Rudra Veena string sets ~ info needed

[Lars]

After talking with Povster I have thought of including string sets for the Rudra Veena in our inventory with our own label. Soon all of the string sets will be made here in the US by yours truly to avoid errors.

So what I would need to get is a general agreement on what sizes are needed? I have an order in for the Karuna wound but not certain I'll get them yet, Pyramid nickel flatwounds we have with the 4cm loop but the idea is to include the Karuna string for the kharaj as it would keep the string set price lower. The rest of the wire would be European/American steel/bronze.

So any ideas or does everyone use coils, etc. and I should just sell the singles and not spend too much time on this?

Lars

[Surbaharplayer]

I think the best thing to do is contact Jeff Lewis (maybe through Facebook) He's the guy to talk to regarding all strings and things on the veena. He helped me out regarding questions on strings. There is offcourse a difference between Dagar and traditional veena's (the former being thicker).

[Lars]

Thanks....Jeff lives just one hour from me actually. Was looking for input from a wider range of people but lack of views seems to have given me the answer I was looking for.

Lars

[povster]

Bajtar - steel 0.46mm (0.018 inches)
Joditar and laraj - bronze 0.56mm (0.022 inches) - same as sitar pancham
Kharaj - Karuna flatwound #18 which is app 0.047 inches

On the pancham we differ. He prefers a karuna flatwound #20 (SWG gauge) for the extra growl. I use a 0.028 phosphor bronze (same as sitar kharaj). I have not been able to find a Karuna 20 tanpura string so no idea how it will sound on mine.

Chikaris can be different, especially with the different peg placements creating radically different string lengths. I use a thinner string - 0.10" for high chikari as my peg is halfway up the neck. I use a 0.12" for the low chikari but may be changing to a 0.11".

[musicslug]

Jeff Lewis uses coils. he's very much not a fan of wound strings. last time I checked, he advocates pretty much what Bahauddin Dagar is currently using, which is a bit lighter than he used to use (Bablu tunes his vina to A instead of G# now):

main:#6.5 steel (used to be #7 roslau)
jordi: .028" phosphor bronze
pancham: .035" phosphor bronze
kharaj: .048" phosphor bronze (used to use .050")
high chikari: #2 steel (roslau)
low chikaris: #4 steel (roslau))

I experimented with tuning my vina to A, but opted to go back to G#. the negatives (harder to pull meends, esp. on pancham, a bit less 'heaviness', esp. on kharaj) outweighed the positives (main string seemed more 'accurate', perhaps the kharaj as well...). so I went back to #7 on the main, but have stayed with the .048" on kharaj - that miniscule (.002"!) difference does seem to make it more supple, which I like, without losing the 'weight', timbre-wise.

i.e. I wouldn't be a prospective customer for pre-cut strings, but thanks for asking!

Daniel

[westsea]

Hi Lars,
I use coils too. But, thanks for starting this thread. It's yeilded some good information,
about Rudra Vina strings, that will be a good reference.

[naad_brahma]

For example, my teacher and I use the same strings for bajtar, joditar and kharaj. We both have khandarbani style vins. His is an early 60's Murari. Mine is a recent Tony Karasak/RA Sitarmaker.

Lars, in regards to strings, I really do think it is a great idea to make set's available. I personally use coils but for many people starting out it's a big investment and also it's a headache trying to figure out what string gauges are best and commit to buying whole coils. Having a basic string set can allow a player to play for a while and then make their own observations on how they would change the gauges to suit their own needs. I think Jeff would be your best bet, and he probably has insights as to what gauges best for different styles of instruments. I think you should just make one standardized set with 8 strings based off of his feedback. If the individual who purchases them happens to have a 7 string veena, they can omit the extra chikari string. I think to accommodate Karuna strings the nut has to be modified, so maybe just stick to plain old phosphor bronze and offer the Karuna strings for sale separately.

[povster]

I think overall it is more important to just have strings available: be they singly, in coils (well, barring the ball end strings) or in sets.

[naad_brahma]

I got to thinking about strings again. What about compiling an excel spreadsheet of all the forumites and other players that are willing to participate. The info needed would be total string sounding length for each string on their instrument, and the string gauge, and what it is tuned to. Also user notes might be interesting. For example if they like a certain gauge of baj string for a particular reason, or why they tune to a particular key and if it has any effect on the strings. For that matter it might be nice to have basic measurements of the instrument too, that way it might give an idea of what gauges work best for a particular dhand diamter, or tumba size.