Hi everyone! Out of curiosity, has anybody ever tried the 85-1 string? I have both 25 and 30 but what’s with the 85-1?
The first string on Tsugaru shamisen generally ranges from 25 - 30. Gauges up to 35 can be found, but are less common.
The 85 gauge string is utilized in Gidayu, as far as I know.
That’s interesting… I wonder why they put it under tsugaru
A little more searching brings up this result on Shamisen Katoh’s site,
http://shop.shamisen-katoh.com/?pid=54991391
糸番号と個数を選択して下さい。
75-1（ふじ糸25-1相当）
85-1（ふじ糸30-1相当）
The 75 and 85 gauge strings are equitable in size to the 25 and 30s produced by Fuji, but are double length.
As an aside, other variations on naming include 中口 and 太口; I bet it’s all the same.
More data:
http://www.you-4.net/marusan-ito.htm
浄瑠璃の中口１番はふじ糸の24,25 太口は27,28に相当します。
Which means the (Joruri)Chuuguchi is similar to the 24, or 25 and the Futoguchi is similar to the 27, 28 standard typing.
Joruri here is referring to Bunraku - that is, Gidayu shamisen.
25 : 75 -1 : Chuuguchi
30 : 85 - 1 : Futoguchi
It seems, anyway.
But wait, there’s more:
Crosschecking again at the previous site’s entry for the hatsune brand shows us:
http://www.you-4.net/hatune-ito.htm
＊はつね７５－１はふじ糸２４～２５に相当、８５－１は２７～２８に相当します。
75 - 1 : Fuji 24/25
85 - 1 : Fuji 27/28
While this differ’s from Katoh-san’s description, it’s internally consistent when describing the relationship between
25 / 75 / Chuugchi and 30 / 85 / Futoguchi.
A peak at a blog post or two suggests that the latter two of each set is preferred over the first. Largely because Fuji is considered an inferior product (albeit cheaper) - for reasons that remain mysterious.
Wow, now that is some interesting stuff. I thank you for the research!