar Dealers
Here are some of the places that I would recommend (order of preference is mine):
- http://www.sitarsetc.com
I bought a
Srishti Calcutta Traditional sitar in 2003 and I am really happy with it. It
came with a fiberglass case, which is great for carrying around. There is
never a worry that it will be broken.
"Tony K"
knows sitars better than most people. He personally oversees the making of his
sitars in India. I have heard good things about his sitars
Bruce and Kalyan both
participate in the sitar forum mentioned above. They can help you select a
good sitar.
NB you might get lucky and find someone who has a good sitar for sale. There might be a local shop that you can drop by and investigate. I do that when I am in Toronto.
Parts Of The Sitar
Make sure you are very detailed in ordering. Familiarize yourself with the parts of the sitar. (Click on the image for a link to a very good article on the construction of the sitar).
Brand Name Sitars
Why not buy a name brand sitar? Good question! The problem is that a fancy name does not always make the fancy sitars. Sometimes supply does not meet demand and they have to subcontract. Some makers just make you wait until they make it. It never hurts to ask. Here is a brief list of some of the name brand sitars off the top of my head, as it were:
- Kanai Lal
- Mangla Prasad Sharma
- Srishti Musical
- Radhey Shyam Sharma
- Radha Krishna Sharma
- Rikhi Ram
- Rikhi Ram, by Sanjay Sharma
- Hiren Roy
- Hemen
- karaseksound.com
- Bhartiya Tantuvadya Kendra
- Manoj Kumar Sardar
- P. and Brothers
- Yousef Mirajkar
- Mahkan Lal
- Shar Mohammad
- Bina
These are just a few that I know of, there are hundreds more. So, how can we choose from such a huge number of makers? The key is to talk to someone who has a sitar made by the maker in question.
"No Name" Sitars
There are a lot of sitar makers out there and many don't "sign" their name to the sitars they make. These "no name" sitars are usually a lot cheaper, often for a good reason, but some of them are pretty good instruments. Sitars are not made like guitars or other name-brand instruments, for the most part. If we have a brief high level look at the manufacturing process, I think we will have a better idea on what "name-brand" means in the sitar world.
Sitar Build Phases
Most sitars are made in two phases:
- Phase One: a body shop makes the foundation, e.g. neck, tabli, gourd; but no frets, pegs, penwork, jawari etc. Miraj has hundreds of sitar makers, which is no coincidence because Miraj also grows the best gourds for sitar making. They get the first pick of the best gourds. Most sitar makers don't build the body, but some do like Hiren Roy and Karaseksound.com. That is not to say that they are not capable of making the sitar body; typcially, they have a higher demand than they can build for. Some may also put the penwork and finish on as well. Have a look at the following pictures of the manufacturing process courtesy of KarasekSound.com:
Building the main gourd section
Working on the tabli
Tony K gets involved with the build process
- Phase Two: the maker visits the body shop and selects (or has agents select) the best ones. This phase 2 maker will do all the finely detailed work and give the sitar its voice. Most sitar retailers have agents in India, who are musicians (some famous) who oversee the whole production and make sure the specifications are met. My Srishti sitar was made this way. There is nothing wrong with the body shop sitar. I think some great sitars are made this way, where the experts do their respective tasks. As I said earlier, most sitars are made this way, so not to worry.