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Dano Sitar
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:57 pm
by MrNovember
So I played one of these the other day and I have to say if I had money to drop on a fairly useless but incredibly fun instrument it would be this thing:

EDIT: I actually played a Danelectro reissue of this that looks exactly the same.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 1:01 pm
by Chankgeez
Yeah, those things are fun.
I used to have a Jerry Jones version.
I still have a guitar set up with a jawari bridge, it's a custom job built from a Kay Galaxie.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 2:39 pm
by scienceman
I had one for a while and it was lotts of fun but I gotta say the novelty wore off after a while and then it just sat around.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 2:46 pm
by MrNovember
scienceman wrote:I had one for a while and it was lotts of fun but I gotta say the novelty wore off after a while and then it just sat around.
Yeah I feel like that's exactly what would happen to me
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:18 pm
by jrmy
MrNovember wrote:scienceman wrote:I had one for a while and it was lotts of fun but I gotta say the novelty wore off after a while and then it just sat around.
Yeah I feel like that's exactly what would happen to me
Times like this, I wish there was a convenient & affordable weird guitar rental service.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2013 9:29 pm
by MrNovember
jrmy wrote:MrNovember wrote:scienceman wrote:I had one for a while and it was lotts of fun but I gotta say the novelty wore off after a while and then it just sat around.
Yeah I feel like that's exactly what would happen to me
Times like this, I wish there was a convenient & affordable weird guitar rental service.
That would actually be a pretty excellent service
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 12:55 pm
by friendship
MrNovember wrote:jrmy wrote:MrNovember wrote:scienceman wrote:I had one for a while and it was lotts of fun but I gotta say the novelty wore off after a while and then it just sat around.
Yeah I feel like that's exactly what would happen to me
Times like this, I wish there was a convenient & affordable weird guitar rental service.
That would actually be a pretty excellent service
There are many companies that rent out gear, although I'm not sure if any of them would carry something as esoteric as this. Although it's a popular sound among psychedelia enthusiasts, so who knows.
I love the sitar and have wanted one of these for literally my entire guitar-playing life, but I too could never justify dropping the money on it. I guess Rogue made a cheap ($300?) one but who knows if it's any good.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:01 pm
by Chankgeez
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI78XtfLEN4[/youtube]
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 4:20 pm
by Nelson Instruments
Jerry jones also made the "baby sitar" which was a solid body version without drone strings. When new they sold in the mid to high $600 range. I would think a used one would be less....though some dealers think JJ stuff is insanely valuable now that they have closed up shop.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 5:13 pm
by D.o.S.
I played around with a real sitar once.
I determined that a sarod is more my speed.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 12:23 pm
by friendship
Sarods are the mad notes.
Oh yeah that baby sitar is very cool-looking too. I heard the sympathetic strings on the full electric sitar don't really resonate while you're playing the main strings, such as on a real sitar, but they are cool for tuning to a scale and using as an occasional drone.

Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 12:35 pm
by Chankgeez
friendship wrote:... I heard the sympathetic strings on the full electric sitar don't really resonate while you're playing the main strings, such as on a real sitar, but they are cool for tuning to a scale and using as an occasional drone.
That's not entirely true. They do resonate, just not very much. I think they're a little limited by design.
They do add to the overall sound of the instrument. There's a noticeable difference in sound between the regular electric sitar and a baby version. The regular version definitely sounds better.
Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:21 pm
by friendship
Chankgeez wrote:friendship wrote:... I heard the sympathetic strings on the full electric sitar don't really resonate while you're playing the main strings, such as on a real sitar, but they are cool for tuning to a scale and using as an occasional drone.
That's not entirely true. They do resonate, just not very much. I think they're a little limited by design.
They do add to the overall sound of the instrument. There's a noticeable difference in sound between the regular electric sitar and a baby version. The regular version definitely sounds better.
Very good to know. Despite wanting one for forever, I've never had the opportunity to play one.

Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:33 pm
by MrNovember
I honestly didn't notice them resonating. But I also didn't play too long and had nothing to compare it to so there's that.

Re: Dano Sitar
Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:34 pm
by Chankgeez
The Jerry Jones I had was very nice. Better quality than most of the ones on the market today. Too bad he closed up shop.
Too bad about these too:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3jPyT7NeJc[/youtube]
From this video they sounded good. Quality seemed good too. Don't think they were in production for too long. I was interested.