I am very interested in playing the sitar, however, I am on a student's budget and can't afford anything over 300 dollars. Am I out of luck? On eBay i found a cheap mini sitar, would that produce the same sound as a regular sitar? thanks
blake (Feb 08, 2004 06:39 p.m.):
I am very interested in playing the sitar, however, I am on a student's budget and can't afford anything over 300 dollars. Am I out of luck? On eBay i found a cheap mini sitar, would that produce the same sound as a regular sitar? thanks
dont buy a mini sitar it is a toy an you will be disappointed ,if you must buy an inexpensive sitar go to aacm.org an save up an buy a student grade sitar from them they at least can set it up for you an it will be decent enough to learn on , also most cheep ebay sitars will not be worth the money , as they wont be set up , an the seller probably wont stand behind it , caveat emptor , buyer beware , my 2 cent s worth , good luck
BLAKE!
Don't buy a mini sitar. . .YOU'LL KILL YOURSELLLLF!!!
Ditto on Alan's advise. The odds of finding a playable new sitar on eBay are worse than playing the slots in Vegas. If you wait long enough, you might find a deal on a "previously owned" instrument. But, if you can budget just a leetle more money, you can purchase a sitar from someone like Sitars Etc. that will be playable upon arrival. Man, this is REALLY important. You can have a nice instrument, and if it's not set up right, it can sound terrible. On the other hand you can take an average quality instrument (not a piece of junk off eBay) and if it's tweaked properly, it will at least serve your purpose of learning the basics. Where do you live? Maybe someone here on the forum can lead you in the right direction.
Sat nam Blake,
Good advice here from Alan and K.K. I've just started playing sitar but I've been making music forever. If I've said this once to an earnest young musician like yourself, I've said it a hundred times : NEVER!! buy a cheap instrument, especially sight unseen. It will only impede your development and lead to dissapointment. "Buy cheap - buy twice" meaning you will dump the cheapo and buy a better one anyway. Believe in yourself and invest in yourself. I know it's hard but save your money till you can afford a decent student model from the above mentioned, reputable dealers. I looked on eBay for months and I think it's unlikely that you'll find something good and inexpensive. People bid up on the few possibly good sitars that appear.
I wish you all the best on your musical path.
peace love light
Andy
Maybe it's a good idea to contact a local teacher for input. I contacted my teacher; she had a couple of studentlevel instruments she had picked up herself. So I knew I got a good instrument. And you'll learn the music offcourse.
