How to choose the erhu

To begin with
Before getting into the details, I would like to clarify that these are merely standard checkpoints. Every accoustic instrument is different from all others, even when they are made by the same person from the same material with the same method. Besides, each person has different taste for sound. After all, which one is better that the other is your decision.

The Material
Erhu's material is snake skin, wood, bobbin, bow, strings etc. The most important of these is snake skin and wood. Pythons are used for the skin, and there are a lot of checkpoints, such as, the size of the python, its health and the season when it was killed, which part is used, etc. The points you should note are:

- the size of the scales is not to small and more or less equal;
- the scales are neither too thin nor too thick and have not come off;
- the colour is bright ochre and black and glossy.

For the wood, rosewood is said to be the best, but the production in China is little. More common but good material is ebony. It is said that a good one has jet-black colour, no knots, considerable weight and shines when polished. Mahogany is also often used, and likewise, you should look for the one with dark colour and no knots. Generally ebony is preferred to mahogany, but old mahogany is quite popular and it depends on the personal taste. You should be careful as there are many ebony or mahogany look-alike with paints or chemical effect, or new wood pretending to be older than its age. Real ebony's colour is natural black and weigh considerably more than other wood. It would be best if you could choose from various type (if possible after comparing ebony, mahogany and rosewood.)

The Shape of the Body
The shapes of the body are the one with hexagonal or octagonal front with circle back (these are the most popular) or circle, oblong octagon, oval etc. There are subtle difference in volume and sound depending on the shape, but it is really up to your taste. I would not recommend or object to any particular shape. However, if you are choosing one for your second one or more, then you will probably be better off with the shape you are used to already. You should choose the one which feels right when you try it.

Bow
It is said that the one with similar length to the instrument, about 82cm, and two knots at most is good. The one with equal thickness, flexibility, and made of white horses' tail is good. Black hair is too thick and rough, and sometimes made of nylon. You should avoid nylon as it does not absorb pine resin and is difficult to play.

Spool
There are mainly three types. The old type with simple wood mechanism is difficult to tune, therefore the one with metallic parts just like the guitar (there are two type of these) is normally used nowadays.

Qianjin
The old type is made of strings, which often changes the tuning when vibrated, and are now mostly replaced with metallic one. Also wooden (Qianjin) was invented a few years ago to improve the hardness of the sound with the metallic ones. Double Qianjin Erhu, which enables you to change the tuning instantly with the metallic part, just like the guitar's Kapo was invented about 20 years ago. It was once quite popular among a certain group of people, but is not seen much nowadays. Likewise, the Qianjin With subtle tuning capability (similar to violin's adjuster) is currently hardly used.

Decoration
There are instruments with dragon's head etc. on fingerboard, but this does not really affect the sound. The ones with decoration are hardly used in China, nevertheless, it does not really matter whether there is decoration or not as long as the sound is good. As for carving, some are artistic and valuable for its decorative sake, and some are made for souvenir and quite cheap.

The main area of erhu production
The famous area of erhu production is Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou And mainly produced in national factories. However, these are mass-produced and instruments with good quality are very rare. You can only expect good instruments from good experienced craftsmen with devotion in addition to good material. If you would like to get a good instrument, it would be best to order directly to good craftsmen. However, this would need considerable amount of time and effort to go to China and negotiate, and probably not realistic. Currently, due to the lack of good material, the increase of international requirements and the inflation of Chinese prices. The price of the instruments are considerably higher than before and it will be more in the future.

There are many stories about the difference in the sound depending on the area. Nevertheless, it often varies from one instrument to another and it is quite difficult to conclude. The instruments from Beijing are most popular both in China and abroad since craftsmanship are concentrated in the area.

To Conclude
New erhus have a hard sound and it takes many years of training to be able to make a soft sound. It will give you a good sound only after you have trained with effort in the correct method. Therefore, it is said that you can tell the owner's capacity if you try the instrument.