Balalaika Purchase

[dulcillini]

Good Evening: Have any of you purchased a balalaika from a Russian source? I am interested in one. I plan to do some travel in that area in 2018. Or, is there a better source for balalaikas. It is not imperative that it is made in Russia. Any info would be appreciated.

[Randi Gormley]

I acquired a balalaika a couple of months ago from someone who was given it as a gift while traveling in Russia probably a decade ago. Not the info you're looking for, probably, but if you want, i can find out which part of Russia it came from.

[vic-victor]

It really depends on what kind of balalaika quality-wise you're after. Like mandolin, the budget for balalaika varies from $50.00 or so for a Leningrad factory mass market one to $20 000 for an instrument in good condition by well-known pre-1917 balalaika luthier like Nalimov, for example. If you're after just a basic mass-market instrument, you can get one from many musical instruments shops in Moscow and St Petersburg. Entry level modern luthier-made balalaikas start at around $500.00. A decent instrument can be bought for twice as much and more. I can give you the details of a couple of good balalaika luthiers in Russia if you are after a good quality instrument.

Second-hand balalaika market often offers good value, but the catch is many sellers would not speak English and there could be other hickups, so you'll need someone to give you a hand with negotiations etc.

This lovely instrument is being sold by a private ad in Moscow, cost around $700.00 (NFI)
https://www.avito.ru/moskva/muzykalnye_instrumenty/masterovaya_balalayka_937470864

[DavidKOS]

vic-victor is correct about getting a good instrument.

I just found a nice old student balalaika on ebay, from Russia, for under 100 bucks - sounds good, tuners work, full scale fingerboard.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/r2AAAOSwtfhYnhjI/s-l1600.jpg

As vic-victor says, better models cost more, but I can read all the music in my balalaika method books on this one, all I had to do was restring it and adjust the bridge so that the 2 E strings are closer to the thumb end on the neck.

Look carefully, the instruments are out there:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Balalaika-3-String-Russian-Natural-Wood-Folk-Instrument/352188648858?hash=item5200144d9a:g:CeAAAOSwoVNZ535 T

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brand-New-Ukrainian-Balalaika-3-Strings-Prima-High-Quality-Natural-Wood-389/301988206041?_trkparms=aid%3D555017%26algo%3DPL.CA SSINI%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3Db076e17555d3 4f5eb05960096877c141%26pid%3D100505%26rk%3D1%26rkt %3D1%26&_trksid=p2045573.c100505.m3226

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Classic-BALALAIKA-3-Strings-Prima-Natural-Wood-Folk-russian-instrument/162432325297?hash=item25d1b896b1:g:XtcAAOSwCU1Y3mu J

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Russian-Balalaika-Prima-School-Doff/302477829619?hash=item466d1565f3:g:QVMAAOSw8P5Z1mq B

Anyway, if you want to play and do NOT have a reason to get a 6 string balalaika, make sure to get a 3 string instrument with the extended fingerboard. Many cheaper balalaika have a fingerboard that ends where the body and neck join. You need the longer fingerboard to play more advanced music.

Be careful about tuners, too, although now parts are more easily available from Russia or the Ukraine.

[crisscross]

I don't know much about balalaikas, but I have a nice domra, that I ordered from the Thomann shop here in Germany.
It's the model 4 corzi M 1084 by Hora from Romania. It's not professional level but it sounds nice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZqpUmIq-9Q
Hora also produces a balalaika, that you can buy in the USA via Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/BALALAIKA-Prim-Rusia-Hora-M/dp/B01IICKL64
Thomann sells the balalaika a lot cheaper though. https://www.thomann.de/de/thomann_russian_prim_balalaika_m1080r.htm

I have the Complete Balalaika Book by Bibs Eikel, and once I tuned one of my ukes like a balalaika, but the thumb has too much fret work to do, that detered me...;)

I just saw, that the balalaikas in the ads David linked sell a lot cheaper than the new Hora from Amazon, so probably it's the same as with bowlbacks here in Germany: unless you want a top model from a builder, you're probably better off buying a used one.

[Seter]

I have one of those cheap Soviet-era Lunacharsky instrument factory balalaikas from the 1960s (and a mandolin from the same factory), it gets the job done for my basic playing purposes and to serve as a bit of memorabilia. I think I paid $60 for it and is in great condition, so bear that price in mind if you're tempted to get a Lunacharsky.

Roosebeck is another brand to mention, I use their balalaika strings. http://www.ethnicmusicalinstruments.com/BLLPDW.html

[jaycat]

I happened to see this on Boston Craigslist today. Don't know if it's worth the paper it's printed on...

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/msg/d/balalaika-deluxe/6354438637.html

[Seter]

I happened to see this on Boston Craigslist today. Don't know if it's worth the paper it's printed on...

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/msg/d/balalaika-deluxe/6354438637.html

The plate on the back of the headstock says it was also made at the Lunacharsky factory. It looks a little newer than mine though. The quality of Lunacharsky instruments declined over the decades, eventually some had plastic bodies or used the lowest quality wood, essentially cardboard. There is a noticeable decline in wood quality between my 60s balalaika and my 70s mandolin. They usually have the year of manufacture printed on the label inside.

[DavidKOS]

I happened to see this on Boston Craigslist today. Don't know if it's worth the paper it's printed on...

https://boston.craigslist.org/nos/msg/d/balalaika-deluxe/6354438637.html

I saw that one, with the horse and rider motif, on ebay.

It all depends on your needs and budget...and ability to tweak minor problems.

Believe me, I would love to go to some part of Russia or the close countries and choose a balalaika. Until then I'll practice on my budget instrument.

So try to look for instruments with the correct bridge setup, the E's closer to one side and the A on the other:

http://oreshin-guitars.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/balalaika-5.jpg

[vic-victor]

The horse and rider pictured on a balalaika is Peter the Great monument in St. Petersburg :grin: So that one is purely a souvenir for tourists.

Here is one of the best balalaika virtuoso in Russia Andrey Gorbachev along with Denis Matsuev on piano and Andrei Ivanov on bass. Enjoy:


https://youtu.be/yjh1Fzt7YkM

[DavidKOS]

The horse and rider pictured on a balalaika is Peter the Great monument in St. Petersburg :grin: So that one is purely a souvenir for tourists.


But at a cheap price would make a playable beginner's instrument. You play a "souvenir" model until you get good, then spring for a fine instrument.

Here's one reason that balalaikas are hard to find in the USA:

https://americanews.ru/en/h49/16940.html

"Franklin Roosevelt signed a secret decree banning balalaika in the country for 10 years. It happened in 1940."

https://www.stopfake.org/en/fake-obama-bans-balalaikas-in-the-u-s-till-2020/

“There is no restriction whatsoever in the United States on owning, making, playing, or performing on balalaika and there has never been such a restriction. There are balalaika orchestras in a dozen cities of the United States, a few of them as large as those in Russian cities. No special license is required.”

“It is true that there are no factories making balalaikas or domras in the U.S., but this is not because of any licensing restriction,” McCullough says. “There is simply not enough of a market for these to make such a business profitable”.

We just don't have enough players to support balalaika factories in the USA.

[jesserules]

It's a peculiar sort of instrument, with its shape and its oddly-spaced strings and its mix of steel & nylon strings - on top of the limited market - I can see why nobody seems to be building them in the US. It does seem somebody here might have worked out a deal to have a consistent supply of well-made balalaikas in stock, sourced from Russia or from wherever reliably good-quality ones can be obtained.

[jesserules]

The horse and rider pictured on a balalaika is Peter the Great monument in St. Petersburg :grin: So that one is purely a souvenir for tourists.

Here is one of the best balalaika virtuoso in Russia Andrey Gorbachev along with Denis Matsuev on piano and Andrei Ivanov on bass. Enjoy:


https://youtu.be/yjh1Fzt7YkM

Piano guy's not bad either, sort of the Jools Holland of Russia I guess.

[bratsche]

I just saw this captivating video, and had to share.

bratsche


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvi2PYYMa04

and another:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCEIkHLLyTM

[DavidKOS]

Man, that is a lot of music to come out of 3 little strings - amazing harmonics!

Link to free balalaika books:

http://www.bostonbalalaika.com/documents/Samouchitel_Dorozhkin.pdf

http://www.bostonbalalaika.com/documents/The_Balalaika_School.pdf

http://www.classon.ru/download_page.php?score_id=639&osCsid=150538e570e162c845282203865b8a97

http://www.classon.ru/download_page.php?score_id=643&osCsid=150538e570e162c845282203865b8a97

http://www.classon.ru/download_page.php?score_id=649&osCsid=150538e570e162c845282203865b8a97

http://www.classon.ru/download_page.php?score_id=652&osCsid=150538e570e162c845282203865b8a97

[DavidKOS]

https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/45631385

student balalaika at Goodwill

[Dusepo]

Avoid the tourist ones. Otherwise there are some good sounding ones on the usual auction and second-hand sites.