Shanghai Dunhuang 561M pipa for sale (Europe)

[sutong]

Hello,

This is my Shanghai Dunhuang 561M rosewood and buffalo horn pipa for sale.

I bought in China 6 months ago to start learning pipa. It is a good quality student pipa for anyone learning from the beginning. I play classical and flamenco guitar (much more expensive and good sou d) so i find this instrument is too simple for my taste.

Here is a tablet clip of its sound quality which I play badly (sorry but I get confused playing and forget the notes!)



youtu.be/KS-fMmS96XU

It is the same 561M pipa selling for lots plus postage.. Mine is already in Belgium.   Offered for 250€ (buyer pays postage). Comes with hard case, tuner, Shanghai Dunhuang strings and nails!

[Minh]

Your playing is so good !

[edcat7]

It's a pity you don't want to learn the erhu then we could swap lessons.

[sutong]

Neither of you want to buy a pipa to learn then?! Still for sale in europe and uk.

Thanks - I know you mean well, but that should be "my playing is good for a beginner'!

But i cannot read jian pu so i get confused. I hope my playing will be better in a year.

The sound of my tablet is not very good. This is very loud. I try with Shanghai Dunhuuang strings because my silver ones are broken. The silver strings sound more arabic? They sound more elaborate with a soft tone.

Edcat - I saw a pipa player and was excited by the electricfying finger techniques. This makes me want to learn pipa! Erhu I tried and could not make a sound!

[Minh]

Sorry mister, I'm from Canada and the erhu and banhu are already taking up all of my time hihi. I quite enjoyed your video, beginner or not, it is still impressive hihi.

[edcat7]

Feb 17, 2014 14:00:33 GMT sutong said:

Neither of you want to buy a pipa to learn then?! Still for sale in europe and uk.

Thanks - I know you mean well, but that should be "my playing is good for a beginner'!

But i cannot read jian pu so i get confused. I hope my playing will be better in a year.

The sound of my tablet is not very good. This is very loud. I try with Shanghai Dunhuuang strings because my silver ones are broken. The silver strings sound more arabic? They sound more elaborate with a soft tone.

Edcat - I saw a pipa player and was excited by the electricfying finger techniques. This makes me want to learn pipa! Erhu I tried and could not make a sound!

No, your playing is very good. Period. Perhaps it's your Flamenco playing which helps.

[sutong]

You both play erhu and banhu? On my pipa thread haha.

Thanks - pipa skill looks good but my tone is still faulty. I have no smoothness like butter. It is so good with Samuel's uploaded video tutorials in English. I think I would have wasted much time learning the wrong way how to play but after 3 months it feels more comfortable.

[Minh]

I got lost on my way to the erhu section : ) With more practice, you'll eventually get there, just don't give up and tadaa!

[sutong]

I can understand getting lost trying to find the erhu section!

I am definite not giving up...i have just started. Ive just had some good news from Bamboogrove Music and my new
Pipa may come very soon!

Shanghai Dunhuang 561M still for sale. Will trade for guzheng, pretty yangqin girl or full orchestra but not erhus haha

[Minh]

The internet is a big big place, hihi and ouuh that sounds exciting, new pipa! Good luck with your trade/sale! and don't worry, I'll stop spamming this thread so you can go on with your business hihi.

PS: Trade it with an orchestra full of erhus, and send them to me!

[thebamboogrove]

His new pipa is nothing exciting though, has no sound if you play it normally, painted wood.... hahaha

[Minh]

?... OH electric?


PS: Oh hey look, i'm back on this thread! hihi

[sutong]

Feb 20, 2014 2:53:00 GMT thebamboogrove said:

His new pipa is nothing exciting though, has no sound if you play it normally, painted wood.... hahaha

Haha. I will not play just normally. I want to hear it louder than a Gibson on 150watt feedback reverb!

Painted wood is good. This one makes it up in weight x2 pipa. I will not need to go to the gym anymore.

Hi Minh - yes you should join in more often .... get a cheap pipa to learn. Bamboogrove custom made me an electric pipa so I can distort and make modern rock music or just use class A acoustic amp to make it louder, or plug headphones in to play quieter.  I have a few electric guitars with tremelo levers, but the pipa does not need this. I.ll post back when I get my new pipa!

[Minh]

I have no idea what all that guitar talk means, but can't wait for you to get it, if possible you could make a video showing all the new added fun stuff on that pipa... !!! and who needs to go to the gym with all that muscle on your arms already, don't bust your veins while playing and color your pipa red hahahaha

[sutong]

Sorry - my guitar geekness is coming out.

Bamboogrove is a really reliable and honest seller..we are really lucky to hve on this board for advice and jian pu.
He found me some interesting music I am starting to learn (Dance of the Yi Tribe). It has taken me an hour just to play the first line of music,
i will have to wait a bit longer for an electric pipa!

[Minh]

Hey geek away, maybe i'll learn something from all that geeky talk.

and he is, isn't he? He found me lots of scores and even lots and lots of banhu books. He is quite an amazing cookie. Did you continue to practice that piece above, trying to refine your strong flamenco and classical fingers to a more Chinese sound? You should make a video once you are done learning the Dance of the Yi Tribe... HINT HINT.

[sutong]

Maybe try flamenco guitar

My finger strength is no problem ... finesse is though. In flamenco, the guitar share similar short lived notes - the sustain is very brief for notes just like pipa. So by hard plucking, you get loudness and dramatic rhythm being accented. With pipa, I do not know I what I am doing. I worry if I just practice my way, I will become corrupted in my playing. Samuels' videos of Yang Jing are superb. Without these, I would not bother learning pipa. The 'chinese sound' refer to ornamentation (left hand skill). I have less problem with right hand speed/rhythm which is common in guitar playing. The left hand techniques is complete new to me. Jian pu too. Although I can learn somethings on my own, these pieces are very complex in jian pu and I can only copy what I see in fingering...compare with jian pu. This is a real limit so no videos until I know what I am doing haha.

I'm not sure youtube is good for learning or getting feedback. I get one like, and one dislike on the video and still no one want to buy my pipa! I would rather have 100 dislikes and sell my pipa

[Minh]

What I truly meant was finesse, because it did sound (and look) like you were trying to rip those strings out of their holes but hey lots of brownie points to you for doing it alone heheheh Have you tried ebay? or all those other, more local selling websites, like creepy craigslist, if you have it, and all the other equivalent. Or try to exchange it

[sutong]

That is what attracts me to the pipa. It is so passionate and expressive in the right hands. Now you see easy why I go through strings like crazy because this "martial" style of music is warlike and aggressive. This kind of music is not possible on guitar at all.

I have not such good luck on ebay. Maybe I will try and convert it into another electric instrument! The new Hebei steel strings I use on it are very good. They open up sounding of the body very well. It is like a new instrument. Chang Pai sikver strings are nice and delicate. Hebei strings are the first time I use them. They are impressive!

[Minh]

Ohhh I know, the right hand was what attracted me to the pipa at first, actually both hands, so cool how both strong and soft they are. I saw a few videos where guitarists would play pipa songs and they do lack that expressiveness and the harder sound of the pipa. How many strings did you go through? Now you make me want to get a pipa and try...but noo haha.

May I ask how one converts a non electric into an electric instrument? and hey if new strings can make it sound like a new instrument, good for you!

[sutong]

Xue Fei Yang does guitar version of Dance of the Yi Tribe. It is not something I personalky like but guitar players don't know this repertoire so they seem to like it for the novelty.

I saw many folk play erhu like they are chopping or sawing wood. Itis not an easy instrument to admire technique even if it sounds really emotional.

I have gone through 8 strings (lightest) in 6 months. The silver strings first, then the steel wound Dunhaung, These Shanghai Dunhuang strings I cannot recommend. They are really bad. It makes my lun tremelo turn into a donkey gallop underwater. I broke a few no,2 strings by twisting the strings (spears sparring sound in Shi Mian Mai Fu) and once by turning the peg too hard. The silver is most expensive. I cannot afford to go through a set every 3 weeks and I cannot find just the light string by itself easy.  HEBEI 舒爾悅心 are a strange beautiful compound of steel, copper, nickel and cadmium which I just get from Bamboogrove. These are the loudest strings I have. They are Shanghai Dunhuang string killers. Before I thought Xinghai core steel was the best for me. These ones I really like. I have 8 spares in case

To make an instrument go from acoustic to electric, you need the dead sound body. This can be done by sealing the resonance chamber with expanding foam or replacing for solid body to kill resonance. For metal string instruments a transducer like a piezo or magnetic pickup is needed. Some systems come ready for installing, then you need no volume and tone pot to control.

You then plug it into a pre amp or amplifier and into speakers. Some kits make them all in a box to play, battery power to travel. You can go semi electric, by damping the bridge of your instrument with a sponge, and use a clip on pickup, or permanently fix pickup onto the body.

For pipa, a transducer needs a clear fast response with low sustain for note clarity. Then the pickup neede to reflect this.

[davidmdahl]

Feb 27, 2014 12:55:43 GMT sutong said:

Xue Fei Yang does guitar version of Dance of the Yi Tribe. It is not something I personalky like but guitar players don't know this repertoire so they seem to like it for the novelty.

I saw many folk play erhu like they are chopping or sawing wood. Itis not an easy instrument to admire technique even if it sounds really emotional.

I enjoy Xuefei's guitar recordings, and think that her version on guitar of the Yi Dance is quite successful. I think it is better than a novelty. I have wondered if she has some pipa experience.

I don't know what you mean by your comment on the erhu, but I gather you are not much of a fan of the erhu. Performed by a good player, the erhu is well capable of pleasing a mixed audience with either expression or showmanship, or both. Since the player is responsible for so much of the sound and pitch, skill and taste is critical.

Regarding the electrification of a pipa, maybe I can clarify the options. As on an acoustic guitar, it is possible to install a transducer, which is really a specialized microphone that is attached to a vibrating surface, and amplifies the vibrations. I use this sort of pickup on my Vietnamese zither and two string lute, with excellent results. This is a good approach if you want to keep the acoustic sound, more or less, and just want it louder. A transducer will not require particular strings, but you may find some sound or play better than others.

Another approach uses an electro-magnetic pickup as on an electric guitar. This sort of pickup detects the movement of steel strings and requires a lot more meticulous work at installing one or more pickups beneath the strings. This sort of pickup is best if you want to process the sound a lot with effects. It is also much less likely to generate feedback when played loud. The resonant qualities of the instrument do not affect the sound, so the pipa could be solid or not, and it will not matter. With this pickup, it is necessary to use strings with magnetic properties, or no sound will be heard. Not all metal strings will work. I use an electromagnetic pickup on my Vietnamese monochord (dan bau/duxianqin).

Best wishes,

David