Quote:
Originally Posted by Black-n-Nan
Here in Russia white birch is used mainly for heating wooden houses 
Try to find Karelian Birch which is pretty expensive but looks beautiful and very similar to koa. |
I played a week long concert tour in Magadan Oblast in March of 1992, about eight months or so after the USSR became the Russian Federation. That was an interesting trip in interesting times. I was part of a cultural exchange group from Anchorage, Alaska.
Anyway, most of the Russian balalaikas, domras and seven string guitars I saw at that time appeared to be made with birch backs and sides and either spruce (possibly pine) or larch tops. But all were of Soviet era manufacture.
The fit and finish of those Soviet era instruments I had a chance to play were fairly crude by Western standards, but a lot of them had a really sweet tone.
Wade Hampton Miller