Did I make a good Choice?

[jetz320]

Hi. Well, my grandparents are visiting China right now, and i told them to buy me a new dragonhead erhu. fortunately, they found stores with them in guangzhou. but i told them to buy a big dragon head, its basically the kind where the head is bigger and the body is crawling up the head. and it only comes in rosewood. did i make a good choice? the erhu cost around past 3000 rmb. so it should still be a very good quality erhu though am i correct? i;m beginning to regret changing my idea from ebony to rosewood. but if i am correct, wood plays a small part and it's the skin that counts. please help me. this is so confusing. thank you

[song]

The wood actually plays a big part in the tone of the Erhu, much more than the snake skin in my opinion. It determines if the sound is sweet, warm, mellow, rich etc.

Rosewood should sound clearer, brighter and sweeter than ebony. I'm not sure if that's what you are looking for, but I'm intrigued by your fondness for dragonhead headstock Erhus. I'm sure a portion of the cost goes into carving the dragonhead.

And Guangzhou is famous for Gaohus. Make sure your grandparents don't bring a dragonhead Gaohu back. I've heard a story of someone asking someone to bring a Erhu back from Guangzhou and the someone brought a Gaohu back for that someone.


Sung Wah

[davidmdahl]

I agree with Song that the wood is an important factor in the tone of an erhu, but I would go even further to say that everything matters. At least an equal factor in the quality is the workmanship. I suspect that a lazy or inexperienced maker using first quality wood and skin can produce a mediocre erhu, while an experienced maker can bring the best out of average materials. That is to say, it is not the best idea to shop based on wood or skin alone. The best erhu in the store might be sandalwood or it might be rosewood. It is necessary to play the erhu to know its quality. Even then, a new erhu will change as it is broken in.

Best wishes,

David

[jetz320]

Thank you all. And song, i do remember that the gaohus are mostly always dragonheads. but, i told my grandparents to buy an erhu and it involved shipping from it's craftsman.

so overall, the rosewood is a good choice am i correct? thanks for all the clarification so far.

[dsouthwood]

I agree that workmanship is at least equal to the other factors, and perhaps the most important. I had a tour of the Taylor guitar offices here in San Diego, and was shown a guitar that Bob Taylor had made by slicing up scrap wood. The top was made of ordinary pine 2X4's sliced thin, and the back and sides were sliced from the hardwood pallets (skids) that boxes are stacked on so that forklift trucks can move them around. The guitar had random silver-colored dots all over where he had sliced through the nails. The instrument was a thing of beauty both in its appearance and sound. Mr. Taylor is able to find the soul of the wood and make it sing. That's why I chuckle at the people who think they could duplicate a Stradivarius if they could only find the right varnish....

Also, my erhu teacher told me that the old traditional carving for the neck of an erhu was a horse's head, and what the makers put there now is the horse's hoof.

Dennis

[song]

Oooh. I love Taylor guitars. Used to go to their authorised dealer in Singapore every now and then to play the guitars. I had a 410 but sold it away.

Ya Rosewood is fine but if its Aged Rosewood (laohongmu) it'll be better.

[jetz320]

Ok. Thanks. I feel a lot better now.

[jetz320]

I recieved my erhu today. it is beautiful except i fin it heavy. i have a feeling i will drop it soon. but o well. i think it is ebony. not rosewood thank god.