working on Shamisen Sao (neck)

After a rather epic tour around Thailand with Sumon Nakchalerm, I am back to working on my instruments. It's becoming more lush as the rains come and I'm happy to say that I've got most of the roofs leaks under a sort of control. It is so beautiful to watch and listen to the rain come pouring down with its rich damp smells and splashing sounds. This week I've been working on Tenjin (peg box). You might notice that there are slight differences between each one. The Tenjin is an area of the samisen that I feel like it's ok to play around, in a subtle way, with shape and line. Love this sort of fine detailed work! The wood is Mai Daeng. Note: the photos show the pieces in progress and are not in a finished state at this point. I currently have a beautiful Kora recently finished available for purchase.  For more about my instruments, please go to: musicforestinstruments.wordpress.com