Originally from Canada, I live in a small village in the mountains in the north of Thailand where I putter away composing music, making guitars and other instruments and other artistic endeavours. My work has always focused on connection with wild nature as its central theme. This process very much continues and expands over here too.
To name a few things, I composed for modern dance in Canada for many years, did numerous solo concerts and embarked on a 3 year solo long ride on horseback through the southern plains of Canada between 2011 and 2014. I have practised Kendo for close to 40 years and Iaido for around half that time.
Thanks for the question! Unfortunately, I'm not set up for making those sorts of videos in my wee tropical highlands workshop. There are numerous other YT channels that are doing excellent work on building such as Pablo Requena, Robert O'Brien, Ad van Kuijk and many more. Just search for them on RU-vid and you'll be off to the races! 🙂
Hi Aaron, yes of course! Please come practice with us in Chiang Mai. 🙂can you please email me and then I can give you more info. dondtreebpa at gmail dot com I am also 4th dan and 66 at the moment, though strangely I seem to be getting older with every day that goes by. Not sure why that is exactly! 😉
Dear Catherine, thank you for these videos. I am working on a musical project where I would like to wrap the strings in these adjustable loops as you have. My question is, how do you achieve a good knot for the string on the pole? If you could make a video or provide a resource on changing just one string, that would be extremely helpful! Thank you!
I'm in Thailand and I order them from The String Zone (www.thestringzone.co.uk/wittner-finetune-peg-for-flamenco-guitar) but I see that Maderas Barber also has them. (maderasbarber.com/tonewood/en/classic-guitar-machine-heads/7369-wittner-tuning-peg-for-flamenco-guitars-and-ukelele.html?mot_tcid=e57761c9-17af-4fee-a129-13a9afdb26cd) If you do an internet search you might find a source in the Americas somewhere and there are a number of places online that you can get them. As far as found at the time when i used them, The String Zone seemed to have a good price and reasonable shipping charges. Hope that helps!
Hello. unfortunately, I don't have drawings for this (nauguta) shamisen as it was a repair of someone else's shamisen. However, I highly recommend Kyle Abbot's book - Shamisen of Japan. It has extensive instructions and drawings/plans for making Tsugaru Shamisen. Here's the link - bachido.com/store/shamisen-of-japan
This video is very important to youtube. Even the smallest of repair videos are hard to come by if you are foreign and dont understand japaneese. Thank you
Thanks! This reminds me that I need to have another look through this video. I think there are some things that I do differently now. Will try to get to it this weekend!
@catrionanicthamhais I'll be watching! I started kendo in March of 2023 and am practicing sewing/ stiching for the last week now so when the time comes, I can modify and fix my bogu (specifically kote) Your craftsmanship and skill is superb. You make it look easy!!!
I had a Quick Look at the video. I completely forgot how bloody long it is! :-) At any rate… the only thing that I’d do differently now is that I’ve been using a semi gloss model paint to touch up the black urushi on the men. Seems to work better. So far at least. Also, I think a quality set of bogu can last a very long time before repairs are necessary. The on exception I’d say is the kote tenuchi (palm leather). That will develop wear before other parts I’d say.
That’s what India said. That Canada is giving a platform to violent terrorists. Canadian justice system also didn’t give any justice to air India bombing victims which was blown up by Khalistani terrorists. They killed many women and children. So called Sikh separatists are worse than Isis.
Very important to resurrect these voices from the past. Livingston is "The greatest naturalist you never heard of", and once said "I am not a biologist, an ecologist, nor indeed an `ologist' of any kind. I am merely a naturalist, for whom logic and `the word' have come to count for little. Nature, praise be, neither talks nor is rational, and therein is comfort." All the same, he did broadcast and write, though with little faith in its effectiveness. The John A. Livingston Reader contains his three classic works on environmental thought - The Fallacy of Wildlife Conservation (1981), One Cosmic Instant: A Natural History of Human Arrogance (1973), and his last book, Rogue Primate: An Exploration of Human Domestication (1994). The titles alone indicated a "negative" outlook - or a realistic one, some would say. Ehrenfeld (still alive) is also streets ahead of absolutely everyone I can think of in the field of Ecology/ConservationBiology (now often lumped together as Environmentalism, a rather dismal term which is too vague to have any bite or depth). This could be because he has controversially mixed in some reflections on the huge amount of work needed on the human mind before any widespread success at Conservation can be achieved. Psychology may be outside his official remit as a Professor, but nevertheless, it is obvious that no amount of effort or activity can succeed in preserving the "Natural World" unless the attitude of homo sapiens towards it changes fundamentally throughout our entire species. Ehrenfeld refers to Isaiah 47, which describes the Fall and Humiliation of Babylon (an actual event) - in particular verse 10 which ascribes the Fall to an arrogant belief in its own "wisdom and knowledge" (or "science and skill" in another translation). He also refers to Job 39, which is a long and rather scornful list by God (speaking from a whirlwind) of all the living things Mankind cannot create, in particular verses 26 to 27 - "Is it by your wisdom that the hawk soars, and spreads its wings towards the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up and makes its nest on high?" We could complain that God is stating the obvious - except that it is even more obvious that we need a daily, if not an hourly, reminder of this kind from someone really authoritative like the Almighty, or we become like Babylon and many other grand enterprises. Dust, i.e.
Your (2) tuning vids I’ve watched have really helped me. Answered the questions I had, and as a beginner, some I was going to have. Thank you. I’m a percussionist, and have inherited 3 koras! Was afraid of them, but recently started messing around on my own, prior to taking a lesson. Your working with the the tuning rings was detailed clear and simple.
Hello! When you painted your menbuchi on the men. How has the shellac held up? I know everyone says urushi is the go to but it's pricey. I'm surprised shellac looks good. Some people considered gloss auto touch up paint or nail polish
The shellac held up fairly well though I would imagine genuine urushi would last longer. Lately I’ve been using some semi gloss acrylic (I think it’s acrylic at least) and the seems to be working really well. It ends up being not quite as glossy as the surrounding urushi but it seems to stay black for a fair bit of time.
I like that too! I think that the 'Peghed' brand pegs are made to some degree or another with wood. Some way like that. i've only used the Wittner geared pegs and found them to be excellent. To be clear, I have only used them on one guitar so far. Another person that bought one of my guitars, had them installed after delivery and some time using the trad pegs. She found the trad pegs to be troublesome and so switched. As far as i know, she has been happy with the geared pegs. For myself, i really like the trad pegs and have them on 3 guitars in my workshop at the moment. I don't find them troublesome, but then i'm also pretty good with my hands. I think that if I was touring and/or playing a lot in different locations and climates, i would for sure install a set of geared pegs.
Dear Shinobu Sensei, looking forward to your next visit for more keiko and especially for some forest walking together. I would love to show you around my mountain! (apparently it's MY mountain now lol) Hope you are well! Cath
Hi there, how's it going? Your Flamenco guitar looks very nice. Is the top red cedar? I bet it sound incredible.I also love friction pegs. My guitar has them, it's a 78 Ramirez . I like how they squeek when tuning up. I like the video. Thanks, peace
Hi Catherin, Do you like detuning? Maybe you would enjoy this . Tune 6th string down to D and then tune 3rd string down to F# . This tuning is for a Flamenco form called Rondena. You can find this piece on RU-vid . Look up Paco Pena Fabulous Flamenco. You can probably pick up some of the melodies by ear from the recording. It's slow. It's beautiful sounding. You don't need a capo. He's playing open.
Haven't done alternate tunings in quite a while! This one looks super interesting though. I have a look and give it a try! Thanks for the suggestion, Apollo!
Thanks so much, Apollo. Alas, I haven't done an installation video. good idea though! When instal another set I'll try to do a video at the same time. Might be a while though. Guitar selling is pretty dry at the moment in my world. I'll try to remember to let you know when i do make the video! Gheers. Cath
@Catherine Thompson hi Catherine, What a great talent you have. Thanks again. I've been performing for years with my guitar, once in a while a peg slips. It's frustrating retuning. These wittner pegs sound like a great idea.
@@apollohill6733 Yes, they work really well. Especially useful i think if one plays outside of their own home and own even environment. I'm not performing much at all these days and my guitars with pegs in my workshop hardly need any tuning adjustment for days. A tiny bit here and there. But the guitars are in a fairly constant temp and humidity level. if I was travelling and playing even locally in the city to the west of me, i would probably go with the geared pegs even if just for the sake of reduced mayhem happening exactly when i don't want it! I usually put a bit of peg goop ( is use good ol' plasticine) every time i change my strings. Also, I reckon that the fit between peg and peg hole will minutely shift over time and then can make things seem like they just don't work at all. For me, that would involve re-reaming the peghole a tiny bit and probably putting in new pegs, unless there's enough material with the pegs to allow them to be shaved down properly. Cheers!
Yeah, i think it to be not a good idea. It'll end up looking all patchy and the colour probably won't match well. I would say best to get a bottle of aizome dye. Most bogu places have it I should think or can order it in. I ordered some from kendostar. The thing about using real aizome(indigo) is that not only will the colour match but it will fade properly and evenly with the rest of the bogu. more or less at least. To be honest, I found it fun to do (i love messing around with this sort of stuff. I just can't help myself) and it worked to a degree, but in my experience you won't end up with a 'new' looking buton. It's a compromise.
I guess another thing about stamp pad ink is that I'm not sure how it will hold and not get messed around. Your dojo mates might not appreciate it if their shinai get all messed up with the ink. Just a thought, though, not really sure on that account.
@@catrionanicthamhais thank you for the advice! I really appreciate it. Btw, i live in a humid tropical country too. How do you store your bogu? How can i stop mold from forming on it?
@@Dizinii My pleasure! 🙂 Oh yeah... humidity and mold. Can be so tricky. I make guitars and have a workshop lined in plastic and run a dehumidifier most of the year long. I keep my bogu in this room. Before I had set up my workshop though it was really tricky to keep my bogu from getting mouldy. I found that if always kept my bogu out of a bogu bag and able to have air circulate around, that this helped a lot. Keeping it in a bin or bag caused some trouble for me. You could even put a fan on it. I made a stand for my men out of wood and the other bits i just spread out and allow as much air to circulate as possible. At the moment we are in our dry season in thailand so i haven't needed to run my dehumidifier for a month or so. Saving on electricity! I think that if you have an air conditioner running then that can help a lot too. I have my second set of bogu at my mom's in the city and she has an air con going enough to keep it dry. All in all I really think that the ability for air to circulate around the bogu all the time is the biggest help. hope that helps a little!
Nice hike in the mountains. The waterfall looks really nice. Here in the U.S. aerobics doesn't seem to be popular anymore. But, I was surprised to see an aerobics craze in Bangkok recently. I spent a few months in Bangkok late last year and early this year. Evening outdoor aerobics classes, seems to be very popular with retired ladies right now. I never really saw many younger ladies participating just a lot of older ladies.
How lovely! Thanks so much my dear. Yeah it was nice to have the pup come along. Also, we met his father near the end and it seems they have been having spats lately. They got into a tussle and i needed to break it apart. Last Thursday when i took some friends just on the shorter ridge walk they both came along together. I guess dogs have their soap opera moments too! 555
@@catrionanicthamhais Yes, my Boy Yukon who I brought from Canada and His son Koryak, sadly Yukon has passed on, so far Father and Son Cracker and Elvis haven’t had any spats 😂😂 Mostly all girls here now, they outnumber the boys x
Hi Sergio. Thanks for the question. Yes, the hole in the peg head needs to be conical. You would use a violin/viola taper reamer. So I just drill a straight hole, somewhat smaller than the peg and then slowly ream it out until i get the right size opening. Thanks for the kind words!
@@sergiogarciagallegos4602 Most welcome Sergio! One thing that is talked about below is to make sure that your reamer has enough final width to it. An old violin reamer that I had didn't quite open the helo enough, a mm to narrow! I purchase a better quality reamer that had a maximum with of 10mm and that one worked great. I ordered it from the same place that I ordered the pegs at The String Zone in the UK. Cheers!
Oh yes! Please do come to visit, though I think small workshop might describe my workplace more accurately than factory! 😁I look forward to your next visit to the north of Thailand!
What reamer did you use to install these? I just order a set & the 1:30 violin reamers are too small of a diameter & the Cello reamers are 1:26 taper..really confused on which tool is correct.. Violin luthiers in san diego are no help.
For sure you need a violin/viola taper rather than the cello. I had a 'cheap' violin reamer that I know wouldn't quite reach the max diameter of the wittners - 1 or 2 mm too small if i recall - so i ordered a reamer at the same time from the strings zone and that reamer was large enough. The wittners need 9.5 mm and the the string zone violin reamer goes to 10 mm. Here's the link in case you want to have a look. www.thestringzone.co.uk/peg-fitting-reamer A good deal more expensive than my cheap-y for sure, but did a very good job. Hope that helps! Please let me know if I can be more help at all. Cheers Cath
@@catrionanicthamhais Im returning the tuners.. it got be so frustrating not hearing back from Thomann & Wittners about the proper tool that would work.. that & no luthiers around here had the confidence or knowledge to handle the job...they either sheepishly faded away, or passed me off to other luthiers that knew even less..I could do it myself, but was unsure a 10mm was large enough & that is the largest 1:30 reamer available.. All that was for the best because it gave me time to think about adding these tuners... because this is a $15k +/- vintage guitar with some historical significance having belonged to well known Flamenco player/professor/author Jack Buckingham it wasn't the right thing to do to alter the tuner holes ..if these tuners worked without altering the guitar i'd do it in a minute. I have his 1963 Jose Ramirez that has tuners like this on it.. it works for that guitar to make it a better player without compromising the value or historical nature. thanks for getting back 🙂
@@horizonsedgepromotions6588 Too bad you aren't in northern Thailand! I could have installed them for you in half an hour and probably would have got you to buy me a coffee for payment! ;-) that being said, if the reamer goes to 10mm that is certainly big enough. The tricky thing is that it's to be a pretty fine bit of business when you get there. Easy to go too far, but not all that tricky once you get used to it. Yeah, with the vintage guitars I can see why you might want to keep with the trad pegs. I use them on my own guitar and like them a lot. It could be that the holes need to be reamed out a tiny bit in case the taper has shifted over the years, but that's not an issue. Then a person can add a set of pegs that have been shaved identically and Bob's your uncle and all is good to go. Best of luck with it all and thanks for the question and comments! Cheers Cath
i think i can get a plan ticket to Thailand cheaper than sending the tuners back to Wittner.. $75.. yikes.. I'm sure i can sell them on ebay or Reverb pretty quick tho.. so no worries..
Yes, with the type of latches that I got there is a key and it is possible to lock all the latches. I can't remember if the 'Active' series have locks built in to those latches but i think it is possible to add a small padlock. Note that the locks are not able to be opened by airport personnel so if they decide to search your case that is locked it could happen that they might break open the locks. Visesnut suggests using the padded nylon cover and adding an airport approved padlock lock to the zipper pulls. That's what I do. I don't travel a lot with my guitar these days though. Hope that helps!
