Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 13, 2019 16:49:08 GMT
Just a few questions.
I have just bought a second hand Erhu and I am very happy with it.
In Europe it is very difficult to find an affordable instrument with a pyton skin.
I want to try the erhu first before I spend a lot of money to import one.
Now I have a few questions,
1.
There is a crack at the seams of the erhu's boddy.
I would like to have this repaired.
I want to ask if my violin maker if he can do this.
Now there is a wooden screen (
sorry but I do not know the correct name) at the back of the body.
What kind of glue is used?
And how can my violin maker loosen that wooden screen so that he can glue the crack from the inside out?
2
I also noticed that the erhu base is not made of wood but of solid lead/metal.
Has anyone ever heard of this?
And what does this say about the erhu?
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Post by davidmdahl on Jan 14, 2019 6:39:30 GMT
Congratulations on your erhu! It is hard to know for sure what glue was used, but hide glue is common. It can be easily loosened with heat. However, it may not be good to have the heat near the snake skin. I would think that a violin maker could fill the crack without needing to go through the back. Of course, without knowing more about the crack it is hard for me to know what to say.
A weight embedded in the base of the erhu is common, especially when lighter woods are used. I have not seen an erhu with the base entirely of lead or other metal. Photos would help to comment on the quality of the erhu.
Best wishes,
David
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 14, 2019 8:08:52 GMT
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 14, 2019 8:13:35 GMT
Here soms more photos Attachments:
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 14, 2019 8:17:36 GMT
Do not know if these photos are oke.
Just searching for way to add photos.
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 15, 2019 7:51:11 GMT
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 16, 2019 11:02:22 GMT
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Post by d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid on Jan 16, 2019 19:40:02 GMT
The inside of the base looks better than most I’ve seen... www.easonmusicschool.com/erhus-and-their-baseplates/Metal is username on the baseplate for better stabilization with weight. It’s usually made from lead. Check the weight of the wood on your erhu because heavier woods are usually equate to higher quality erhus. Sandalwood is heavier than ebony than to rosewood. Aged rosewood and violet sandwoods are the best. The top part of the neck is only decorative. It doesnt matter, but you can contact online stores like redmusicshop taobao etc for replacement parts. Don’t use superglue ever on an instrument btw. You have a Shanghai styled bow. I prefer the beijing styled ones. You can replace the bow with a joint less or thinner bamboo to make handling more easier. As long as the bow is nice and taunt with enough firm hairs, no need to replace. tansungwah.blogspot.com/2007/09/all-about-bows-part-1-beijing-styled.html?m=1 |
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 17, 2019 14:40:51 GMT
The inside of the base looks better than most I’ve seen... www.easonmusicschool.com/erhus-and-their-baseplates/Metal is username on the baseplate for better stabilization with weight. It’s usually made from lead. Check the weight of the wood on your erhu because heavier woods are usually equate to higher quality erhus. Sandalwood is heavier than ebony than to rosewood. Aged rosewood and violet sandwoods are the best. The top part of the neck is only decorative. It doesnt matter, but you can contact online stores like redmusicshop taobao etc for replacement parts. Don’t use superglue ever on an instrument btw. You have a Shanghai styled bow. I prefer the beijing styled ones. You can replace the bow with a joint less or thinner bamboo to make handling more easier. As long as the bow is nice and taunt with enough firm hairs, no need to replace. tansungwah.blogspot.com/2007/09/all-about-bows-part-1-beijing-styled.html?m=1Thank you for your response! Yesterday I brought the sound box to my violin maker to have the cracks repaired. So I can not weigh the erhu at this time. And my violin maker is very busy so it can take a few weeks for the sound box to be repaired. I asked the violin maker if he recognize what kind of wood this erhu was made of. Unfortunately he did not know that, but he advised me to go to a furniture maker / woodworker. He thinks that he can tell me more about the type of wood used for this erhu. And I still have a question before I go to the furniture maker/woodworker. Is the whole erhu made of the same wood? Or are different types of wood used for the different parts? I don,t have the sound box at my disposal to show, so I thought I would take 1 of the tuning pegs to the furniture maker. Can I assume that the tuning key is made of the same wood as the rest of the erhu? |
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Post by d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid on Jan 17, 2019 15:16:00 GMT
The inside of the base looks better than most I’ve seen... www.easonmusicschool.com/erhus-and-their-baseplates/Metal is username on the baseplate for better stabilization with weight. It’s usually made from lead. Check the weight of the wood on your erhu because heavier woods are usually equate to higher quality erhus. Sandalwood is heavier than ebony than to rosewood. Aged rosewood and violet sandwoods are the best. The top part of the neck is only decorative. It doesnt matter, but you can contact online stores like redmusicshop taobao etc for replacement parts. Don’t use superglue ever on an instrument btw. You have a Shanghai styled bow. I prefer the beijing styled ones. You can replace the bow with a joint less or thinner bamboo to make handling more easier. As long as the bow is nice and taunt with enough firm hairs, no need to replace. tansungwah.blogspot.com/2007/09/all-about-bows-part-1-beijing-styled.html?m=1Thank you for your response! Yesterday I brought the sound box to my violin maker to have the cracks repaired. So I can not weigh the erhu at this time. And my violin maker is very busy so it can take a few weeks for the sound box to be repaired. I asked the violin maker if he recognize what kind of wood this erhu was made of. Unfortunately he did not know that, but he advised me to go to a furniture maker / woodworker. He thinks that he can tell me more about the type of wood used for this erhu. And I still have a question before I go to the furniture maker/woodworker. Is the whole erhu made of the same wood? Or are different types of wood used for the different parts? I don,t have the sound box at my disposal to show, so I thought I would take 1 of the tuning pegs to the furniture maker. Can I assume that the tuning key is made of the same wood as the rest of the erhu? Good erhus use the same kind of wood for the entire body of the instrument. If the pegs are made from a different kind of wood, it usually signifies that the erhu is of cheaper quality, but it depends on the year the erhu was made in. If that’s the case, then the pegs may be of a more cheaper kind of wood. Exceptions would be if the previous owner used a replacement part. If you wish to replace pegs, you can use sandpaper to fit it to size and use chalk to make a snug fit, but I recommend your violin maker to do so instead  Edit: your erhu’s pegs looks like it’s made from a different wood than the pegs. Maybe the body has a different finish/paint? Check the obscure parts of the neck inside the soundbox to find it’s original color if so. Also to prevent anymore wood cracks this is helps, if you live in dry conditions. www.musicofmay.com/collections/huqin-accessory/products/product-3 |
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 18, 2019 11:10:43 GMT
I called a furniture maker this morning and this afternoon I'm going to show you parts of my erhu. Maybe he can tell me more about the wood type. I take the neck and the 2 pegs to show. I also have a better view of the pegs and I think the A peg has ever been replaced. The D key seems to me of the same wood as the rest of the erhu. But the furniture maker can probably tell me more about that. There are also symbols on the neck and tuning keys. These symbols are only visible if you separate the erhu. Can someone tell me what these symbols mean? i.imgur.com/VVhzOkD.jpgFrom the neck. i.imgur.com/oMFUJO5.jpgD string peg i.imgur.com/kXbDCoq.jpgA string peg |
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Nikki
Intermediate
Posts: 31
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Post by Nikki on Jan 18, 2019 15:53:38 GMT
I went to the furniture maker/woodworker this afternoon. And I got some answers to my questions.  The neck of the erhu is made of ebony. And it turns out that the both pegs are made of rosewood. The color difference is because it is made from different pieces of rosewood. I also showed him the basis of the erhu with the question if he knew what kind of material that was made. He is convinced that the base is also made of ebony. And not a kind of metal. So I was completely wrong, about the basis  |
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Post by d̗̰̗͆͘ǎ͔̱͈̰̬̫ͨ̌ͮͥ͗ͭ̕vid on Jan 23, 2019 21:00:30 GMT
I went to the furniture maker/woodworker this afternoon. And I got some answers to my questions. The neck of the erhu is made of ebony. And it turns out that the both pegs are made of rosewood. The color difference is because it is made from different pieces of rosewood. I also showed him the basis of the erhu with the question if he knew what kind of material that was made. He is convinced that the base is also made of ebony. And not a kind of metal. So I was completely wrong, about the basis You probably have an intermediate grade erhu. The wood itself doesn’t matter as much, since the difference in tone is only a little. The wood however does signify an erhu’s quality, as a maker wouldn’t make a piece of good wood by affixing a bad piece of snakeskin. So with good wood comes good snakeskin. Ebony has the tendency to crack in low humid environments and with time. I recommend a wax coating to prevent any more damage. A mellow, warm, and bright tone is associated with ebony. High registers may be a pain on ebony erhus, but ignore depends if the maker knows what he or she is doing, by affixing a good piece of membrane and such. Even if the wood of an erhu is good, the snakeskin and tying of the qianjin affect the sound greatly. If the snakeskin is dry, you can always moisturize it with oil. |
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