Buying a Veena from SruthiLaya(Chennai)

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 26 Nov 2007, 09:27

A friend of mine is looking to buy an Ekanada Veena from SruthiLaya in Chennai.
I would be interested in hearing any experiences in buying from them.

Also, is it safe to have them send it to the US by courier(by air, that is)? I assume they take care of packing the Veena appropriately?
Thanks.

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 26 Nov 2007, 10:15

they do send the thingy neatly packed. sruthilaya and/or sapthaswara do regularly ship veenai's to the US and other places around the world. and hence, they would be good enough to put the parcel across...

however, i m assuming you will go and choose the veenai or get somebody to do it. i m told, it is better to have a trained person along to choose a veenai, just to make sure its all correct, especially the strings and their gauges..

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 26 Nov 2007, 10:24

Thanks.
We are trying to get someone to check out the Veena...
I assume that the fret placements are usually done well? That would be a bigger problem (if not done accurately)
Thanks again

rbharath · Post by **rbharath** » 26 Nov 2007, 10:27

well, i personally am told its best to take your veenai teacher along and/or somebody who knows what is what about a veenai.
also, am told that the frets are usually fine.. the strings and their gauges are the ones to be checked...

its not wrong to check everything.

Disclaimer: i personally dont know anything about veenai. all this i m telling is from inputs from a friend who got a veenai last year from saptaswara and got it shipped to seattle.

vijay · Post by **vijay** » 26 Nov 2007, 13:48

I think many airlines allow a Veena to be taken on board so you may not have to courier it. It may be a good idea to check with them.

The big guys are quite faimiliar with the process of packing etc. as they routinely handle such orders.

Ramnath Iyer · Post by **Ramnath Iyer** » 26 Nov 2007, 14:19

Dear KarnatikLover,
I have bought many veenas from Sapthaswara for myself or for my students. They have also sent the veenas by air to Australia. The shop has export permit to send overseas. Alternately your friend can take it with him/her either as accompanied or unaccompanied baggage if travelling. The veenas usually reach in good condition, since they are packed well. Sapthaswara also gets you an insurance cover, in case the veena gets damaged during travel. One of our student's veena had the yali broken when it reached here (rare occurance), but the insurance covered the repair done locally in Melbourne.

I have no experience with Sruthilaya personally. But I am told veenai Gayathri is a regular customer there.

Best is to get a vainika in Chennai to personally check the veena. Usually the melam (all the swarasthanas), the wood condition (look for cracks that have been cleverly sealed) and tonal quality (each instrument varies in tone, and one need to look for a nice tone - a good blend of base and treble is preferrable). Tune the veena to the pitch your friend would normally play, and then check the tone.

Another useful option is to get guitar keys fixed instead of the wooden pegs.

Good luck,
Ramnath

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 26 Nov 2007, 22:01

Thanks much to everyone for their suggestions.

Sam Swaminathan · Post by **Sam Swaminathan** » 27 Nov 2007, 00:45

Ramnathji

Is it not correct to say that you have the wooden pegs ( for major tuning ) and the guitar keys for fine tuning ? so, in other words, both pegs and keys are fixed in a veena?....cheers.....sam

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 27 Nov 2007, 00:47

oh one more thing...
Apparently the "sound holes" on the Kodam of these Veenas are not arranged in a circular pattern.
Instead they are arranged to align with a carving of Lord Ganesha.
Is this a problem in any way? I'm sure the makers know what they are doing... but I was just curious since traditional Veenas have two circles on the kodam with holes on them.
thanks.

Ramnath Iyer · Post by **Ramnath Iyer** » 27 Nov 2007, 03:52

Sam,
When you fix guitar keys, they actually replace the wooden pegs. Hence you use the keys to tune. For fine tuning you still use the 'beads' on the 'lankar' end where the strings are attched to the 'lankar'.

KL,
don't think the position of the sound holes would make any difference.

cheers
Ramnath

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 27 Nov 2007, 04:43

It looks like the wooden pegs are still left behind for decorative purposes only (if you have the guitar keys fixed). So the guitar keys offer better tension control on the strings? I would imagine that there is no need to roughen up the wooden pegs periodically when they start slipping inside the groove they fit into...

Also, are Ekanda Veenas in any way bigger than the Ottu versions? or are all Veenas of the same size ( I mean the regular ones and not the modern foldable ones etc).

Is it just me or are the Veenais being made these days not as pretty as the ones made say 20+ years ago?
for example, the picture here doesn't look very impressive...
http://www.sruthilaya.com/

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 27 Nov 2007, 10:06

I have bought two veenas from Shrutilaya in the past couple of years, one of them EkANDa. I have been very pleased with both.

When selecting my veena I look for more permanent features of the instrument such as its tonal quality, convexity of the resonator surface, etc. The fretting can always be redone if inaccurate.

Let me know if I can help with selection.

L Ramakrishnan

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 28 Nov 2007, 02:07

Thanks vainika.
Could you elaborate a little on the convexity of the resonator surface part?
Does that mean the Kodam's shape?

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 28 Nov 2007, 11:48

KarnatikLover wrote:...convexity of the resonator surface part?
Does that mean the Kodam's shape?

Yes, we've found that convexity of the upper surface of the main resonator kudam in new veenas is associated with good nAda.

LovingCM · Post by **LovingCM** » 29 Nov 2007, 01:31

I have a Veena for sale. I am from Chicago area, In case anyone interested. Bought in Sabthaswara 4 years back but my daughter stopped playing. I am sorry to post this here. but, did not know where would this be appropriate.

PR

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 29 Nov 2007, 05:44

I have learnt a lot about what to look for when buying a new Veena via this thread!
The picture of Veena at http://www.sruthilaya.com/ - is this is how the ones they sell look like?
I don't see any other pictures on their website...
thanks!

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 29 Nov 2007, 19:16

KarnatikLover wrote:The picture of Veena at http://www.sruthilaya.com/ - is this is how the ones they sell look like?
I don't see any other pictures on their website...
thanks!

Here are a couple of photos of the veenas I bought from SL. Please maximize browser window to view the images without distortion.

The closeup shows the annular rings in the resonator wood and the fine detail in their engraving. These are, respectively, signs of the care with which their wood is selected and instruments crafted.

Please note:
(i) Selecting instruments that have not been polished/varnished helps ensure there are no structural flaws or major cracks that have been covered up with varnish/paint
(ii) The fiber-glass kudams do not come with art on them
(iii) The guitar keys were retrofitted at Saptaswara
(iv) I am in no way affiliated with SL and have no stake in promoting their products

KarnatikLover · Post by **KarnatikLover** » 30 Nov 2007, 00:24

They look spectacular!
Thanks so much for uploading the photos.

What is the blue stuff on the frets (seen on the close up photo)?
Also, what kind of oil is recommended (for lubrication) when playing the veena?
In the past I have seen people use coconut oil, is that ok on the strings/frets?
Thanks again for the responses.

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 30 Nov 2007, 10:15

Blue stuff: a powdery coating applied by melam makers to wax
after fretting/re-fretting. Not sure of function: Ramnath, any idea?

Saturated fatty acids notwithstanding, coconut oil remains the
lubricant of choice for this purpose.

Please refer your friend to the 120 member- strong mailing list
vainika@yahoogroups.com where veena-specific questions are
discussed at length - see http://www.yahoogroups.com/list/vainika
and also http://vainika.wikispaces.com

Ramnath Iyer · Post by **Ramnath Iyer** » 30 Nov 2007, 12:09

Ramki,
I think the blue powder is to stop the wax from sticking to your fingers until it hardens (a few days later). Some technicians (like Sunil from Trivandrum) don't use this nowadays.

Also with the oil, I have been using Johnson's baby oil rather than coconut oil, because coconut oil freezes in winter and forms like a sediment on the strings affecting the sound quality.

Your veenas look beautiful with those decorations on the suraikkai.

Regards
Ramnath

Begada · Post by **Begada** » 01 Dec 2007, 01:35

I am going to be in Chennai in Feb 08. My song is learning Veena and he has a smaller Veena that was fine for him till now. But now he is looking for a regular Saraswathi Veena. Is there a place where I can buy second-hand Veena's in Madras, the used ones that are older and Nadam is good.

vainika · Post by **vainika** » 02 Dec 2007, 05:07

Ramnath, thanks for the note.

Also with the oil, I have been using Johnson's baby oil rather than coconut oil, because coconut oil freezes in winter and forms like a sediment on the strings affecting the sound quality.

Ah, another adaptation for NRVs (non-resident veenas)! I recall here your innovative use of hair-dryers to re-position veena frets...