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Post by blueharp on Dec 18, 2004 4:40:24 GMT
Curiosity got the better of me and I actually bought one of the inexpensive guqin from eBay.
I will post a detailed review when I actually get it.
Steve
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Post by blueharp on Jan 12, 2005 9:27:55 GMT
The first guqin arrived and I was a bit surprised - in a good way. Unfortunately it had a terrible (to me) rattle on string 2 at the ninth and tenth hui. I was very pleased that the seller, Violinking, was very responsive. It was exchanged with no fuss at all. The replacement guqin arrived this evening. I think that the previous instrument - though flawed - had a better sound. Still this one is quite good. First the good bits: Decent construction - good woods, nice finish work - apparently the horn-ash base is used for the lacquer. VERY nice sustain, with decent overtones - the fan-yin are crisp and clear. Lacquer nice and smooth - no buzzes. Soft case very nice - padded and lined Nice full sound. When I did the "Tue Chu" (?o) technique, it was so loud that it frightened my dog! Hui are in the right place String to string spacing is comfortable Tuning device well made with pins angled so strings don't catch on each other It has the nayin and soundposts. Apparently some guqin don't have them. Comfortable string action - the height of the bridge and strings is just about right on Now the bad bits: The packaging could have been more substantial. Other than the soft case there was no other padding. The instrument needed a "bath" as it was very dusty. Weirdest Nayin I have ever seen - they look "upside down". What I mean is that instead of being convex, they are concave - like boats. No tuning wrench for the tuning device - I have a harp key that works. A zither wrench would be better and they are usually about $6 (trivial) [glow=red,2,300]EDIT: I found the tuning wrench when breaking down the shipping box for disposal.[/glow] Lacquer spattered into the inside of the instrument during finishing - not really a big deal, just sloppy Strings are the standard kind, very stiff - they really should be replaced with the professional ones. $60 for a set of the good Shanghai ones from Chineseculture.net The tuning pegs are clunky, oversized and it is hard to really get a grip on them. The spare ones from Chineseculture.net are WAY better. They are $38 per set, made from rosewood. The rong-kou needed adjustment so that they were consistant. The lacquer could be polished a bit more. This is really minor, the matte finish is just fine - I am being picky! No fringes as pictured. Really trivial! Overall: A really good value for the money. It is certainly not a Master-made guqin, but believe me you could do a whole lot worse! It is a completely functional instrument that is reasonably well made. Another Ebay bargain! Steve A footnote: I wasn't paying attention when I was moving the instrument so after only 10 minutes in my posession it got its first dent.  |
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Post by Charlie Huang on Jan 12, 2005 12:38:35 GMT
Omedetou on getting a decent instrument! ;D EDIT: Soundposts have two uses. One is anti-warping, and the other is the reinforcement of sound. Many new qins have soundposts omitted mainly because it can make the qin sound loader (with mn strings). But nowadays, they are fitting them on because people want them, and for anti-warping purposes as well. I have a concave nayin (like an upturned roof tile) on my qin and it is nothing bad about it. In fact, I think the Yuguzhai Qinpu suggested nayins should be like that. EDIT: Actually, that was a mistake. Convex is the suggested shape. But I think an upturned roof title shape looks more interesting. You should remove the tuning device (unless its stuck into the instrument...  ) and string it traditionally. I also have lacquer splattered within my qin (particularly the feng zhao), but as that is trivial, there's no need to worry about it. Anyways, I did thought that they'll be more careful... Yes, get the professional strings from CCN, by far the best. And the tuning pegs as well. You could polish the lacquer yourself with a stone, or use a lacquer cloth. But of course, best to read the Yuguzhai Qinpu first (go to Jim Binkley-san's site), or get a professional qin maker to do it for you. Best not attempt it if you don't know what you're doing. You can get fringes by buying those large tassel hangings and cutting the tassels off, then threading the rongko through them. I got about four pairs for £4 ($2.50)!!! But, they need to be a matching colour, so you may need to dye them. Does your qin have a name or any other inscriptions on it? Could we see piccies???  EDIT: Sorry to hear you placed a dent in it. Always becareful in the excitment... |
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Post by blueharp on Jan 18, 2005 12:43:19 GMT
So far I am really liking this instrument! It really was a great bargain and if anyone wants a second instrument I would certainly recommend it.
Thanks for sharing that your guqin has the same type of nayin, it was something I had never heard of before.
The tuning device is attached using some sort of nylon rope. I will probably remove it eventually.
I had a set of the professional strings from my other guqin and I swapped out the tuning pegs. Much better! A note: if there is ANY kind of kink or twist to the string it will buzz. I will probably get another set or two of strings.
Jim Binkley's site is a bonanza of information! I was very honored when he gave me credit for helping with the qin care FAQ.
Rather than polishing the qin myself I think it is perfectly acceptable to take it to a good luthier and ask them to polish it. I polished my other qin, but it was a nuisance - a luthier would charge the same as what it cost me in polishing supplies.
The qin does not have a name (yet) or any inscriptions. My other qin has them inside and out.
Great suggestion about the tassels! I will keep an eye out for some.
I will post pics as soon as I figure out where I can host them. I *think* my Yahoo account can do it.
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Post by Charlie Huang on Jan 19, 2005 12:25:44 GMT
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Post by kyokuhon on Feb 3, 2005 19:45:14 GMT
Hi, all,
I'm happy to see this line. I also bought (oh, sorry, "won") a guqin, my first, on ebay from violinking. I thought I'd just be fooling around with it to get a better understanding for playing xiao, but now I'm addicted. I don't have any other qin to compare it to, as I've never played another qin, or even seen one played in person, but I do know something about instrument quality in general, and I like this one. Pictures are easily available on ebay, violinking usually has at least one up for auction at any given time. And thanks to all for the improvement tips. Can I show my ignorance and ask what nayin are?
Best to all,
kyokuhon.
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Post by Charlie Huang on Feb 4, 2005 14:33:15 GMT
Nayin are what is known as 'sound absorbers'. They are found directly inside the qin, copying the shape of the sound holes, that stick out from the top piece of the qin from the inside.
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Post by sleepy on Nov 16, 2005 2:24:42 GMT
I think I bought from the same eBayer as blueharp. That was my second qin--bought as a result of buying my first $500 qin from CCnet--which was rather unplayable for beginners--strings were set way too high--a so-called "kang zhi" qin (finger-resisting).
Months after the first qin was purchased I did an investigation with someone who had direct contact with the Yangzhou factory where that $500 CCnet was made. The factory had indeed sent out a shipment of structurally flawed qins (the "di tou" wasn't made low enough, resulting in high-set strings), around the time I placed my order. On my qin, the distance between the top board and the 4th string at the 7th hui is almost 7mm! Apparently CCnet knew about it because the factory said CCnet negotiated with them. But I found out about it too late.
Anyone who has ever bought any instrument from CCnet knows that they don't offer return at all no matter what. Oh well bad luck for me, the $500 qin soon became a piece of furniture.
The eBay qin was about half the price of my first qin. One can't expect too much from a cheap qin as far as the sound quality is concerned, but at least it is playable. At my teacher's advice I changed the original strings to the smoother, Shanghai Conservatory made ones.
Will never again buy any instrument without trying in person!
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Post by Charlie Huang on Nov 16, 2005 17:21:32 GMT
Hmmm, I'm rather suprised CCN has that on their bad list. Usually, their qins are OK to rather good (I heard Wang Fei's qin and it was probably the best I heard so far). But I suppose one shouldn't buy cheap qins in the first place. My only qin was from them, it was a 'middle' model, made of old Shanmu. It was made by Longfeng factory. Zeng chengwei said that the strings was a little too high so he plane the bridge down for me a little (see Zeng Chengwei thread for full account). Anyways, I seem to onlt notice a minor diffrence, but it is easier to play now. But of course, that was over 2 and a half years ago. They have slightly improved on their qins, like the NAGA supervised one by LXT. That has to be good (don't think LXT would select crap models, would he?).
About the height of the strings. Are you saying the yueshan is too high, or the slope not deep enough? If I was you, I would try planing down the the yueshan, the part where strings 4-7 lie. Plus, is it selected?
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Post by sleepy on Nov 17, 2005 1:11:09 GMT
About the height of the strings. Are you saying the yueshan is too high, or the slope not deep enough? If I was you, I would try planing down the the yueshan, the part where strings 4-7 lie. Plus, is it selected? Yes it was the "di tou" that wasn't made deep enough. That affected the setting of the yueshan. The height of the yueshan itself was probably fine. The factory heard what I told them and offered to replace the qin (but wouldn't pay for shipping). They are just too far away, I would end up spending few hundred $$$ on shipping. Other seasoned qin players in my area didn't recommend to have the bridge sanded down in order to lower the strings--unless done by a skillful qin maker. Whether the qin was "selected" or not, is not the main point. Speaking as a consumer, I don't think any seller should sell flawed items without letting buyers know in advance because it's simply unethical. The seller might make a quick sale but it only takes one dishonset transaction to flaw business reputation. Musical instruments don't come out of a mold therefore each piece is unique and individual buyers really need to try out in person to know if the instrument is suitable. Online buyers already lack the priviledge of testing the instruments prior to purchase, sellers such as CCnet shouldn't bully prospective online buyers into trusting them 100%, by not offering trial periods or return. |
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Post by kyokuhon on Nov 17, 2005 1:49:58 GMT
Hey, all.
I just saw today that violinking has come down to $195 starting bid, $218 "buy it now" on these qin. Of course, I don't know whether he's selling the same ones!
Keep playing,
K.
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Post by Charlie Huang on Nov 17, 2005 15:10:07 GMT
Where? I can't find it. Post the link on the crappy qin [bargins from ebay] thread.
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Post by kyokuhon on Nov 17, 2005 17:49:55 GMT
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Post by davidmdahl on Nov 17, 2005 18:39:35 GMT
It is probably easiest to find Ebay auctions with the item number, in this case 7367011109. Violinking made it difficult to find by using Gu Qing for the name rather than Qin or Gu Qin.
Best wishes,
David
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Post by kyokuhon on Nov 18, 2005 17:58:15 GMT
Hi,
Yup, David's right about violinking's spelling, though I've heard some Chinese speakers who actually pronounce it pretty close to that. Item # is easy, though both these qin and others, mostly fake antiques, usually show up under the "Other String Instruments" search on the home page.
K.
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Post by Charlie Huang on Nov 18, 2005 18:12:37 GMT
That one shown above looks rather standard to me. I think I saw the same one at the summer school, someone had it. I can tell by the lacquer and the graining of the guanjue (not that clear, but educated guess). I would say that it OK-ish for the extreme beginner (not for a knowledgable one).
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) and string it traditionally. 
