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Post by onegod on Oct 20, 2017 13:38:52 GMT
Hi everyone, I am new here, just thought of learning the erhu. And currently I want to get an erhu to start up. I found a guy who wanted to sell his 12 years old erhu which belong to his son. It's a Shanghai Dunhuang erhu model 02A. Question is how long does the snake skin can last on the erhu(deteriorate). Or should I just go for a new one. Any thought or advise would be great. Thank you.    |
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Post by dawei on Oct 20, 2017 18:32:17 GMT
That depends on the tone of the instrument, the setup, etc.
And the price - how much cheaper than a new model 02A (or similar) is it?
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Post by davidmdahl on Oct 20, 2017 19:11:28 GMT
The 02A is at the novice level of the Dunhuang line, and is likely to be among the cheapest available. The used price should not be much more than half that of a new instrument. Personally, I would hold out for something better, but that depends on the actual price and condition of the erhu, and your own situation (eg. budget, dedication).
If you plan on studying with a teacher, then I suggest getting advice from them. Often times a teacher can hook you up with an adequate instrument that will be good enough until you advance enough to want something better. Otherwise, a Dunhuang novice grade erhu is most likely going to be adequate for playing around with.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by edcat7 on Oct 21, 2017 0:20:23 GMT
As David says the 02A is a budget model and the saving made from buying a used one would not be great. I would also ask myself, " Has the erhu been cared for well?"
We put a pencil between the bridge and snakeskin to lessen the chance of the snakeskin sagging. If the erhu isn't going to be played for a while then it's a good idea to loosen the strings. If neither has been done the snakeskin will have sagged considerably over the twelve years.
I'd find a teacher first; if you try to self teach (and unless you can already play the violin) you'll unlikely to get a good tone on whatever quality of erhu you buy, get frustrated and bored and lose interest.
Ed
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Post by onegod on Oct 21, 2017 1:21:13 GMT
Thanks for all the great advise, guys. Really appreciate. Problem is this an online seller and he wouldn't want to deal COD. He is selling around USD150 and after I asked a lots of questions, he suddenly rise the price to USD180. That why I thought of buy a new one. Currently I have not sign up with any erhu classes or with a teacher. So I wouldn't be able to ask anyone about hooking up to get a erhu.
I did went to inquiry about the classes(I only manage to found one) but I am not allow to join if without a erhu and they don't rent any. So they insist I buy one from their store which is....how should I put it, a cut throat deal or rip off, all their erhu is cheap erhu(can see online prices at USD30-100) selling at USD200 above...crazy.
Anyway I am no rush to get one. Just want to play some music in my free time....Cheers Mate!!!
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Post by onegod on Oct 21, 2017 16:47:48 GMT
As David says the 02A is a budget model and the saving made from buying a used one would not be great. I would also ask myself, " Has the erhu been cared for well?" We put a pencil between the bridge and snakeskin to lessen the chance of the snakeskin sagging. If the erhu isn't going to be played for a while then it's a good idea to loosen the strings. If neither has been done the snakeskin will have sagged considerably over the twelve years. I'd find a teacher first; if you try to self teach (and unless you can already play the violin) you'll unlikely to get a good tone on whatever quality of erhu you buy, get frustrated and bored and lose interest. Ed Hi ed, I totally agree with your thought about the used one. Anyway today I went to one of a musical store and bought an erhu by JiFeng Liu(rosewood, black in color). Price was around USD300, the girl in the store was very helpful, she play each and every one they had to let me compare the different(price range from USD250 -900). Actually I wanted the aged rosewood coz its sound better than the others but it cost around USD600-700 which I don't want to spend too much as a starter. They are very friendly and ask me to come back if I need anything or had any problem with the erhu. I bought an erhu mute, in case I want to practice it late at night. Question: do I need those fine tuner or fine adjusters for my erhu which are using friction pegs. I google around and found one which they have the qianjing with the fine adjusters build together(see attached picture). Anyone use those before?  |
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Post by dawei on Oct 21, 2017 21:40:08 GMT
Question: do I need those fine tuner or fine adjusters for my erhu which are using friction pegs. I google around and found one which they have the qianjing with the fine adjusters build together(see attached picture). Anyone use those before? those look a bit overbuilt to me! I either use very small metal adjusters or loops of qianjin material between the real qianjin and the pegs. The less material added to the erhu, the better. I am not a fan of the tuners with machine gears built in either. |
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Post by davidmdahl on Oct 22, 2017 7:32:59 GMT
I prefer going old-school when it comes to the erhu. I prefer a traditional qianjin and use loops of qianjin cord for fine tuners, as described by Dawei. I also have found that inexpensive strings work plenty well enough. If you want to upgrade anything, a good bow is an excellent investment. Sometimes a different bridge makes a big difference. Often times the bridge that comes with a new erhu is too tall. You can either sand a little off the bottom or try a shorter bridge.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by onegod on Oct 23, 2017 5:16:42 GMT
I prefer going old-school when it comes to the erhu. I prefer a traditional qianjin and use loops of qianjin cord for fine tuners, as described by Dawei. I also have found that inexpensive strings work plenty well enough. If you want to upgrade anything, a good bow is an excellent investment. Sometimes a different bridge makes a big difference. Often times the bridge that comes with a new erhu is too tall. You can either sand a little off the bottom or try a shorter bridge. Best wishes, David Thanks David for the advise on the qianjin and bridge...since you mention about the bow, is it all the expensive bow will be an excellent bow or there are type of bow or brand I can look for which are good? How can I make out the difference between a good one and a lousy one. As I only know that the white one are better than the black one but not sure about the bow bamboo.... |
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Post by edcat7 on Oct 24, 2017 6:09:59 GMT
I've never been completely happy with those after market bows- and I've tried several. My favourite bow came included with my ebony MRX but gave up the ghost long ago.
My teacher also loves the bow that came supplied with my budget eco-erhu. He says it's worth more than the erhu itself.
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Post by davidmdahl on Oct 24, 2017 17:10:37 GMT
I have purchased bows from a variety of sources over the years, with mostly good results. Often times the bow that comes with a premium erhu is a pretty good match. When it wore out, a new bow was definitely an improvement. In recent times, I have purchased bows from Eason Music, and have never been disappointed. There is not that much difference in cost between an inexpensive bow, and a higher-end bow, so I usually get the best that is available. The basic Dunhuang bows are pretty good though. My latest order was for the relatively pricey $50 Li Huai Gang, but I haven't actually tried one yet.
As long as the bow is good enough, the biggest difference I have found in improving playability, is a good rosin. Often the rosin that comes with a new erhu is not very good. There is a shelf-life to rosin, so sometimes something newer will be better as well. I have used Pirastro violin rosin (Obligato), but lately prefer Bernardel violin rosin. I find a light amber colored rosin works best for me. This might depend on the humidity and maybe other factors. Darker rosin for viola and cello is too sticky for erhu, in my own experience.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by fatpanda on Nov 22, 2017 15:10:27 GMT
My advice to Onegod is:
1. Try to buy erhu not online, try to go to shop and try it out yourself. Then you can know if you like the sound or not. You will also be able to find if there are any defects. For example, saggy skin, cracked sound box, broken head etc. Also, receiving erhu by mail has its risks. Mainly damages during shipping.
2. Try not to buy beginners erhu. Most of them don't sound nice and may kill your interest when you can't produce good sound out of them. Go for the middle range. Personally, I find wumu (ebony) to be good mid range erhu to begin. Note, wumu is not heitan.
3. As for skin, generally, it should not be a problem maintaining it. Let it breath and not kept in the box if you are not playing it for a long time. Was told not to tingle with it unless it is very dry after many years (like 10 plus years). Even so, just apply a very very thin layer of lanorin or olive oil to moisturize it. But its just like once in many many years. Anything exceed will just shorten its life. My first erhu skin lasted 30 over years. Its just recently that I applied lanorin and I overdid it. Got some professional to help clean it off but damage done.
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