Looking for a biwa expert.

December 26, 2011 1:35 PM

I'm looking for a biwa expert in the Cascades region. Portland is best, Seattle is fine, northern California is doable.

Picked up an old biwa today and I have some questions about it the seller wasn't able to provide answers to. Would just like to have someone look at it and see if they can tell me anything about it; this isn't for financial reasons, but it's a bit banged up and while I'd like to restore it, I want to make sure it's worth it (one of the cracks is a bit worrying).

posted by curious nu to Media & Arts (7 answers total)

Do you think they have to be a biwa expert, or will any good luthier be able to to help you? (not that I know of one).
posted by mimo at 1:44 PM on December 26, 2011

Response by poster: Luthier might be able to help with the "will it play/how do I fix this" part, but I'm also hoping to find out if there are any maker hallmarks et cetera on it. (I'm assuming this is some kind of mass-produced type model of the last 50-60 years, judging by the workmanship, but that's still interesting information to have).
posted by curious nu at 2:25 PM on December 26, 2011

Best answer: Guild of American Luthiers.
posted by mareli at 2:30 PM on December 26, 2011

Here is a craigslist ad for a biwa in Portland. The seller says they have put one together that plays, so I assume they know something about them, if not expert-style knowledge.
posted by klausman at 3:35 PM on December 26, 2011

Response by poster: klausman: haha, that's the one I got today. ;) He's pretty new at it as well (he's mostly a woodwinds guy, it turns out) and got it from a restaurant in Japan that had it sitting in the corner as decoration for a couple of decades, and who couldn't tell him anything about it.

Thanks for the link, mareli, I'll do some searching on my own and hit them up as well.
posted by curious nu at 3:36 PM on December 26, 2011

If you're still looking for help, you should call the Dusty Strings retail store in Seattle. They don't necessarily specialize in the biwa or other asian instruments, but if they can't help you directly, they probably know someone in the area who can.

Best of luck!
posted by achmorrison at 12:04 AM on January 2, 2012

Response by poster: achmorrison: I may do that! I have an email out awaiting reply to the Japanese Garden here in Portland (they have an arts/culture contact email), and also need to talk to Portland Art Museum (and probably Seattle as well). If they don't have any leads for me, I'll call up Dusty Strings.
posted by curious nu at 8:54 PM on January 2, 2012