Semi Acoustic Sitar & Solid Body Sitar

 

SAS-01 (–SOLD–)

  • front view

 

SAS-02 (–SOLD–)

  • front view

 

SBS-02

  • front view

 

SBS-03 (–SOLD–)

  • front view

 

SBS-04

  • front view

Most pictures made by Luc De Gezelle 08/2009.

 

In december 2008 these 3 first unique new style sitars were completed. Click on the pictures to read the specs or download the new style sitars pdf brochure. All information about the making of these instruments can be found on this blog. Follow this link to read all posts about the making of the semi acoustic sitars SAS-01 & SAS-02, and hit this link to read all posts about the making of the solid body sitar SBS-02.

frontside frontside

Click on the pictures to zoom in …

backside backside

A fine instrument needs a safe and secure travel case : StormCase™ , model iM3300. This is a lightweight but very tough and rugged fiber case. It is dent-resistant, shatter-resistant, virtually unbreakable and also watertight and airtight… and it has rubber handles and wheels!!

CURRENTLY ONE FOR SALE @ SITAR FACTORY SHOP


Comments

New style sitars SAS & SBS — 13 Comments

  1. Hello,
    I’m Patrick from France. I’m interested by the SAS 1. I speak with Harry from Carbon sitar because I was very interested by his work but i’m searching for a electric sitar with sympathic string (i use them in my compositions) and Harry say to me that’s difficult to have solid body with sympathic and think that the SAS 1 can be the best compromise for me. What about Larsen problem, hear the sitar in the mix (my project includes drum, bass and electro so it will be very loud!), and the balance between the different strings ?

    Best regards
    Patrick

    • Dear Patrick,

      SAS-01, is a semi-acoustic sitar, but it is no more available. SAS-02, its twin brother is still for sale.
      SAS-02 can be provided with sympathetic strings if you really want.
      SBS-02 (and SBS-04) is a real solid body sitar and also available.
      These sitars behave 100% same as their guitar cousins concerning Larsen. With SBS you can play really very loud (unlimited??), but with SAS there will be a point when Larsen is coming to play with you… just as solidbody guitar vs semi-acoustic guitar in comparable conditions.

      SAS-02 initially comes without sympathetics (and on SAS-01 they have been removed) mainly because of the extra wheight of the tuning machines. Also, when playing electrical, and very loud, it is not easy to keep a good sound because than these sympathetic strings need to be tuned 110% accurate. The more loud you play, the more any slightest deviation is heard. This needs a lot of attention…
      And, in live situations, it takes some considerable extra time, to retune from one song to another.
      But, it works, if you really want.
      The balance between sympathetics and main strings is determined by the pick-up position and can be adjusted by height.
      On SBS-02, sympathetic strings can also be mounted but the effect is mainly triggered by coming Larsen effect. Thus very difficult to keep in control…

  2. I have an old sitar, but need a lighter instrument for live & studio work. Am contemplating the Ravi Shanhar model studio sitar from Rikki Ram, but the SAS-01 looks very interesting. Could you please give me the price of such an instrument and where to obtain it? I live in Norway and need to have it sent by mail.

  3. These instruments look like they are very well built with an excellent choice of materials and hardware. Visual appeal is there as well. I would expect the jawari, tuneability, fret calibration and other technical aspects to be locked in nicely. It looks like these sitars can be played in a traditional manner as well as strapped on and standing up. Congratulations on creating what appears to be a high quality alternative to the current market choices.

  4. Hi
    im a musicologist and sitar performer.im interested in your solid body sitar model SAS-01 can you tell me more about is specs like neck size and scale and whats the price of this instrument.
    regards

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags allowed in your comment: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>