Sitar Meend Detuning Fixes
Keith Erskine
string for the main playing string (ma) on my Rikki Ram sitar.
Prior to the thicker string I could do meends, string bends, of
magnitude 5 frets (Sa up to Ma, or Re up to Pa, etc.) without going
out of tune. After switching to a thicker string I could not do
more than 3 fret meend (Sa up to komal Ga) without going out of tune.
I asked about guitar tuners instead of friction pegs, but fortunately
that has not been necessary - with slight changes I can do 5 fret meends
again with just the slightest decrease in pitch of the ma string after
the string bend is completed. Thanks very much to all those who emailed
with helpful suggestions from themselves or their gurus.
The steps I took:
1) much of the problem is the string bend pulls slack out of the section
of string between the jawari & the bottom of the gourd, where the
swan/bead tuners are. I alleviated this problem by using very thick
bronze wire fastened to the bottom of the gourd, which passes thru the
swan/bead tuner, and then forms a loop within 0.25" (1/4 inch) of the
jawari. The ma string is then tied to this loop, and soldered in
place. It MUST be soldered, otherwise the friction & sharp bend will
cause it to break where it wraps around the bronze wire loop after just
1/2 hour of playing with big meends.
The advantage of this is the thick bronze wire that spans from the bottom
of the gourd to just shy of the jawari is too thick to have slack pulled
out of it with big meends. The disadvantage is that if a string breaks
at a gig, you have to either solder again to the bronze loop, or bypass
the bronze loop and run it through the swan/bead tuner and fasten to the
bottom of the gourd (normal stringing procedure).
2) problem: friction pegs coming unseated on big meends
solution: decrease the leverage the string exerts on the tuning peg
by making as sharp angle as possible with the ma string from where
it passes through the "nut" of the sitar to where it wraps around the
peg. In other words, the ma string is wrapped around the TOP of the
peg, where it is about 1-2" higher than the flat surface of the peg
head. (My pegs have a protuding ring above the hole in the peg where
the string passes thru. So wrap the extra string ABOVE this ring,
on the finished portion next to the knob, not BELOW the ring, on the
unfinished portion of the peg. Not only is leverage decreased, but
when the string pulls taut, it now exerts force on the peg DOWN into
the peghead, which in turn seats the friction peg more securely and
makes it less likely to slip! Cool, huh? This works best on the
ma string because the proximity to the "nut" allows quite a sharp
angle to be formed.
3) problem: jawari needed sanding - the ma string had formed a groove
in the jawari, which results in more friction, causing slack pulled
out of the string on the far side of the jawari not to be returned
after the string bend was released
solution: sand jawari. I also applied a wee bit of coconut oil to
the underside of the string where it contacts the jawari
Thanks again to all who responded, please email me if you'd like to
try any of these steps and I haven't made it clear enough. The tone
of the thicker ma string is SO much better, I can't recommend it strongly
enough, though it is more difficult to play quickly.
Keith Erskine
I don't speak for HP.
rpen...@hotmail.com
k...@fc.hp.com (Keith Erskine) wrote:
> A while back I wrote about my dilemma of switching to heavier gauge
> string for the main playing string (ma) on my Rikki Ram sitar.
> Prior to the thicker string I could do meends, string bends, of
> magnitude 5 frets (Sa up to Ma, or Re up to Pa, etc.) without going
> out of tune. After switching to a thicker string I could not do
> more than 3 fret meend (Sa up to komal Ga) without going out of tune.
> 1) much of the problem is the string bend pulls slack out of the
section
> of string between the jawari & the bottom of the gourd, where the
> swan/bead tuners are. I alleviated this problem by using very
thick
> bronze wire fastened to the bottom of the gourd, which passes thru
the
> swan/bead tuner, and then forms a loop within 0.25" (1/4 inch) of
the
> jawari. The ma string is then tied to this loop, and soldered in
> place. It MUST be soldered, otherwise the friction & sharp bend
will
> cause it to break where it wraps around the bronze wire loop after
just
> 1/2 hour of playing with big meends.
>
- maybe you can use an intermediate donut shaped ring
to link the two strings. like ---O---
The sharp bend (kink) in both the strings can be avoided.
That way you wont have to solder the string?
- how about the slack at the other end of the string?
regards
Ravi Pendkar
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