I picked up an interesting sitar last year in Kolkata... the idea was to buy an electric sitar (which it is), but I discovered that it also has a
very appealing acoustic sound. Furthermore it is very well made, however of course I chose to do/tweek various SET UP elements, including completely
re-wiring & re-installing all the electronics.
This sitar has a carved wood back/sides (from a solid piece of tun wood... no pumpkin) therefore it is much more slim and easy to transport, and
certainly infinitely less vulnerable to breakage compared to a standard pumpkin sitar.
This sitar can be played acoustically as regular sitars are, or it can be plugged into a guitar amp and played with a loud band. A very versatile,
durable, sweet sounding, and easily transported instrument.
- brand new
- gigbag included
- made by Mondal & Sons (Kolkata)
- price is 500euro
How is this different to the £200 electric sitars available new on ebay ?
You would have to be more specific, and show me exactly which one.
But the generic answer is that there might not be much difference or there might be a lot.... the main problem with buying a sitar 'blind' (which
might mean 2 things: 1. you can't see it - hold it etc, and 2. you yourself do not know much or anything about sitars).
When you buy an instrument from someone you have no reason to particularly trust, then you really have no idea of the quality you are getting.
When you buy a sitar in particular when you do not KNOW SITARS, then you really need to buy a sitar from someone 1. who KNOWS SITARS, and 2. you can
TRUST.
There are a lot of terrible sitars out there and I would never buy one without seeing it personally. I myself have been intimately involved in playing
sitar and opening them and modifying them for almost 3 decades. Furthermore I am a known person and a professional builder... I have personally
chosen this sitar... and of course, aside from it basically being a well made instrument - this sitar, as with ALL (!!!!!!!!!) medium priced sitars
had several "issues". For me personally, solving/correcting these issues is just a matter of one day's work and it's done with > perfect!
But if you buy one blind on ebay, you MIGHT get one basically as good as this one was when I purchased it (but I doubt even that), but then you will
undoubtedly be stuck with a basically well made instrument with all of these standard "ISSUES" and you will have no idea how to correct them, and
neither will anyone in your neighbourhood know how to correct them because sitars are not like guitars > they have very particular ways of being
set up... only someone with a lot of experience setting up sitars can do it correctly.
SO.... the very short answer is that for 500eur, from me you get a good solid instrument that you KNOW works and sounds good - and if something goes
wrong you come back to me and I solve it for you.
Buy something on ebay and guaranteed it will not work properly (!), and the seller will not help you in the slightest.... so your 200eur sitar will
just sit in the corner gathering dust. I have seen this happen countless times.
