K&K Big Twin external mount

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I mounted a K&K sound Big Twin internal transducer on a Raj Musicals sitar by Joël Van Roode (Alpacas Collective – Flugzeug Music Art Design). Since it is not always obvious to open a tabli, we chose to do an external mount. That is, the transducers are mounted on the outside (top) of the tabli. An advantage of this installation is that it is easy to look for an optimal positioning of the elements to obtain a good and balanced sound.

The disadvantage with this kind of rather simple set-up is that the jack connector connection is usually very sloppy and not very reliable. Therefore, I gave it some thought and opted to mount the jack connector on the taardaan (tailmount). This way, it is very firmly attached and there is also a very good grounding with the strings, which greatly reduces possible interference signals. The complete assembly is therefore relatively easy to do with this.


First, I drilled a hole in the taardaan and then drilled through into the tumba accordingly. Then a small hole was drilled in the tabli to route the wires to the connector.


Finally, the two transducers were glued in place, the retaining wires routed through the holes and soldered to the connector, the taardaan put back in place and the strings put back on. Done!


Here is the result. Joël is very happy with it!

Slimbucker on Studiositar

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I mounted a Kent Armstrong Slimbucker™ Jazz guitar pickup on a beautiful new Waseem Maner vintage style studiositar. The sitar sounds very natural, with an extra warmth due to enhanced low frequency response typical for this kind of humbucker electro-magnetic pickups. The pickup is tilted to meet the cikaris and adjusted in height between the taravs and playing strings to balance the taravs response. All strings are Pyramid strings, and in particular Jora, Laraj & Kharaj are Nickel Flatwound strings.

Sound sample: 

Play Slimbucker™ Jazz guitar pickup on AER Compact 60 amp

 

 

Specifications of the Slimbucker™ Jazz guitar pickup:

Alnico bar magnet / DC = 8K / humbucker made by Kent Armstrong.

Size :   0,95cm (.375”) thick – 6,8cm (2.68”) long – 2,8cm (1.10”) wide.

 

Strings made by Pyramid:

Silver plated steel Baj & Pancham .012 (0,30mm)
Silver plated steel Cikari & Taravs .009 (0,23mm)
Nickel flatwound Jora .018 (0,46mm)
Nickel flatwound Laraj .022 (0,56mm)
Nickel flatwound Kharaj .030 (0,76mm)

Ustad Ilyas Khan’s HR sitar restoration – Pt2

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Foto from left to right: Idris Khan – sitar, Ustad Ilyas Khan – sitar, Tadahiro Wakabayashi – tanpura.
Foto © T. Wakabayashi 

This is the follow-up report to a project on the restoration of a special Hiren Roy sitar. Click here for the  first part. Below is the second part concerning the result:

The original second tumba is missing. This is very unfortunate for a sitar that is around 60 years old. It is easy to see from the photos that this is a fairly large second tumba. Not surprising for sitar of this class. I myself do not have any tumbas in stock, nor can I make them just like that. But for some time now, I have been working regularly with Mohammad Waseem Maner, a young and talented sitar maker from Miraj. I asked him if he could then make a replica of this missing second tumba for us. “Yes. Sir I will do the needful” was his prompt reply and so it happened.

The new second tumba arrived just in time to still be mounted on the fully repaired instrument. And, Waseem did a sterling job. The cut-outs in the woodwork match those of the original perfectly.

Following are some photos of the finished instrument.

Time to dwell for a moment on the unusual bridge on the head of the neck.

It is widely known that traditionally built sitars do easily suffer from anomalous intonation. This is especially noticeable with the Laraj Kharaj strings. Modern western instruments are often equipped with options to adjust the length of each string separately so that one can achieve quasi-perfect intonation. But that is not easy to achieve on a simple construction like a sitar.

Many sitar maestros started experimenting with an extra bridge added to the bridge at the head of the neck. The construction found on this instrument takes the crown. At first, only the length of the Laraj Kharaj string was adjusted. In principle, that should have sufficed, but apparently it could have been even better. An extra bridge was added later. This time, the Jora string was included in the adjustment.

The result is impressive, though. The intonation of this sitar is one of the cleanest I have ever heard. Once the new strings were fitted and the instrument was given a first tuning, it was noticeable that all the strings can be played quasi right on the fret. Very special, especially then with the Laraj Kharaj….

Only drawback Matyas quickly found was that the Kharaj, when played open, easily tended to go into an excessive buzz. This is not surprising given the actual width of this extra bridge on the headstock. The problem was remedied by turning in the accompanying screw a little deeper, though. But whether this will hold up in the longer term Matyas can tell us soon….
In any case, this sitar is ready for a new start with a promising young sitarist Matyas Wolter. And they lived happily ever after together…. 😉

Those who would like to hear this sitar in the hands of its master please visit Matyas playlist of Ustad Ilyas Khan’s music on his archival YouTube site:

Ustad ILYAS KHAN: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvP9MFDf6jaLLvf-4xvUVTsIEkpm3hOsL

Those who would like to hear this restored sitar in the hands of Matyas himself listen here:

Matyas Wolter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SA9T4OYYrI

Ustad Ilyas Khan’s HR sitar restoration – Pt1

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There is a very special sitar on my workbench. Special in many ways because it belonged to Ustad Ilyas Khan (1924-1989), a lesser known but highly skilled and deserving sitar player, born in Lucknow to a family of musicians. His father belonged to the Shahjahanpur gharana.

This unique Hiren Roy sitar now belongs to German sitarist Matyas Wolter. In spring 2023, he sent me for a list of problems:

A. Structural Issues:
> Open the tabli and neck plate and tighten all loose points
> If it is opened once anyways, maybe it could be tried to straighten the neck???!!!
B. Cosmetics:
> Spot repair of torn polish spot in front of lower bridge leg on the tabli
> Spot repair of gourd pimples
C. Setup:
> All obvious works: fret binding & setting, new strings etc
> Original Horn bridge adjustment, and (possibly after neck repair) heightening

Since this is a larger project, I have split the report into 2 parts. Below is the first part concerning basic repair:

The sitar almost fell apart by itself. It had once been glued with rohlam, a traditional wood glue made from a mixture of wheat flour, lime and copper sulphur. After a (long) time, it came apart easily.

So taking the instrument apart wasn’t too bad. The neck came off easily with a couple of scrapers inserted and almost immediately the whole tabli came off too.

Matyas had noted earlier that the tabli was probably loose, and that was no overstatement.
The joint on the other hand was still firmly attached, but once the 4 screws were loosened, it too came apart perfectly.

By special request from Matyas, I have put a message to the inside of the neck plate:

“This sitar was made by Hiren Roy of Calcutta in the early 1960’s for Ustad Ilyas Khan of Lucknow and was his main sitar until he passed away in 1989. Thereafter his son Idris Khan took care of it. After Idris’ demise in 2013 Ilyas Khan’s nephew Ustad Irfan Khan of Calcutta took over. He passed the instrument on to his German disciple Matyas Wolter in 2023. It was completely restored for a new life by Klaas Janssens at Sitarfactory / Belgium in 2023.”

The various parts were then well cleaned and cleared of rohlan residue. I then glued them back together with modern hide glue. First up was the neck as it was slightly warped. Then the tabli was put back on. Everything was fixed and held as per the traditional way, with rope…

After a few days of drying, the next step came: the tumba. Matyas had noticed strange bulges, gourd pimples, on the surface and now a little later I came to a peculiar discovery. There were screws under the surface. Due to the effect of rust, and probably also the metal expanding and contracting, slight bulges formed on them over time.

I had never experienced this construction before and still wonder about the purpose of these screws. I can only imagine that they served to help improve the natural shapes of the harvested pumpkin so that it could be made nice and round. The screws probably served to hold the various cuts firmly together again. This is no longer necessary with today’s modern wood glues, which make a good solid joint.

As you can see from the photos, quite a few adjustments were made. I then removed all the bulges, cleaned them well and then gave them a new coat of wood glue/wood dust mixture.

Finally, after this exceptional job, the finishing procedure follows: tumba colouring, body polishing, fitting frets and bridges and finally new strings on… Because the neck is now nicely straight again, the height of the strings changes and so the height of the bridge has to be adjusted as well.

A second report will come soon with more info and photos of the final result.

This sitar still has a mystery… click here for the second part.

Another tumba horror

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Very similar to this previous “tumba horror” case, I received another one. The tumba has been broken into several bigger parts and then glued together with an unknown compound. I have no idea what happened to this beautiful instrument but it is clear that the defect has not really been properly repaired

People then think that ordinary wood glue is not strong enough and use modern synthetic glues to get things solid again. Unfortunately, this is not really the way to go. It is important that the various pieces are put together properly and as quickly as possible with ordinary white wood glue.
So, in this case it was back on. The whole thing has to be taken apart again, the synthetic stuff removed and the pieces made to fit again.
Since several large surfaces are involved, the job has to be done in several stages.
The tabli was also well loose and was the first part to be separated. Then the larger parts were taken apart. In the end, not really much remained…

A spectacular image, though…

Piece by piece, the tumba regained its original shape. Because the parts no longer fit 100% well, reinforcement was applied along the inside in the form of strips of cotton cloth soaked in white wood glue. Holes were filled with a mixture of wood glue and sawdust.
Then the tabli came back on.

The transitions between the different tumba parts are made smooth with some sanding and plastering with wood glue.

Finally, the whole tumba gets a new coat of colour and lacquer. Ready for a new life…

Staghorn Narka

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I made a narka out of Belgian stag horn. This is a tuning aid to comfortably and finely tune the taravs, the sympathetic strings on a sitar.


A deer antler hung on the wall. You can find them at old flea markets, or nailed to the wall at hunters’ homes: deer horn antlers as hunting trophies. You can’t do much with them, but for a sitar player you can make a beautiful and useful tool with them.


First choose in a nice and fitting piece, and cut the end generously. Then I make a tapered slot corresponding to the width of the taravs to be operated. A hole is then drilled into it to fit the ornamental tip of the tuning knob, and then I also make the tapered slot suitably concave so that it fits nicely over the tuning knob.


At the end, the edges are gently rounded.

Mayur sitar with K&K transducer

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This new Mayur sitar, made by Waseem Maner, Miraj 2022, belongs to Visjal Auwerx.

K&K Sound make natural-sounding acoustic amplification products and affordable pickups.

Their Pure Pickup for acoustic guitars, installed on the guitar’s bridge plate, is a very good choice for achieving a rich, natural guitar sound — even without a preamp. It’s one of the best passive pickup on the market, for the musician who wants a warm, full-range signal without worrying about cluttering up their instrument, adjusting onboard electronics, or having to remember to change the battery.

I chose the Pure 12-String: 3-head transducer for 12-string acoustic guitar. The larger pickup heads produce an extra strong bass response and pronounced midrange that sounds great in 12-string guitars. I installed it befor inside a surbahar, which sounds perfect!

The work begins by removing the tabli.
First, the celluloid decorations are removed and then the tumba is separated from the tabli.
A wooden reinforcement with a hole in it is then glued to the inside of the tumba. The jack connector is later mounted there.

Then the transducers are glued to the tabli just below where the legs of the bridge are. That is the most efficient place (according to K&K’s instructions) and it is quite convenient that there are 3 separate transducers.

Finally the jack connector is mounted and the tabli is glued back onto the tumba.
Because the original fragile decorations were damaged too much during removal, I place a new binding of celluloid plastic mother-of-pearl imitation. It fits best with the rest of the sitar’s copious decorations.

Done!

Sound samples played by Visjal Auwerx:

Play K&K transducer only

Play K&K transducer + EQ

Play K&K transducer + external mic mix

Play K&K transducer + external mic + tanpura mix

K&K transducer = Pure Pickup™ 12-String
external mic = AKG C2000B

Sitanpura in F

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Another very good looking but cheap and inferior sitar has been transformed into a tanpura, giving it a new life. It is an old and beautiful body with a nice and big tumba. This time I converted it into a regular 4-string female tanpura, tuned to F. The mounted string set can also reach G, but different strings are needed for higher tuning.

 

Sound sample: Play PA-sa-sa-SA Sitanpura in F

The scale measures 86cm & string set is
1: 0,41mm bronze string tuned to C3
2: 0,30mm steel string tuned to F3
3: 0,30mm steel string tuned to F3
4: 0,56mm bronze string tuned to F2

My friend Christine has made a beautiful cotton protective cover for this instrument. It is completely handmade and custom-made for this tanpura. Perfectly fitting and skilfully finished!

Read also Sitanpura, the Sitar Tanpura mod

Juma Mankas

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I’ve made a set of mankas and one tarav ghoraj for Zach Ferrara.

They are made out of golden dragon snake Juma® blocs. Juma® – the name stands for independently developed and very modern processing material made from a mixture of various mineral base materials, bound in a resin component. Just like Elforyn® is Juma® excellently suited for the production of components and artistic objects such as knife handles, jewelry, eyeglass frames, or music instrument parts. “Produce your own custom items and delight in genuine one-of-a-kind pieces that no one else will be able to imitate.” the website says.

The material is indeed easy to work with and the result feels very natural and pleasant. The optical effect is stunning and has a nice impression of depth. It is definitely very suitable for decorations, mankas and possibly a tarav ghoraj. But I think it has too little resistance to wear to be suitable for a main ghoraj. Elforyn®, on the other hand, does well. Follow this link for Elforyn® examples.

In any case, it looks impressive on Zach’s beautiful sitar. The manka of the main string is made a little bigger than that of the other strings.