Miraj Ahmadsaheb Female Tanpura
Our female tanpura Miraj Ahmadsaheb is a brand instrument with a perfectly balanced sound and a long tradition. Its round, rich and full sound is free of interfering peaks and has a unique spatial depth.
The built is noticeably heavier than comparable tanpuras from Calcutta. Perhaps therein lies the secret of its unique sound quality. The simple decoration in the style of the early 20th century and the completely dark finish give them a somewhat antique appearance. The manufacturing quality of the shellac surfaces and the woodwork is, however, much simpler than that of other brand tanpuras - the outer appearance is obviously given less importance than the perfect sound. Standard tonic is F sharp - G sharp.
Sound sample played on one of our Miraj Ahmadsaheb female tanpura.
Toon wood, synthetic bridge, four strings, high-gloss shellac varnish surfaces, stained dark, pumpkin sound box, engraved celluloid inlays.
The string vibration on the bridge (and thus the audible overtones) depends upon the curve of the bridge and the tension, thickness and material of the strings. A thread between the string and the bridge allows subtle manipulations of the contact angle. By moving the thread position the buzz of each string can be adjusted individually.
AHMADSAHEB A. SITARMAKER is an excellent but relatively unknown instrument maker from Miraj, a town in the Indian state of Maharashtra with about half a million inhabitants. Miraj's tradition of instrument making was founded in the mid-19th century by Faridsaheb Sitarmaker. His numerous descendants turned ?Miraj into one of the most important centers for the manufacturing of sitars and tanpuras over several generations. One of Faridsahebs descendants is Ahmasaheb. Today there is an extensive network of small workshops and suppliers in Miraj, many of which are connected by kinship and divide the many steps in the instrument manufacturing process amongst each other. Most of the pumpkins that are specially bred for instrument making today come from the area of Miraj as well.
Meassure: length 134 cm, width 41 cm, depth with bridge 37 cm, diapason 92 cm, weight: 2.84 kg
Each instrument is individually hand-crafted and might differ from our description.