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Post by eugene on Jul 15, 2016 1:14:36 GMT
Hi,
Recently I found someone willing let go this 2nd hand old Erhu. And I quite interested but its not sure is it from India small leaf or its from Nepal small leaf.Is there a any different between this 2? The wood seem to quite ok and snake skin seem new as well Anyone know how to identify whether is it Indian, African or Nepal small leaf? Can anyone please advise me on this? Thanks |
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Post by edcat7 on Jul 15, 2016 22:28:19 GMT
Hi Eugene and welcome,
I don't read Chinese but recognise the first word as "small". I wasn't aware Nepal small leaf sandalwood existed; African sandalwood exists only in the "big leaf" variety and is considered good but not as good as it's Indian cousin.
Can you examine the erhu before buying? I have an African sandalwood erhu by LLS and a Ming Qing aged rosewood by HHR and my conclusion is unless you are an advanced player you won't notice the difference.
However if you can examine it before buying and the price is good then go for it.
Best wishes,
Ed
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Post by eugene on Jul 17, 2016 5:41:42 GMT
Thank you so much for your advise. Yes I'm a beginner as such I don't wish to spend so much on erhu for now.
So I decided to get a 2nd hand old Erhu. And I manage to find this seller at 60% cheaper then what I can get in Taobao China.
This 2nd hand erhu seller say that he also not sure where this small leaf sandalwood is from.
And I only recently found out that there are Indian, African and Nepal small leaf sandalwood in the China Taobao market.
There are some Taobao sellers who try to fake Indian small leaf sandalwood as its a lot more expensive sandalwood then African and Nepal.
But of course these Erhu are not from famous maker.
As such, I was wondering how to identify them and what are the difference?
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Post by edcat7 on Jul 17, 2016 8:34:41 GMT
Caveat emptor -buyer beware. Often if something is too cheap to be true then if must be fake. I'm not saying it is, I'm just saying you should be careful and insist on viewing it first. It is also a good idea to take someone who knows about erhus.
Expect to pay around US$ 5000 for a new Indian small leaf sandalwood erhu.
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Post by eugene on Jul 17, 2016 9:20:21 GMT
Thanks will take note of that.
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Post by zarnaik on Jul 17, 2016 9:29:19 GMT
Expect to pay around US$ 5000 for a new Indian small leaf sandalwood erhu. Are they (erhu) really that expensive or is it just this specific type? I was planning on buying one of these instruments some day, but now I'm not sure I could afford one that is good enough. (Sorry if this is hijacking the thread, feel free to remove this post) |
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Post by davidmdahl on Jul 17, 2016 20:05:14 GMT
Expect to pay around US$ 5000 for a new Indian small leaf sandalwood erhu. Are they (erhu) really that expensive or is it just this specific type? I was planning on buying one of these instruments some day, but now I'm not sure I could afford one that is good enough. (Sorry if this is hijacking the thread, feel free to remove this post) It is possible to get a perfectly fine playing erhu for $500. Exotic and rare wood will dramatically raise the price, but usually the snake skin on an expensive erhu is very select. The workmanship is also more careful. There is a lot of confusion and flimflammery about wood for erhu, and musical instruments in general, and sometimes too much importance is given for it. You probably won't get a premium small leaf sandalwood erhu with premium skin for $500, but good makers are producing good instruments with other good wood and skin. The photos in this thread don't show enough of the erhu for me to provide a confident judgement, but I didn't see anything obviously off. It is usually more useful to know the maker, and best of all to play the thing. It is possible to score a good erhu for a good price second-hand, but it helps a lot to already know how to choose a good instrument. For new players, I highly recommend going through a teacher, or vendor of good reputation. Best wishes, David |
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Post by eugene on Jul 18, 2016 1:40:31 GMT
Thanks for the advise. As i cant read Chinese, i cant research on the maker. But i doubt that its some famous
maker as well.I guess the next step for me its to meet up with this 2nd hand seller and try it out.
But given that price he offer, i must say its still a good buy.
As a beginner myself i dont think there a need to spend US$ 5k on a Erhu for now.
Because I dont think i can hear the different between Indian premium small leaf sandalwood(US$ 5k),Nepal premium small leaf (US$ 2k) or a normal African big leaf (US$ 1K).Even when my teacher play on these 3 erhu, I really cant hear much different. But of course the feel and the look of the erhu workmanship is really a lot different.
But do take note according to my teacher premium Indian small leaf sandalwood erhu price have increased a lot over the last 10 years.
Mainly due to raw material, workmanship cost have increased. Plus US$ VS RMB$ have since drop a lot as well.
10 years ago it might just cost about US$3k. So if you are really a serious player. You might want to consider getting a premium Indian small leaf sandalwood erhu. Because the price will just keep increasing over the years. Plus in the next 10-20 years premium Indian small leaf sandalwood erhu will be harder to get or even rare. Due to India have restricted its small leaf sandalwood export and also China one day might also stop illegal wild snake killing.
Currently the supply of Indian premium small leaf sandalwood have also drop a lot due illegal logging which are causing enormous damage to forests. As such some China erhu maker are starting to use Nepal small leaf sandalwood. Because both country are just nearby and the quality of small leaf sandalwood are similar.
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Post by edcat7 on Jul 18, 2016 5:20:32 GMT
Great you have a teacher, can't you bring him along to inspect the erhu? Even if you paid for his time it would be worth it.
Ed
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Post by eugene on Jul 18, 2016 5:41:23 GMT
This teacher of mine, its from China. For some reasons he only support his friends, who are erhu maker.
I did try to ask him to help me to try out Dunhuang 9A (US$580)rosewood and he told me its over price.
Which he told he can get same rosewood erhu at US$370 from his erhu maker.
As such its very difficult for me to ask about other erhu maker. And I'm not surprise he will sure will say that this 2nd hand old erhu is not good or maybe ask me to top up more $ to get a better erhu from him.
He is kind of fix or prefer in these brand of the erhu, bow and string etc.
The rest of the brand he seem to have a lot to say.
But anyway beside this, I can say he is a good and wonderful teacher.
I manage to learn a lot and he gave me a lot of good advice as well.
I was even surprise he told me I should skip grade 1 this year and just take grade 4 exam next year.
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Post by edcat7 on Jul 18, 2016 5:49:00 GMT
Congratulations on learning so quickly. Just how much is the erhu going for? (Don't worry I'm working in Greece for 6 months  ) |
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Post by eugene on Jul 18, 2016 6:00:57 GMT
Thank you. This 2nd hand old erhu is at US$800.
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Post by edcat7 on Jul 18, 2016 8:36:25 GMT
A great price, I reckon there's room for negotiation.
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Post by eugene on Jul 19, 2016 0:25:04 GMT
Ya he said fixed price,no negotiation.
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