Small kankara sanshin – can shamisen
29th August 2010
So I made another musical instrument, this time a small kankara sanshin – that is, the Okinawan version of the shamisen made from a tin.
It's made from a meat can, which was the biggest tin of the right proportions I could find. I originally just wanted to cut holes in it and pry the contents out somehow, but I got hungry and figured I don't want to mess with that, so I just opened it from the bottom. It works just as well with an open back.
I used a piece of wood with knots for the neck, because I didn't want to just throw it away and this was more or less just experimental. I decided to use nails to route the strings on the neck correctly, I originally wanted to drill holes to channel the strings through. I rushed with the nails because I wanted to finish it quickly and chipped the wood some. Oh well. Better not rush next time. Used EBG nylon guitar strings on it.
No glue used! And it sounds suprisingly good!
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