Mangla Prasad Sharma
 

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About these sitars:

The top tumba (sounding chamber) has been made from a gourd by special request. Most modern sitars have top tumbas made from turned wood, but the more traditional gourd has better tonality and acoustical response.
Top nut, string retainer, and rear string retainer are all hand carved from traditional bone material. On most modern sitars these have been replaced with celluloid and metal respectively for expedience.
Every Buckingham Mangla Prasad Sharma instrument comes with accessories that, so far as we know, are never normally provided with any sitars available worldwide. These accessories provide for playing as well as normal maintenance as frets do need to be retied, pegs sometimes need to be replaced due to wear, and so on.

To say that these are professional concert sitars is something of an understatement. Every fine detail has been painstakingly hand crafted for optimum performance. In short, instruments to be experienced. One could write a bunch of marketing "hype", but is this needed? Perhaps it is enough that we show you these very special instruments.

Once these are sold out you will have to look for one used to find one! 

AAA™ grade Sitar - Teak, New Lotus design!
AAA™ The body front (corpus) and neck are made from Burma Teak. Teak is brighter sounding when new and its tone mellows with age. It is also harder, more stable and lasts longer. All "furniture" and pegs fit better with more precision. Prices:

With standard case $2195.00.
Packing, shipping and insurance (US) $100.00.

For more views of AAA Teak click the picture above.

AAA™ Tun sitars:

AAA™ Tun is, like many other professional sitars, made from Tun wood (Indian Mahogany). It is made to the same exacting professional standards as the Teak AAA and is, other then the choice of wood, identical to it.
Tun wood gives a sweeter, darker tone when new, than Teak and is preferred by some performers for this reason. Because the wood is more readily available it costs less than Teak. The labor required to work it is also less expensive as it is easier to work with and carve, so its total price is somewhat lower than the AAA Teak sitar.

For more views of AAA Rose Petal™ Tun click the picture above.

AAA™ grade Rose Petal™ Sitar - Tun
Please note: The rose petal theme is featured everywhere on this instrument, as you'll see from the photos.
Prices:

SOLD OUT!

With standard case $ 1248.00

With fiberglass case $1437.00.

Packing, shipping and insurance (US) $100.00.

AAA™ grade Sitar - Tun
Prices:

SOLD OUT!

With standard case $ 949.00..

With fiberglass case $1189.00.

Packing, shipping and insurance (US) $70.00.

• Specified, played, and inspected by top sitar professional, Sri Indrajit Banerjee

• Only the very best materials are used for excellent performance characteristics and long life

• Made by the very best craftsmen at Mangla Prasad Sharma, Calcutta

  Question:
  Why is it that you are often out of stock of these sitars... it's frustrating me!

  Answer:
  It's because Mangla Prasad Sharma can only make a limited number of sitars a year. He makes every one personally with just one apprentice.
  We take all of these, but demand often outstrips supply and we don't want to ask him to hurry as the quality is so important !

  Testimonials:

  Hi Peter,
  The MPS (Mangla Prasad Sharma AAA tun) is doing good. The sitar sounds EXCELLENT.
  Like I said, sounds great...better than the Hemen I had.
  L. J., Seattle, WA.

  Hello Peter, Hello from Calcutta.
  I've been to a few manufacturers here but Mangla Shama seems the best. I visited many makers in Calcutta and Mangla Prasada Sharma was the only owner actually making the instruments himself... all the others sat in their offices watching their workmen do the actual making. It's hard to see how these 'guys in offices' could really be connected with the nature and quality of their instruments.
  I'll stay at Indrajit's home tonight after picking up the sitar and case. He has been very kind. Thanks also to you for your friendship and advice, Dr. M.A., Melbourne, Australia.

  About our range of professional instruments

  We now have a very well established range of professional Tablas and Sitars specified and inspected at the makers' workshops by Sitarji Sri Indrajit Banerjee and Tablaji Sri Gouri Sankar.
  This is, so far as we're aware, the first time that such a quality intensive facility has ever been established as normal procedure. At last we can guarantee that we have sitars and tablas of consistent top quality, so solving the past quality problem both for US musicians and ourselves.
  We realize that these professional, top-of-the-line sitars and tablas are relatively expensive when compared with bulk imported Indian instruments and are not for everyone. The response from professionals and others who desire true top quality instruments has been very encouraging.
  Our other instruments will continue to be quality controlled via in-house selection and inspection so that only the best instruments of a given class will be available from Buckingham Music, Inc..

  Historically the situation with all Indian instruments has always been one of quality variability. Even purchasing a top name brand didn't guarantee that one would be pleased with the finished instrument.
  Unlike, say, Western made drums like Ludwig, the Indian maker's name didn't necessarily mean that one could automatically purchase the best instrument just because of the name on it. Typically one may examine 30 different samples of a particular "Big name" Indian maker's production to find that they are at very different levels of quality. In the past, importers and sellers have accepted this situation as "Normal".

  We have come across many instances where those looking for the right sitar or tabla set have taken the "Pilgrim's route" to India, visited the maker, and rejected a large (20 or more) number of instruments before finally selecting the best from what is available.
  What has happened to the rejected instruments, those just not quite good enough although bearing the marque of a very well known maker?
  The truth is that these enter the supply chain and are often exported.
  So far as we know we are the only importer to have evolved a procedure that guarantees a solution to the above problems, resulting in customers being able to source exactly what they are seeking - a range of first class excellent quality instruments.
  

  

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  Please direct all inquiries to paula@buckinghammusic.com

  Copyright 1997-2007, N. P. Cutchey, USA. 254-771-2899. All prices and specifications are subject to change without notice.  Actual product may vary slightly from that pictured due to the nature of all instruments being handmade.